• Japanese Grand Prix

Schumacher happy with sixth in Japan

ESPNF1 Staff
October 10, 2010 « Petrov handed Korea grid penalty | »
Michael Schumacher enjoyed his best drive of the season © Getty Images
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Michael Schumachersaid that sixth place was the best he could have achieved after achieving his best result of the season to date.

Schumacher stayed out of trouble from his 10th place starting slot and passed both team-mate Nico Rosberg and Rubens Barrichello to gain further places. After losing ground to team-mate in the pits, Schumacher was set to again pass Rosberg when the younger German crashed out.

"I am quite happy with the race today and the car felt really good," said Schumacher. "The opportunity to make up places was just what I hoped for and sixth place was the maximum that we could have achieved. It was good racing and it must have been very entertaining for the crowd. It was fun to be racing Nico so it is a shame what happened to him. We are now heading to South Korea and although I don't really know what to expect, if our car is as good as it was here, then I hope for another encouraging race."

Mercedes looked set for a strong points haul before Rosberg's retirement only six laps from the finish.

"It was a disappointing end to the weekend today," said Rosberg. "Due to a clutch problem, my start was poor but our strategy was good to change tyres under the safety car on the first lap which enabled me to recover the places and be racing in sixth position. My tyres were suffering from having done such a long stint so it was tough to maintain a good pace but it was enough to keep Michael behind. Then something broke on the rear of the car and put me into the tyre barrier which ended my race early."

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