Hydraulic problem halts Schuey’s test day

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher's running was cut short in Valencia on Wednesday when a hydraulics problem turned out to be Mercedes' first mechanical issue of the year. Nevertheless, the 7-time World Champion still managed the third quickest time of the day and notched up another 82 laps. With Michael having shared the cockpit of the MGP W01 with team-mate Nico Rosberg on Monday, the latter enjoyed his first full day of running on Tuesday before handing over to the former Ferrari driver.

With a best lap time of 1:12.438, German Schumacher finished just under a second down on Fernando Alonso's leading time as Mercedes completed a total of 1,134 kilometers (705 miles) over its first three days. However, the mechanical problem eventually endured that Schumacher missed out on the final hour.

"I'm very happy to have been back in a Formula 1 car this week," 'Schumi' summed up. "We had a short run on Monday and then almost a full day today, which has been good. The experience has been very positive and the car is running smoothly, with just a small hydraulic leak which stopped us slightly early today." The main focus is on reliability and doing as many laps as we can, so we're not too worried about looking at the lap times right now. It's a new challenge and a new experience for me this year but knowing Ross (Brawn, Team Principal) so well and working with him again has made it very easy and I feel at home in the team already.

"I'm feeling fresh and motivated and very positive about the season ahead. I can't wait to be back in the car to continue the program in Jerez next week."