• Spanish Grand Prix - FP2

Mercedes aiming for top six in qualifying - Schumacher

Michael Schumacher thinks the Mercedes are capable of lining up fifth and sixth on the grid in Spain © Sutton Images

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• Report:
• Webber pips Hamilton in second practice
  

• Race:
• Spanish Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Nico Rosberg
• |
• Michael Schumacher

• Teams:
• Mercedes

Michael Schumacher believes Mercedes can fight for the third row in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Schumacher has not qualified better than eighth this year, although team-mate Nico Rosberg started from third on the grid at the last race in Turkey. Mercedes has brought a series of updates this weekend to improve the car's consistency, but Schumacher is wary that its rivals have also improved.

"We have had quite a reasonable Friday and have clearly demonstrated an upwards tendency with our improvements seeming to work well," he said. "Saying that, the other teams have improved too, so without having had a chance to look deeper into the data, I would say that we may be fighting for the third row. We will continue to work further on our performance for tomorrow."

Nico Rosberg, who struggled for race pace in Turkey and finished fifth, is also confident Mercedes has made progress.

"It was a good day in terms of set-up and we learned quite a few things about our car. Of course, it's difficult to say where we really are because the hard tyres didn't work so well today and it was very windy. However, we had a nice long run and our preparation with the car is certainly better compared to the last race. The updates are working quite well so far, and thanks for that to the boys in the factory."

The hard tyres are made of a new compound, which has been extensively tested by Pirelli, but offered up less grip than expected during Friday practice. Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug is confident his team would get on top of the problem ahead of the race.

"A first day with a total of 126 laps for Michael and Nico gave us the opportunity to learn a lot about the new prime tyre which has not been tested before at this track. At the beginning, it looked difficult to make this tyre work for most of the teams, however we have learned a lot today which will be useful to get the set-up of our cars right tomorrow and on Sunday. Our target for the rest of the weekend is to again be in the top five as at the last two races."

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