• Indian Grand Prix

Schumacher admits to challenging day

ESPNF1 Staff
October 28, 2011 « Massa not reading in to times | Rosberg praises 'awesome' track »
Michael Schumacher runs wide © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links

Michael Schumacher admitted it had been a 'challenging' day for Mercedes after he could only manage the 21st fastest time of free practice despite managing substantial lap time.

Schumacher had talked up his team's chances on Friday, saying he thought the new Buddh circuit would suit the car but the seven-time world champion struggled with his balance in the afternoon session.

"This morning, I was happy with the balance of the car, however this afternoon was more challenging for us," said Schumacher. "We weren't really able to get into working properly for various reasons, including the red flag, and therefore tomorrow we need to work on the set-up for both qualifying and the race.

"This is a very interesting track with a challenging layout, and it's certainly enjoyable to drive. As we expected, off-line it is extremely dusty but the racing line became quite grippy over the day."

Team boss Ross Brawn echoed Schumacher's view, stating that the key will be to anticipate the levels of grip on the circuit by Sunday.

"It's always interesting to explore a new track for the first time, and the grip levels changed a great deal during the two sessions, so the trick will be anticipating where they will be by the race on Sunday," said Brawn. The majority of our programme today focused on race preparation and the car seems in reasonable shape."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices