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Brawn admits to pre-season worries

Mercedes hope the upgraded W02 can challenge for victories © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Rubens Barrichello
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• Michael Schumacher

• Teams:
• Mercedes

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has admitted that he was nervous ahead of the final Barcelona test, with a lot riding on the W02's new upgrade.

The car was launched with a basic specification, and was a second off the pace during the early test sessions, but the aerodynamic and exhaust updates that Mercedes added at the Circuit de Catalunya saw them set the fastest time of the week. Brawn, however, was still not certain if the team had completely closed the gap.

"Whether we have done enough or not is difficult to say," Brawn told Frankfurter Allgemeine. "It was hard to keep calm, and I was constantly reminding the team to stick to the plan. In situations like that, it's tempting to react and waste resources."

Michael Schumacher set the quickest time in the car, and was pleased with the progress that Mercedes had made over the winter, but stopped short of making any predictions.

"All I can say is that we finally found the right balance and the aerodynamic package works," Schumacher is quoted by El Pais. "As for whether we will be in front in Australia, I don't know."

With forecasts based on pre-season testing notoriously difficult to make, none of the teams appear sure of where they stand in relation to each other. And Rubens Barrichello has said that this winter has been more confusing than most.

"Throughout my career I have never seen a pre-season that is so difficult to interpret," Barrichello told O Estado de S.Paulo. "What you can say is that Red Bull and Ferrari seem to be in front, while Williams has improved, but I am sure there are some cards hidden up sleeves."

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