Schumacher back with a bang after posting fastest time

[Ithunk]

 

Just 24 hours after Nico Rosberg was languishing in ninth place on the time sheet, 3.2 seconds off the pace in the first day of testing in Jerez, up popped his Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher with the fastest time of the day in Southern Spain.

 

A return to form for the veteran seven time world champion you may think and all the more impressive considering his younger German countryman more than had his measure last season upon Schumacher's return to Formula One.

Setting the pace: Michael Schumacher was quickest in Jerez (above)

 

Setting the pace: Michael Schumacher was quickest in Jerez (above)

 

Indeed, Rosberg was forced to start making promises of better things to come from the Merecdes W02 by the time the teams reached Bahrain for the final test prior to the start of the 2011 season in the Middle Eastern country.

 

All the more amazing then that at the ripe old age of 42 that Schumacher should teach the young bucks a thing or two in a car which, at best, is far from the finished article and, at worst, may turn out to be no better than last year's disappointing machine.

 

Well, not quite. Schumacher's time was set on his first hot lap on Pirelli's new super-soft compound - Jenson Button later claimed the fast degrading new rubber is worth in the region of a second a lap.

 

And while Schumacher bristled at the suggestion he was light on fuel, the fact remains he only stayed out for ten laps in that stint - his times getting progressively slower suggesting he had wrung everything out the car and its tyres to pop in a morale boosting time.

Title contender: Schumacher is one of five world champions in the field the season

 

Title contender: Schumacher is one of five world champions in the field

 

Schumacher's performance had more to do with the smoke and mirrors that goes on during pre-season testing and while his time might make an exciting headline, you really do have to believe the drivers when they say that all that really counts is how their new car performs in the first Grand Prix of the season.

 

On the subject of keeping ones cards close to ones chest, Button spoke of his need to wait for almost two hours while his McLaren mechanics made some major changes to his car.

LAP TIMES ON DAY TWO IN JEREZ

 

1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m20.352s (112 laps completed)

 

2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.413s (116)

 

3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m21.009s (69)

 

4. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m21.214s (72)

 

5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.613s (113)

 

6. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m21.780s (73)

 

7. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.857s (56)

 

8. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m22.208s (57)

 

9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m22.493s (65)

 

10. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m22.591s (38)

 

11. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m23.216s (40)

 

Those major changes were to the exhaust system, with McLaren swapping their conventional layout for the forward facing pipes employed by Renault.

 

The gas emerges from an exhaust at the bottom of the sidepods and is the latest trick being tried to increase all-important downforce.

 

Button also spent the day, his first in the new McLaren MP4-26, getting to grips with the KERS system which stores the energy from braking to deliver a quick burst of power.

 

He also got to play with the moveable rear wing which, along with KERS and Pirelli tyres, is designed to create a more exciting spectacle for the viewer this season.

 

'I am getting used to KERS because it is new to me, as it is to most drivers,' said Button who did not have the system on the Brawn which carried him to the 2009 driver's championship.

 

'I tried the rear wing a couple of times, not in anger but just to see if it was working. It is just like pushing the KERS button; the boost you get from it is amazing. It is very efficient. The speed you pick up is amazing. But it is one of those things that you want to take a bit of time over before you actually use it in anger.

 

'I sat behind a Renault when it was adjusting and I didn't realise how quick it was going to move. It is an amazing bit of kit but it is comedy following someone who is using it because it just looks wrong. It is like something has fallen off!'

 

As for the new tyres. 'It is going to be fun for racing and I think it is what everyone wanted, tyres that are very different to each other,' said Button.

 

'There are big differences from the hard, through to the medium, through the soft and to the super soft. There are big differences in terms of lap time and also in terms of degradation.'

 

Understandably, Button was less forthcoming about McLaren's radical new exhaust layout. But having finished the day in a respectable third place, without the benefit of setting a time on the super-soft tyres, Button proclaimed himself happy enough with the car's progress even at this early stage.

 

'We haven't set the world alight but we have collected important data and on Sunday we can have a crack at seeing what the car has in it,' he said.

 

The weekend will provide another pointer as to the coming campaign, but the truth will only out once the cars head out for qualifying in Bahrain four weeks. Until then, lap times like Schumacher's are much like the exhaust gasses the teams are trying to harness, little more than hot air.

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...l#ixzz1Dih5VL5Z

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaon...-time-test.html

 

[SimonTan]

The car chassie was specifically designed for him this year!

OF course he will get better timings!

 

[Ithunk]

wow....if he wins some races...that will be good