Haug: No doubt Mercedes will win again
Mercedes took over world championship winner Brawn GP to race under its own name again this year, but the results have not been what the team was hoping for.
Nico Rosberg has scored the team’s best results with three third places, as Mercedes is 180 points behind championship leader Red Bull.
Having won last year’s championships under the Brawn GP banner, this year’s results have been disappointing, but Haug is adamant the team has all the ingredients to bounce back.
“Of course, as we have often explained, we are not where we want to be, but in a way that’s the name of the game in Formula 1 very often," said Haug. “I’ve been here for quite a while and Ross [Brawn] has been here longer but most of the time you spend improving and chasing the others.
“And this team has the expertise, having won the world championship last year. Currently we certainly not good enough, that is very clear, but I’m absolutely convinced that we need some time and that we can really improve and make the best out of the situation.
“All of us want to win rather than make up the numbers, that’s for sure. But if you look at our history since our first victory in the new era of Formula 1, we’ve almost won every third race so far and we are going to come back to that rhythm, I’m sure.
“Ross and the team know what they are talking about. It’s very clear that they had a world championship campaign last year and they very much concentrated on that and still we do not have a bad car but things don’t always fit together always 100 per cent, that’s my view. Sometimes you get it better, sometimes you don’t achieve your targets.
“It’s still not good enough. It’s not satisfying for us not to get to the leaders but we have been there before. We have the ingredients, we have the team, we need to concentrate, focus and we are sticking together as a team. And if you are not doing that you are very soon history."
Haug insisted that, despite the lack of results, the team had the full support from Mercedes, who believes Formula 1 is still a good investment.
“We have cut down our budget dramatically," he said. “We are still in Formula 1, while other manufactures are no longer in Formula 1, so we still think this is a great platform, so things are positive. The results are not positive.
“Sometimes a third place like at Silverstone is a little consolation, not when you want to win. But all in all I can say that we can get the job done."