• Korean Grand Prix - FP2

Schumacher targets top ten in qualifying

ESPN Staff
October 12, 2012 « Lotus likely to continue with Coanda exhausts | Alonso not worried about times »
Michael Schumacher was half a second off Sebastian Vettel in FP2 © Sutton Images
Enlarge

Michael Schumacher thinks Mercedes can secure a top ten qualifying position to make its strategy easier in the Korean Grand Prix.

Mercedes was relatively competitive during Friday practice at Yeongam, with Schumacher fifth in the second session. Team-mate Nico Rosberg said that the car was well suited to the circuit and Schumacher agreed, referencing a few new parts as having delivered some extra performance as he targeted a place in Q3.

"I was pleased with both sessions today," Schumacher said. "As expected, it looks like our car is better suited to the circuit. The day went well, so I think we can get into the top ten tomorrow and plan our strategy on that basis. We have made some small changes, nothing major, and we looked OK on our long runs. Of course, I haven't been able to study the times from the other teams yet, but we will try to secure a solid result this weekend."

Team principal Ross Brawn, however, was slightly more cautious about Mercedes' long run potential and said predicting the track evolution would be crucial come Sunday.

"We've had a very solid Friday working through our planned programme and were able to complete a lot of running," Brawn said. "The car seems reasonable on lower fuel levels, although there is still work to be done on high fuel. The grip evolves very rapidly here and I expect we will have a different track on Sunday to the one that we saw today, so we need to try and anticipate that. Overall it's been a pretty reasonable day."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close