Michael Schumacher has ruled out any possibility of him or his team-mate securing pole or the race win, admitting Mercedes isn’t quick enough in Valencia.
The German has been tipped to do well on the street circuit which shares some similarities to Monaco, where Schumacher was quickest on Saturday but was relegated five places after serving a grid penalty.
However, he doesn’t believe the W03 is capable of beating its biggest rivals but was happy with the positive comments.
“I think we are in a reasonable position but not a good enough position to win here,” he’s quoted as saying by Autosport.
“I obviously appreciate the compliments I have been given by some people in the pitlane here, and I hope they are right, but at the moment I am a little bit pessimistic.”
He also ruled out any chances of securing pole: “I guess we can be reasonably close to the frontrunners, but I think it would be too optimistic to put us on pole position.”
Schumacher described Friday in Valencia as “reasonable” despite finishing fourth quickest and says there is more work to be done on Saturday morning.