• Malaysian Grand Prix

F-duct won't put Mercedes on pole - Schumacher

Michael Schumacher is not expecting to fight for pole this weekend despite a positive qualifying session in Melbourne © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Malaysian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Michael Schumacher

• Teams:
• Mercedes

Michael Schumacher is not convinced his Mercedes' DRS-activated F-duct will put him in the mix for pole position at the high-speed Sepang circuit hosting this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes car features a duct in the endplate of the rear wing that is only exposed to airflow when the DRS is open and is believed to channel air to other parts of the car to influence its aerodynamics and increase top speed. The system caused a stir at the opening round of the season in Australia as Lotus and Red Bull believed it was illegal and asked for clarification on the use of so-called F-ducts from the FIA.

It is understood the FIA will stand by its original decision over the legality of the device, although its rivals could still protest if they feel they have grounds to do so.

When asked if the F-duct will offer a big enough performance advantage on Sepang's long straights for Mercedes to challenge for pole this weekend, Schumacher said: "Certainly not. There is no doubt that we have an innovation that gives us some performance but I don't think that it is a huge performance and that we only live from this. We'll find out. I can't really quantify this."

He added: "I think some get a little bit too excited about this compared to reality, but that's the usual story."

Schumacher qualified fourth at the Australian Grand Prix but retired from the race early on with a gearbox problem. However, he is confident the team has now solved the issue.

"It was a one-off. We did quite a few thousand kilometres in winter testing and never had this issue. We understood it though, and fixed it."

Team-mate Nico Rosberg struggled with tyre degradation in Australia, which is expected to be more of a problem in the tropical heat this weekend. But Schumacher said the team will be better prepared for the race this weekend.

"We certainly understood in Melbourne that we have to do a better job in terms of race pace," he added. "I don't think I would have been able to achieve a podium in Melbourne, despite going all the way through. Probably a fifth place would have been the max that we could have had.

"Nevertheless, we have good ideas how to improve on what we learned from Melbourne. Whether that means we're going to be on the podium or not, that's another story because you obviously have at least four cars which are very strong, with two McLarens, two Red Bulls and then you have quite a big group of cars which are very close to each other. So it's going to be a challenge for all of us."

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