• German Grand Prix

Schumacher eyes top five

Michael Schumacher is hopeful of a positive weekend in front of his home fans © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• German Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Nico Rosberg
• |
• Michael Schumacher

• Teams:
• Mercedes

Michael Schumacher is confident of achieving a top five finish in Sunday's German Grand Prix after he finished sixth quickest in Friday's free practice.

Despite suffering a couple of off track excursions during the two sessions, Schumacher confessed himself satisfied with a 'reasonable' day's running.

"Today's sessions were a bit mixed due to the weather conditions but we were able to get the car working by the end so it was a reasonable day," said Schumacher. "One of my excursions caused some damage to the floor which led to a second excursion afterwards and we decided to stop slightly early this afternoon.

"We are looking reasonable over one lap and on longer runs, confirming what we already hinted at during the last weekend in Silverstone."

Schumacher, who has won his home grand prix on four occasions, thinks he can qualify as high as fifth on the grid and perhaps finish even higher during the race in front of his home fans.

"If everything goes as it should tomorrow, we should reach fifth or sixth position, which is a step forward, and maybe even more in the race. But for sure, we will do everything possible to achieve a good result for our fans at our home race."

Although Nico Rosberg yet again finished the day quicker than his illustrious team-mate, he confessed he was not happy with the balance with his car during the afternoon session.

"In the wet conditions this morning, the car was very good and our pace looked quick," said Rosberg. "It was more difficult to get the intermediate tyres working, however we didn't do many laps so I'm sure we would have been fine there too.

"In the dry this afternoon, I was less happy with the balance of the car in general. It was difficult as there was so little time to try and do our usual programme so we had to focus on the long runs without making too many set-up changes. We need to have a good look at the data and see what we can change without taking too many risks as I'm not completely happy with the balance yet."

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