• Brazilian Grand Prix

Schumacher blames Senna for clash

Michael Schumacher blamed Bruno Senna's "lack of experience" for the incident which gave him a puncture and ruined his race in Brazil.

Schumacher was attempting to pass Senna for ninth place around the outside in to turn one when the pair touched in the braking zone. Schumacher than didn't appear to leave Senna enough room and the Renault's front wing punctured his left rear tyre. Senna was reprimanded with a drive through penalty, but Schumacher said he was left to hope for intervention from the weather to give him any chance of a decent result.

"It was a bit of a shame today with the incident with Bruno, which was caused perhaps due to some lack of experience, but then those things happen," Schumacher said. "Otherwise I think we could have had a nice race with some solid points. After the collision, all I could do was try to fight as much as possible, and hope for rain which did not come."

Schumacher said that the collision also affected the balance of his car, but that with the race now over he was already looking forward to 2012.

"In the first stint after the incident, my car was not well-balanced with a lot of oversteer. Unfortunately we could not change this at the pit stop which handicapped the balance in the second stint, whereas in the last stint the balance was good. We very much look forward to next season now. With all the effort that is being put into the development of the car, I am confident we can make another step forward to where Mercedes belongs; fighting at the top."

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