Schumi: McLaren look the pick of the bunch

Michael Schumacher reckons McLaren enter the Bahrain GP as the firm favourites after putting in a "strong" performance in pre-season testing.

2008 F1 World Champ Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time of the week at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday, clocking a 1:20.472 to edge out Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber.

As for Schumacher himself, the German was only ninth quickest in the overall times for the week.

The seven-time World Champ, though, admits that the situation could still change ahead of the season-opener.

"They (McLaren) looked very strong, no doubt," Schumacher told reporters.

"But then it depends on who is going to bring what to Bahrain. It's something we'll have to wait for to find out.

"We have some improvement (for Bahrain), but is it much or is it not compared with what the others may or may not do? It's a puzzle that's difficult to read."

Sunday's final day of action saw an interesting battle between Schumacher and Hamilton as the two conducted race simulations at the same time, even running wing to nose around the Spanish track.

"It was fun," Schumacher said of his race with Hamilton.

"It was interesting to see whether overtaking was possible. Obviously it was not possible as we were in different stages of our runs and tyres. At one point I felt there was no point because I was harming my own situation a little bit.

"I basically gave way and basically let him do what he wanted to do and I could continue with what I wanted to do."

Turning his attention to Bahrain, the German, who is gearing up for his first grand prix in more than three years, believes Mercedes GP have cause to be optimistic for the season ahead.

"Those four testing days here in Barcelona have helped a lot, and I am now quite confident for the beginning of the season.

"Quite often, we were carrying a lot of fuel, therefore the times did not always reflect the true picture. It was positive that we worked in a lot of areas and thus gained valuable information.

"We are heading to Bahrain with a good feeling because we know we will have additional new components on our car. But most of all we know that our prospects for the first races are looking very reasonable now."

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