• Jerez Test, Day 2

Schumacher sets target for 2012 cars

Michael Schumacher put the new soft Pirelli tyres to good use © Getty Images

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• Report:
• Schumacher quickest from Webber on day two
  

• Drivers:
• Jules Bianchi
• |
• Jenson Button
• |
• Heikki Kovalainen
• |
• Pastor Maldonado
• |
• Felipe Massa
• |
• Sergio Perez
• |
• Kimi Räikkönen
• |
• Daniel Ricciardo
• |
• Pedro de la Rosa
• |
• Michael Schumacher
• |
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• Alfa Romeo
• |
• Caterham
• |
• Ferrari
• |
• HRT
• |
• Lotus F1
• |
• McLaren
• |
• Mercedes
• |
• Racing Point
• |
• Red Bull
• |
• Toro Rosso
• |
• Williams

Michael Schumacher set the pace at the start of the second day of testing in Jerez, clocking a time of 1:18.561 in last year's Mercedes to edge out the 2012 Red Bull of Mark Webber.

Mercedes programme is largely based on tyre testing this week as the launch of the new W03 is not due until the next test at Barcelona. A couple of hours before lunch the team bolted a set of soft tyres on Schumacher's car and sent him out for a quick sprint before returning to longer runs. The resulting time was comfortably quicker than Mark Webber's fastest effort earlier in the morning and acts as a decent benchmark for the 2012 cars to chase.

Schumacher's speed came as no surprise as his Mercedes W02 has the benefit of an exhaust-blown diffuser and a whole year of development, whereas the 2012 designs are still in their infancy. Webber's Red Bull RB8 was 0.623s shy of Schumacher as he also tried out the soft compound tyres and completed a series of runs without any obvious problems. Daniel Ricciardo was a further 0.403s back in third in the new Toro Rosso, but had improved on his Tuesday time by over a second.

Jules Bianchi was let loose in the new Force India VJM05 as he started his test driver role at the team in earnest. He held his own with the fourth fastest time, which was 1.660s off Schumacher's best. He will hand the car back to race driver Paul di Resta this afternoon.

Tuesday's pace-setter Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in the Lotus, but was over 0.5s adrift of his time from the previous day. He dipped the E20 into the gravel on one of his early-morning runs, but recovered the car to the pits where it was checked over and sent back out.

Jenson Button returned to action in the McLaren but had a relatively quiet morning with just 25 laps and a fastest time of 1:20.688. His quickest lap was just under a second faster than his best time on Tuesday, but still over two seconds off Schumacher's Wednesday benchmark.

Felipe Massa was next up in seventh as he continued Ferrari's assessment of its new F2012. Chief designer Nikolas Tombazis warned on Tuesday not to expect any headline times at the first test while Ferrari compares on-track data to its wind tunnel readings, and the car ran true to form some two and a half seconds off the pace.

Pastor Maldonado in the Williams and Sergio Perez in the Sauber were eighth and ninth as they continued their respective programmes, but had Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham in close company as it completed a whopping 78 laps - the Finn's team clearly keen to make up for last time caused by a broken external starter on Tuesday afternoon.

Pedro de la Rosa rounded off the timesheets in 11th with a time 4.907s off Schumacher in last year's HRT.

Times at 13:00 (local time)

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