• Australian Grand Prix
Comments: 13

Schumacher explains retirement cause

ESPNF1 Staff
March 18, 2012 « Rosberg disappointed by tyre wear | Kovalainen hit with Sepang penalty »
Michael Schumacher retired on lap 11 © Getty Images
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Michael Schumacher explained that he lost drive early in the Australian Grand Prix, forcing him off the track and eventually in to retirement.

Schumacher was running in third place when he came under pressure from Sebastian Vettel. After Vettel ran wide in to turn one, he was quickly on the back of Schumacher again and the Mercedes then ran wide in the same place before coasting back to the pits. Schumacher revealed he had already lost drive and ran wide in order to ensure the car didn't spin.

"It was an unfortunate end to my race when I lost drive going into turn one," Schumacher said. "I was trying different gears and occasionally the drive came back, but in the end, I had to go onto the grass to avoid the risk of the car being forced into a spin. It was especially unfortunate as we have not had this problem during the winter tests and were very reliable. This is why I am not concerned, as I know things like this happen in racing, and our reliability is not in question."

Schumacher added that he was filled with confidence as a result of the performance shown by the car this weekend.

"I believe I could have had a good race this afternoon, and I can still take some positives out of the weekend as we have seen our car was confirming our feelings, and is definitely a clear step forward. We can now build on that and start improving further."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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