Rosberg: “It's difficult to decide whether to think about 2014 already”

More victories in 2013 or the title in 2014? Nico Rosberg is unsure of the approach he should take Mercedes in the second half of this season. The German has won two races this year while his teammate Lewis Hamilton won in Hungary.

But with major regulatory changes expected for 2014, some teams are already focusing fully on next season and Rosberg, despite being convinced he has a competitive car, is aware that Mercedes' chances of winning the title this year are limited.

“We were able to celebrate some great successes,” he told Auto Motor und Sport. “Unfortunately, especially due to the tyres, we were not consistent enough. The progress we have made, however, is great,” he explained. “But our goal is to be where Sebastian (Vettel, ed.) is.”

In fact, after the first half of the season, Vettel has a 38-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus while Hamilton is 48 points behind. Rosberg is currently 88 points behind.

The 28-year-old is aware, however, that the 2014 rules are "a great opportunity" for teams like Mercedes. So should the Brackley team focus on the 2014 season already? “It's a difficult question,” Rosberg said. “On the one hand it's nice to face the race weekend with the best car thinking of being able to get pole and victory. On the other hand, my other half thinks that next year is a great opportunity thanks to all the changes that will come. If we continue to simply exploit what we have now we can still win several races with this car."

Team boss Ross Brawn admitted that Mercedes could consider focusing on next season: “For Spa and Monza we have some big updates coming. It will depend on how things go, then we will decide what to do for the rest of the season."