Sauber happy to be 1.3s off Mercedes

Felipe Nasr

Felipe Nasr says Sauber will be happy if it gets to the first race of the season and is 1.3s slower than Mercedes.

Nico Rosberg set the pace on the second day of the final pre-season test in Barcelona, going comfortably clear of the rest of the field on soft tires. Nasr completed a race simulation on Friday but also managed to put in a soft tire lap that was 1.3s off Rosberg's time and he says Sauber will be happy if the gap is the same come Melbourne.

"It was a very productive day for me, and the most important thing for me right now is to get as much mileage as I can in the car and feel comfortable," Nasr said. "We managed to work on a full program, doing fast laps in the morning with the medium and soft compounds and in the afternoon we completed a race simulation, with starts, pit stops, etc.

"I feel that the car is evolving every day and we are working in the right direction. The car has shown consistent and it's responding the way we expected it to be.

"I don't want to get too excited, but being realistic we are much better than we were last year. We still don't know where we are compared to the competition, but we made a step forward.

"Mercedes' time does not surprise us to be honest. If we are 1.3 seconds behind them in Australia we will be happy, as it is half what we had last year. But we will only know that when we get there."