• Japanese Grand Prix - FP2

Schumacher admits to driver error

Michael Schumacher: "I went a bit wide on the entry to turn 13 and I guess I touched the grass" © Sutton Images

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Michael Schumacher said he simply misjudged the entrance to Spoon corner when he had his accident during the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Schumacher lost his front wing against the barrier at Spoon after touching the grass on the entrance to the corner and sliding across the run-off area. He said he was fine but admitted the accident had been his fault.

"First of all it wasn't heavy, it was a small impact," he said. "Basically, I went a bit wide on the entry to turn 13 and I guess I touched the grass and lost control for that reason. At that moment you are already focusing on the entry for the corner so you sort of lose the vision to the outside, especially with our low seat position you don't always have perfect vision. I made a mistake there and lost control."

He said the session had already got off to a bad start as his mechanics made changes to the car over the break and it was not ready for the beginning of the session.

"We were rather compromised because we changed quite a few bits on the car over the break and it was not ready for the start - the same on Nico [Rosberg]'s side. So it was not as much as we would have liked to do but let's see what we can learn from what we did."

After announcing his retirement on Thursday, Schumacher, who has a ten-place grid penalty hanging over him, said he wanted to put in a good show for the fans.

"The main response I want to show is on track with a good result," he said. "But we didn't have a good Friday with the little mistake on the entry of turn 13 and mainly we didn't get the hang of the track with the car. I hope that's better tomorrow."

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