Schumacher hindered by red flags

Yesterday's pacesetter set the third-fastest time at the Spanish track today, as he completed 114 laps.

The seven-time world champion said he was pleased to have another day of strong reliability, but he was unable to complete his testing plan due to three red flags late on.

"It was a bit of a shame - we had a specific programme running in the afternoon that got cancelled out due to the red flags," Schumacher told reporters at Jerez.

"But that's the situation in testing and we have to deal with it. I'm quite happy today, we did over 100 laps. That was our priority and we achieved it."

Schumacher added that he was not shocked to see countryman Nick Heidfeld setting the pace on his first day driving for Renault.

"Nick had a good performance by the end of last year, so it is no surprise that he can do this here," he said.

When asked if the performance of the Renault should be taken seriously, he added: "I think so. I'm pretty sure he was on reasonably soft tyres, but we have seen that car to be strong already in Valencia."