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Schumacher blazes a trail in Jerez testing

The Silver Arrows Mercedes of Michael Schumacher looked impressive on the second day of F1 testing at Jerez.
The Silver Arrows Mercedes of Michael Schumacher looked impressive on the second day of F1 testing at Jerez.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • The second day of Formula One testing takes place in Jerez, Spain, on Friday
  • Michael Schumacher goes quickest in his Mercedes Silver Arrows car
  • The multiple world champion faster than Felipe Massa, who was quickest on Thursday
  • Jenson Button took over from Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren and finished third
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(CNN) -- Michael Schumacher's Mercedes Silver Arrows produced some impressive times to go quickest after the second day of Formula One testing at Jerez, Spain.

The multiple world champion, who struggled to compete with the fastest cars last season, displayed signs that the 2011 campaign might be different for the German manufacturer by setting a best time of one minute 20.352 seconds over 112 laps.

"It clearly was a productive day, and obviously I am happy about that. We were focusing on long runs and being able to produce such a lot of mileage is positive in terms of reliability," Schumacher told the official Mercedes GP website.

Felipe Massa's Ferrari, which topped the timesheets on the opening day of testing on Thursday, was again amongst the fastest cars, completing the day just a tenth of a second down on the Mercedes.

Jenson Button took over from Lewis Hamilton in the new McLaren MP4-26 and the 2009 world champion ended the day third quickest.

Spain's Jaime Alguersuari produced some eye-catching times to complete the day fourth in his Toro Rosso, despite spinning off the track, while the Red Bull of Mark Webber finished the day in fifth.

Sauber rookie Sergio Perez, who was second quickest on Thursday, caused some front-end damage to his C30 after a late crash, while the Lotus Renault of Vitaly Petrov was another car to spin off the track during testing.

Lotus Renault will turn their attentions to finding a replacement for Robert Kubica over the weekend with Nick Heidfeld and Bruno Senna both having try- outs in the car.

Venezuelan rookie Pastor Maldonado finished 10th in his Williams, despite completing only 38 laps, the fewest of all the cars testing.