• Valencia Test - Day Three

Schumacher reflects on a 'positive' day

Michael Schumacher put the W02 through its paces © Sutton Images

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Michael Schumacher said the final day of testing at Valencia had been "positive" as he clocked the ninth-fastest time in the new Mercedes W02.

The focus was once again on reliability and mileage accumulation, as well as giving Schumacher, who completed 110 laps, time to familiarise himself with the Mercedes KERS system

"We were able to achieve a lot of valuable mileage and it was a positive day," he said. "I'm pleased with that, and with how the car was behaving. Again, of course, this is not our final race car for the season but a lot of elements have already proved to be a significant step forward.

"I felt totally comfortable in the car immediately and noticed how much I had missed driving since November. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and this week gives us a very good idea of where we should concentrate our work. I look forward to going to Jerez now."

At times Schumacher looked a little ragged around the Valencia circuit, but he said that was down to tyre degradation on some of the compounds.

"We covered mileage that we wanted to do," he added. "There is an obvious scenario on the different compounds available; some are more consistent than others and I've had some exciting moments on the track when I've been on certain tyres that wouldn't last - it was like driving on ice. But nevertheless we did our work that we were concentrating on and we are quite happy about that."

But he said he did not have any major concerns about the new tyres.

"I still see that Pirelli is testing out different compounds in order to position themselves so they are on the right track. Let's see how things are going, but I'm positive I can manage the situation."

Ross Brawn added the day had given the team a good chance to carry out reliability checks. "We're starting to get an insight into the car's behaviour and its responses to various set-up changes are proving to be very consistent. After a few difficulties at the start of the test, we have finished with a strong day providing plenty of data and options to take forward to the next test."

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