Michael Schumacher got the third pre-season test underway for Mercedes today completing 90 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The track was damp from overnight rain and so the seven-time world champion first headed out midway through the morning before completing a successful race simulation – including pit stops – after lunch.
Schumacher finished the day only eighth fastest however but, speaking at the end of the day, the German revealed that the team would be focusing on lap times now that they have tested the reliability of the new MGP W02.
“We had a good day and it is certainly satisfying to finish a race distance with all of the systems operational and to have everything working fine,” he said. “Now we have to turn our focus to performance and it was important to complete today’s simulation to understand how the car and tyres behave going from a heavy to lighter fuel load.”
Nico Rosberg will be in the car tomorrow and Sunday before Schumacher returns to testing duties on Monday, the final day of this test session.
