Michael Schumacher has admitted he his is ‘slightly concerned’ about the development of the Mercedes W02, going as far as to say it will be ‘difficult’ to win races from the off.
“We know where we are. Yes we are slightly concerned but then on the other hand we know where we will and want to go to,” he told the BBC.
The 42-year-old left the first test in Valencia disappointed after the Mercedes team didn’t manage to log as much mileage as they’d liked, and team principal Ross Brawn admitted they were off the pace of the lead cars.
However, the teams fortunes looked to have changed in Jerez this week with Schumacher topping the times on day two, though he admitted it was down to the grippier super-soft-tyres which hadn’t yet been tested by the majority of the grid.
“We haven’t managed to do as many miles as we wanted at the first test,” he said. “Lap times, yes they are important but maybe not right now. Naturally if you are quickest all the time that would be the perfect situation but we know coming from last year this is not possible.”
The seven-time world champion was cautious on whether they could meet their targets during the opening races of the season.
“For the team it is very important to climb the ladder and have more success than last year.
“We are Mercedes and naturally we have a very clear target. It is going to be difficult to meet this target straight away this year particularly after last year’s experience.”
Many know that testing times are difficult to read as teams don’t reveal how much fuel they’re carrying, which is why Schumacher is looking to the first race in Bahrain on March 13th to find out definitively what the starting order will be.
“The first race will tell us truly and really what’s the situation,” he added.
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