Michael Schumacher declared himself happy with the opening day of the second F1 pre-season test at Catalunya after posting the sixth quickest time in the new Mercedes W03.
The first day of testing marked the first public runs of the new car, which was launched on Tuesday morning at the circuit after a shakedown at
Silverstone last week and a private test at Catalunya on Sunday.
Although his day came to a slightly premature end after a hydraulic issue on the car, the seven-time champion said his early impressions of the car were good and that Mercedes had a solid platform with which to prepare for the new season.
"My initial feelings with our new car are certainly good,” he said. “I'm happy with the different evaluations that we have done over the last week, but obviously with the rule changes, we won't know more until later.
“It's certainly an improvement and we have worked hard on the areas we had defined last year. The aerodynamics figures look good so I'm not worried about the shape of the nose!
“Even though we had the hydraulic problem today, I'm pleased with all the mileage we have achieved so far with the new car."
Nico Rosberg will be in the car tomorrow before Schumacher returns to action on Thursday.
