From GMM

Even Nico Rosberg's tendency to be very careful with his words this year could not hide his pleasure after blowing away a seven time world champion in Shanghai.

At the wheel of the sister Mercedes, Rosberg qualified just a tenth off the front row of the grid, while Michael Schumacher comparatively languished a full 7 tenths behind.

Asked if he is happy with his fourth consecutive qualifying victory against the returning Schumacher, and the apparently growing gap between them, the 24-year-old answered: "Yes, definitely.

"I am satisfied with my performance and of course I am happy to be in front of Michael. I am also surprised because I didn't expect to be so far up the grid."

Schumacher described his travails at the wheel of the W01 so far this weekend as "pretty tricky", admitting that he has struggled with the balance of the car in China and "particularly in qualifying".

It emerges that the 41-year-old opted to qualify with Mercedes' new F-duct system, while Rosberg did not.***

"The reason (for the decision) is perhaps that I have spent a lot of time with the (new) wing this weekend, while Nico has spent a lot of time with the old one.

"We will certainly be wiser after the weekend and then know what to do for the future," added Schumacher.

He admitted to being disappointed with the 7 tenth gap to Rosberg. "The gap has never been so big," said the German. "Of course I knew where the seven tenths come from, but it's still a pity."

***UPDATE:

After qualifying seven tenths off teammate Nico Rosberg's time, Michael Schumacher on Saturday consoled himself by knowing the two W01 cars had not been identical.

But it turns out that both Schumacher and Rosberg did in fact qualify with the F-duct system aboard their grey cars on Saturday afternoon.

According to the German news agency SID, Schumacher only discovered that Rosberg had also used the system in the post-session debrief.

"In the meeting beforehand I understood that Nico would use the other wing, but that was not the case," said the 41-year-old.