• Brazilian Grand Prix

Echoes of 2006 for Schumacher

Michael Schumacher fought his way back to seventh place after his puncture © Sutton Images

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• Report:
• Vettel secures third title in epic season finale
  

• Race:
• Brazilian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Michael Schumacher

• Teams:
• Mercedes

Michael Schumacher said that he had memories of 2006 when an early race puncture struck at the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

When retiring for the first time in 2006, Schumacher was fighting Fernando Alonso for the world championship but suffered a puncture on the ninth lap which relegated him to 20th place. A similar problem struck Schumacher in today's race but he said he continued to believe he could salvage points from the situation as he recovered to seventh place.

"What an exciting and eventful Grand Prix!" Schumacher said. "Strangely enough, my last ever Formula One race began with a puncture which pushed me down the running order. But it's always been my philosophy to never give up - there's always a chance, you just have to keep going and seize it when it comes."

When asked for a message to his fans following his final race, Schumacher said the support he had received during his time at Mercedes was "incredible".

"It has been a beautiful time, lots of emotion, lots of good moments we shared; some tough moments we had to share, but most incredible in a way is that I felt a lot of support in these last three years which naturally have been the most difficult for me. But the fans have always been behind me and I'd like to say thank you to all of them."

Schumacher also passed on his congratulations to Sebastian Vettel for his third consecutive title.

"I'm very proud of Sebastian and really thrilled for him. As early as the first lap, I suddenly found him blocking the track facing the wrong way, but then the two of us both staged great comebacks in the race. His performance also showed that you just have to keep plugging away. Even under these difficult conditions, my final Formula One race was tremendous fun, and I would once again like to thank the team and all my fans for their support over the past years. I've enjoyed the time we've spent together very much indeed."

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