Barcelona: Mercedes GP is unlikely to win Formula One's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, according to team driver Michael Schumacher.
"Maybe not," Schumacher said last Friday when asked whether the former Brawn GP team could challenge from the March 14 opener. "At the moment we are not perfectly in the position we would like to be, to be competitive to win the first races straight away."
The seven-time F1 champion, who is back after three years in retirement, said the pecking order was still developing with preseason testing ending at the Circuit de Catalunya today.
Schumacher's lap time of 1 minute, 21.689 seconds was over a second behind leading driver Nico Hulkenberg of Williams. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, arguably the preseason favourite for the driver's title, was a second quicker than the 41-year-old German.
"We're working hard, the season is long. The main issue is not to be far off," Schumacher said. "This is very difficult to judge right now, what is the real picture."
Red Bull and McLaren are also expected to be front-runners, with Mark Webber setting the pace for Red Bull last Thursday.
Schumacher said the car's pace — which helped it win last year's driver and constructors' titles — was improving as his time with the team grew.
"We are working very good together," Schumacher said.
