Rusty Schumacher vows to close gap on Rosberg

Michael Schumacher needs "a little time" to get back up to speed in formula one.

That was the summary of Mercedes’ Norbert Haug, after the seven time world champion was slower than his 24-year-old teammate Nico Rosberg in both Friday practice sessions in Bahrain.

"It is reasonable to give him a little time. It cannot be that he is away for three years and then takes his car straight to pole," Haug told Germany’s Sky.

Schumacher, 41, admitted his half-second deficit to Rosberg on his best single-lap practice run is "a bit too much for my standards".

"I’ve got to raise my game a bit and I’m sure I’m able to," the record winner of 91 grands prix is quoted as saying by the BBC.

And he said in the official team press release: "I am still a little rusty on one lap runs and need to get back into the routine."