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Mark Webber has poured cold water upon Michael Schumacher?s impressive recent testing pace for Mercedes Grand Prix at Jerez, suggesting the German legend?s eye-catching lap times were ?probably just a little show for Germany? and not representative of his true form heading into the F1 2011 campaign.

Following on from a difficult first test in Valencia earlier this month ? when the new Mercedes MGP W02 proved to be neither particularly fast nor reliable ? the Brackley-based outfit on the face of things made a quantum leap forward when the action shifted further south in Spain last week, with Schumacher pacing the field on day two and lapping a close third-quickest on day three with Pirelli?s super-soft rubber to close out the test with the best time of any of the 24 drivers in attendance.

However, given that team-mate Nico Rosberg struggled to reach the same kind of lap times during his two days in the cockpit and that ?Schumi? himself has admitted to being ?slightly concerned? at the car?s lack of speed [see separate story ? click here], Red Bull Racing star Mark Webber wonders if the Jerez performance was in truth little more than a publicity stunt to try to ease the mounting pressure on the team.

?It was probably just a little show for Germany,? the Australian mused. ?The super-soft tyre is much faster, but they only last for one lap ? [and after his fast lap] he was immediately two seconds off the pace once again.?

?I was on a ten-lap run, so I don?t know if you can call that very short,? countered Schumacher, dismissing suggestions that he had barely a thimble-full of fuel in his car at the time. ?It is also true that we are not the only team to have tried these tyres.?

Schumacher?s former team-mate Felipe Massa, however, has sprung to the seven-time world champion?s defence, insisting that it is ?not news? that he was so quick since ?he?s won more than any of us? ? but still speculation persists that the times set by the 42-year-old as well as the headline-stealing efforts of Nick Heidfeld on his testing debut for Lotus Renault GP and Rubens Barrichello for cash-strapped Williams were more about showboating to sponsors than any indicator of genuine potential.

Lotus Renault GP needs to placate its financial backers in the wake of Robert Kubica?s rallying accident, whilst Williams is set to float on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange early next month.

?There are big differences between the different types of tyres,? conceded 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button, with Lotus Renault GP reserve driver Bruno Senna ? who tested on Sunday at Jerez ? assessing the difference between the hard compound and the super-soft to be in the region of 1.5 to 1.7 seconds.

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Michael Schumacher admits he is ?concerned? by the pace shown by Mercedes during pre-season testing ahead of the new F1 season, despite an improved showing from the new W02 at Jerez this week.

The German posted the quickest time on the second day of running on Friday in what has been a better week for the team after a difficult session at Valencia, where the car struggled to match the pace of the front-runners.

However, Schumacher admits that there is concern within the team about the pace of the car despite the fact he concedes that teams will only truly know where they stand when they arrive in Bahrain for the opening round of the year.

"Yes, we are slightly concerned but then on the other hand we know where we will and want to go to," he told the BBC. "The first race will tell us truly what is the situation."

Going into the new season, Mercedes has already said it is keen to try and fight closer towards the front of the field after a 2010 campaign which failed to deliver, but Schumacher insisted it would be difficult to challenge for the title.

"For the team it is very important to climb the ladder and have more success than last year,? he said. "We are Mercedes and we have a very clear target. It is going to be difficult to meet this target straight away this year particularly after last year's experience. But it is a programme and a vision for more than just the short term.

"We have a character of car that we built up, but we have a new character of tyres and how much they will be in harmony is difficult to say at this moment in time. It seemed less important last year and is more important this year."

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Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he doesn?t expect record-breaking multiple F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher to be noticeably stronger in 2011 than he was in 2010 ? as he himself vowed not to change his famously uncompromising driving style regardless of whether circumstances require it.

Schumacher was far from the invincible force he had once been when he made his much-hyped return to the grid with Mercedes Grand Prix last season ? finding himself routinely outpaced, outperformed and outscored by young team-mate and compatriot Nico Rosberg. Cue a number of raised eyebrows when Ferrari?s Fernando Alonso mischievously pinpointed the German legend as his greatest threat this year [see separate story ? click here].

Whilst Jenson Button warns that it would be unwise in the extreme ever to write the 91-time grand prix-winner off, his own McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Hamilton does not seem to think he will have much to fear from ?Schumi? over the coming months.

?I think when Michael gets the car around him that he feels he has been a part of, he will be competitive,? Button mused. ?With Ross [Brawn ? team principal] at the helm, they?ll produce a competitive car and give Nico and Michael a chance to have good results. They?re definitely a team that will be fighting for victories this year.?

?He?s a seven-time world champion, so you have to assume he will be at his best this year if he wants to be, and if his car and his team have done a good job,? reflected Hamilton, before adding: ?Personally, I don?t think it?s going to be much different to the previous season, but he can easily prove us wrong.?

As to his own preparations, the 2008 F1 World Champion conceded that whilst his hard-charging, balls-out on-track manner might feasibly have cost him greater success during his fledgling top flight career to-date ? with Shanghai, 2007 the most obvious example of paying the price for pushing just too hard, an error that arguably lost him the crown in his maiden campaign ? he will not be moderating his approach.

?I?d love to have won more races, more championships, especially that first year,? the 26-year-old confessed, in bullish spirits at the Berlin unveiling of McLaren?s MP4-26 contender. ?I look back and it?s ?could have, should have, would have? ? [but] I didn?t get where I am today without driving this way. I?ve been able to win championships throughout my life, in every category I have ever competed in ? and that?s a lot of championships.

?There have been times when my driving style has not suited the car, the tyres or the tracks where I?ve raced ? but I?ve always driven like this and always will. I?ll always be the last to brake ? it?s how I am, that?s what makes me who I am.?

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