Schumacher: Mercedes still has work to do
Michael Schumacher: Mercedes still has work to do
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 28, Feb 2010 09:02
By Adam Leveridge.
Michael Schumacher admits the Mercedes GP team needs to do more work before the start of the 2010 season in two weeks time to make the MGP W01 a race winning car.
Formula one teams have completed three of four pre-season tests so far and are currently halfway through the fourth and final session at the Catalunya circuit in Barcelona.
So far, the seven-time world champion hasn't made an impression in Barcelona, ending day two at the tail end of the timesheets.
But with tweaks to the regulations in 2010, including a ban on refueling, it is impossible to read into the lap times and work out where teams lie in relation to their competitors, although Schumacher isn't confident Mercedes GP will be capable of winning in Bahrain on March 14th.
"Only the future will show if it's a winner," Schumacher told formula1.com.
"We are working very hard and there is still a lot of work to do.
"I would not say that at the moment it is all going according to plan, but on the other hand I know that the car here in Barcelona is not the car that I will drive in Bahrain."
He added: "There are still upgrades that are missing, so it is quite difficult to make a valid judgment of where we are. But in general, I would say that I don't see any reason why we should not have a say on the championship."
But Schumacher, who makes a comeback to the cockpit of an F1 car for the first time since his retirement in 2006, said the nature of the Catalunya circuit makes it difficult for teams to decipher their rivals times and strategies.
"There are tracks where you can see from the speed or the sector times if somebody is running on high or low fuel, and there are tracks where that's difficult or not possible," said Schumacher.
"It is difficult to tell at Barcelona. You might find that someone who appears to be slow actually has the best pace.
"And testing doesn't automatically mean progress - you have to know how you should test and what you should test.
"In this respect, the teams are all well equipped. They all have simulation programmes and structures set up already back at their factories that enable them to determine the direction of their test schedule."