Michael Schumacher admits he hasn’t yet unlocked the secrets of going quickly around the Valencia street course after a low-key opening day’s practice.
Driving the 3.37-mile circuit for the first time, Schumacher set the day’s 11th fastest time, seven places and two-thirds of a second behind his team-mate Nico Rosberg.
The seven-time world champion said he enjoyed the track but hadn’t yet mastered it.
“It was exciting to drive the track for the first time today, probably even to a bigger extent than I had anticipated yesterday after checking it,” he said.
“So this morning for me was mostly about getting a feeling for the track.
“You need to get used to it but I found it quite comfortable to drive even if some of the corners are blind.
“However it's demanding to get the real rhythm which I have not totally found over one lap yet.
“The long runs went okay and all in all it was not too bad today, depending on the fuel loads obviously which we need to look into more deeply now.”
Schumacher apologised to Lewis Hamilton for getting in the McLaren driver’s way on a quick lap in the afternoon at the tricky approach to the final corner.
“I did not see him and was not informed that he was there,” Schumacher explained.
“As I was planning my lap at that moment and looking ahead, I was unfortunately in his way.”
Rosberg is hopeful his pace signals a step forward in the W01’s competitiveness, but stressed that the team needs to qualify better than of late if it is to prosper in the race.
“We've had a productive day and I am feeling comfortable in the car although the tyres were a challenge again with graining and various issues,” he said.
“The option didn't seem to work well but it was the same for everyone and we made the most of it.
“The team has done a good job on our upgrades and I'm sure that they have improved our competitiveness.
“We have a few bits and pieces to resolve overnight but we are on the right track which is nice to see.
“We know that our race pace is better than our qualifying performance at the moment so if we can get our qualifying right, we should make good progress this weekend."
Ross Brawn was satisfied with the progress the team made in evaluating its latest upgrade.
“We had a great deal of work to achieve today with our new developments and it was essential that the cars ran reliably to give us as much track time as possible,” he said.
“Therefore I'm very pleased that this was the case and we have been able to carry out our planned programme.
“It's a good start to the weekend but as always, there is a long way to go and we have a few issues to get to grips with overnight before qualifying.
“From our experiences in Canada, we know that we have to qualify well to avoid compromising our race performance so that will be the focus of our attention this evening and tomorrow morning.”
