Hulkenberg: Williams matching the likes of McLaren

Nico Hulkenberg reckons Williams still have some way to go before matching the pace of this week's Barcelona frontrunners.

Although Hulkenberg was second quickest on the opening day of testing at Barcelona, he was still a full second slower than Red Bull's Mark Webber.

In action again on Friday, the German could only manage eighth place in the morning session, this time 2.876s behind pace-setter Fernando Alonso.

But despite the massive gaps on the timesheets, the rookie racer says Williams aren't that far off the pace but nor are they in the same class as Red Bull and Ferrari.

"It's difficult. I think not quite, but we are not so far away," he told Autosport when asked if Williams could match the pace of the Barcelona front runners.

"I think Ferrari and Red Bull are just a little bit faster everywhere. Then there is a drop down, with teams like us, McLaren, Mercedes, Renault, but it is so difficult to read.

"We did some high and low fuel runs to give me the feeling of how the balance shifts with the car, but I don't want to be thinking about where we would be compared to everyone else on fuel. I just concentrate on myself."

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