Schumi quickest in Barca testing

Mar 11, 2011 |

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Barcelona, Spain: Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher set the fastest time on the fourth and final day of pre-season testing here on Friday.

Schumacher, preparing for his second season with Mercedes since coming out of retirement, clocked 1min 21.268sec, with another former champion, Fernando Alonso, in second in his Ferrari.

Schumacher's teammate, Nico Rosberg, took third.

The German F1 legend endured a low-key return last season, finishing ninth behind his compatriot Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, but Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said he was ‘quite encouraged’ by Schumacher's performance at the Circuit de Catalunya.

"We've definitely moved forward. Whether it's enough, we won't know until Melbourne," Brawn told BBC Sport.

Team Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen was thrilled with his ninth place, after completing 138 laps, to out-pace the two Force India cars of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil.

"That is obviously a fantastic end to the tests," the Finn told the sport's official website, F1.com.

"Everyone in the team has put in a lot of hard work and days like today are the reward. Completing a double-race distance has given us the chance to make a lot of progress on track and we have accumulated a huge amount of data that will be very helpful in Australia, Malaysia and China.

"I'm not only pleased with the mileage we've done today; I’m also pleased with the pace we've shown.”

"It's too early to make predictions but I think we'll go to Melbourne and have a good chance to taking the step forward we want to. A good day!"

Williams, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren return for one final day of testing on Saturday, with the rest of the teams returning to their factories to fine-tune their cars ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 27.

Times
1. Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes 1min 21.268sec, 2. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1:21.614, 3. Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1:21.788, 4. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Lotus Renault 1:22.073, 5. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 1:22.233, 6. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Sauber 1:22.315, 7. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 1:22.675, 8. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 1:22.933, 10. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Team Lotus 1:23.437, 11. Paul di Resta (GBR) Force India 1:23.653, 12. Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 1:23.921, 13. Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Williams 1:24.108, 14. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 1:25.837, 15. Jerome D'Ambrosio (BEL) Virgin 1:27.375

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