Mercedes has a few tricks up its sleeve

Ross Brawn with Simon Cole

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn says his team has a few tricks up its sleeve for the second half of the season after closing out the first half with three wins from the last five races.

Mercedes has shown potential all year but has struggled to convert over half of its seven pole positions into victories. The main issue has been rear tire degradation, but on the new Pirellis in Hungary the team appeared to make a significant step forward, with Lewis Hamilton winning in intensely hot conditions.

Brawn praised his team's performance at recent races but said there are developments being worked on at the factory that could up its game once more.

"We have a few things coming through at the next few races and they could give us that extra impetus and extra momentum to take us through the second half of the year," he said on the team's YouTube channel. "A lot of races are flyaways where we are a long way away from base and you tend not to get quite so much development going on in the second half, and also with everybody mindful of what next year will bring, I don't think anybody will bring any huge innovations. So where we are is well placed."

Lewis Hamilton has scored more points than any other driver at the last three races, but Brawn said maintaining that form would be a balancing act with focusing on the 2014 car.

"It's our big challenge to maintain that [form] and a tough challenge with the demands of next season as well," he added. "Balancing those two things out is going to be the tricky thing. The team has great spirit at the moment and I know the things that are coming through on the technical front. Our hit rate has been quite good on new technical innovations this year; things we've brought to the track have generally worked."