Michael Schumacher has admitted he is still a "little rusty” on qualifying-style runs, despite taking his Mercedes W01 to third place in the second practice session in Bahrain.
In his first Formula 1 practice session for over three years on Friday morning, his car bottomed out during the new middle section of the Sakhir lap, which meant the German set the ninth-quickest time.
In the afternoon changes were made by Mercedes which allowed Nico Rosberg and Schumacher to set first and third fastest times in the second session.
However, Schumacher admitted that he would have to improve to beat his team-mate, as he was nearly 0.5 seconds slower than Rosberg in both practice sessions in Bahrain.
"That 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," he said.
The 41-year-old seven-time world champion continued: "I certainly feel a little bit rusty, certainly on the one-lap issue I can do better.
"On long runs and consistent runs things are pretty good, I'm quite happy. I will just use the rest of the weekend in order to tweak out the little bits.
"It's not a problem. It's just that for one lap I saw that Nico was four-tenths up and that 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."