F1: Schumacher Pleased With Car, Still Cautious

Formula 1

F1: Schumacher Pleased With Car, Still Cautious

Michael Schumacher paced Free Practice Two in China...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted April 13, 2012 Shanghai (CHN)

Michael Schumacher topped the times in Shanghai on Friday, and the German reported himself happy with the performance of the Mercedes W03 – although as ever, he remained a little cautious.

“Generally it’s been OK, a troublefree day considering we got rain this morning,” said the Mercedes driver. “The car handles definitely much better than we experienced the last two years here. If you have a balanced car here, it makes a lot of contribution to lap time, and definitely that is the case. We are not yet where we want to be in terms of pace.

“We have got a lot stronger as a team over the last two years in making the pre-analysis and getting the car right, but you know we are on a Friday, not on a Sunday afternoon.”

Schumacher admitted that he was pleased that the FIA has now declared the W03’s DRS system legal.

“It certainly should quieten down some people who like speculation," the seven-time F1 champion said. "It is a good innovation and I think it should be honored by everyone. If you have an innovation, people should simply accept that. Mercedes has done a good job on this one, although it’s been overestimated, the worth of it, but it’s good. We put it on because it gives us some time.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.