I still take some comfort & hope in the fact that the W03 has proven to be reliable (bar Schu's flukey gearbox -- a one-off, I hope) and fast straight out of the box. With those two tick boxes already checked, they can now analyse the additional race data they've gathered from Melbourne and focus on finding solutions for their tyre degradation woes. With less worries about keeping the car from falling apart and extracting more raw pace, the team can now devote more time during Malaysian free practice towards finding the setup that should keep the W03 in its optimum tyre operating window for the race.
With better brains, resources & systems back in Brackley this year, Ross seems confident of being able to iron out emerging technical problems and developing the car in pace with the frontrunners.