Michael Schumacher says there was nothing wrong with his Mercedes W02 in Sepang, well, except for the fact that it's just too slow.
The German had an interesting race on Sunday, where he was involved in several battles with his rivals. In the end, he finished P9, scoring Mercedes GP's first points of the 2011 Championship.
And P9 was probably the best he could have hoped for as the seven-time World Champion concedes his team's W02 is lacking in pace.
"I had a straightforward race today which was even a bit exciting towards the end but really full of ups and downs before. The start was quite good and then it was mainly about managing the tyres," he said.
"We probably couldn't have expected to take more than two points today and we certainly have to work on our race-pace which is not yet where we want it to be.
"We are all aware of that and we are more than ready to keep working hard to make the necessary steps forward.
"Over one lap, we can already be at a good level when the car is working well, but we need to continue to work on our race performance."
However, team boss Ross Brawn says pace isn't Mercedes GP's only issue - they also need to learn to read the weather forecast a bit better.
"The team and drivers did a great job today but obviously we are not fast enough at the moment," he said. "We had a couple of stints which proved to be a little too long, as we stayed out to see if the weather might bring an opportunity.
"That was our decision, and when it didn't rain as had been predicted, we paid the price with the loss of perhaps a position or two.
"Overall, the work from the team was strong today with good pit stops and the cars were reliable in very challenging conditions. We will continue to work at it and I look forward to having a more competitive car and being able to mix it where we want to be."
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