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F1 field tighter in 2012 - Schumacher

ESPNF1 Staff
March 5, 2012 « Raikkonen 'positive' but plays down fastest time | Kovalainen sure he would win the title in the right car »
Michael Schumacher is expecting a close battle this year © Sutton Images
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Michael Schumacher believes this year's championship will be much tighter than in recent years although he is not willing to speculate how Mercedes will stack up against its rivals.

Sunday marked the end of pre-season testing and the next time the cars hit the track will be during first practice at the Australian Grand Prix. Mercedes' new car broke cover at the second test, but Schumacher is confident the team has covered decent ground since.

"The car felt good from the very beginning, and we have managed to improve it over the test days, so I think we can say that we are very well prepared," he said. "Again, what this means compared to our competitors is something I want only to go into after some races, as we all know that testing does not show everything. What we can say though is that the field is tighter than it has been, so we are looking forward to an exciting season"

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn is also convinced that 2012 will be a thrilling season.

"As usual, it would be unwise to make any judgement on our competitiveness at this stage, and I will certainly refrain from doing so," he said. "It is going to be fascinating to see how it all turns out and I'm sure that this is going to be a very exciting season for the teams and fans. We are all looking forward to the action getting underway in Australia in a fortnight."

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