Analysis: Schumacher Takes a Hit

If Michael Schumacher has been accused of making Formula One predictable and boring this season, Sunday's inaugural Chinese Grand Prix showed he was human after all.

Nobody could have expected Ferrari's all-conquering Champion, winner of the first five races of the year and then seven in a row after a blip in Monaco, to have made such a mess of things.

The German's magic touch deserted him in front of the biggest audience of the season and he was unlucky, in itself remarkable for a man who sometimes seems to attract all the good fortune going.

Yet drivers make their own luck and Schumacher certainly created a rod for his own back.

The 35-year-old, who spun off on Saturday in the worst qualifying performance of his career, started from the pitlane and 56 laps later crossed the line in 12th place for his first non-scoring finish since March 1999.

Despite plenty of retirements in the past, never before had he finished a race lower than 11th.

During the race he banged wheels, spun, and picked up a puncture. By the end, Schumacher had been lapped by winning teammate Rubens Barrichello.

It might seem, with an unprecedented seventh Championship won last month along with Ferrari's sixth successive constructors' title, that Schumacher had lost some of his hunger for success.

"I was just racing for pleasure. I have nothing to lose, nothing to win any more, and nothing to prove," he said.

Still Hungry

However team boss Jean Todt laughed at any suggestion that Schumacher, beaten in the last three races, had eased off. "I may look unfriendly, but those who may read something into this understand nothing about motor racing," he said.

Schumacher was fastest in pre-qualifying and also set the lap record in the closing stages of the race.

"We know very well that if you are not in front it can be unpredictable," said Todt. "But he has finished twice second (in the last three races).

"If you take Spa, we were beaten because they were better than us, as simple as that. If you take Monza, he spun because of dry tyres on wet conditions and he finished in Rubens' gearbox."

Only Japan and the season-ending race in Brazil remain and Todt said Ferrari, with 14 wins from 16 races, would be pushing hard to win them both.

"For the last two races our sole objective is to secure victory, as our will to win is still as strong as ever, despite all our successes to date," the Frenchman said.

Barrichello's second win in a row was both historic and commercially important for Ferrari, with Formula One making its debut in a fast-moving market for carmakers and sponsors, and the race provided plenty of entertainment.

All agreed that the $325 million circuit set new standards, while team boss Eddie Jordan - with three local sponsors for his struggling cars - was gushing in his praise.

"It's one of the slickest and most professional efforts you will find and the welcome and happiness of the people here is a compliment to this fabulous new event on the calendar," he declared in a statement.

Mao Xiaohan, the circuit's general manager, added that the race had been "a fantastic advertisement for Shanghai...a business card for all that see our city and our motor racing facilities as something they can invest in on a long term basis, and from which they will get a valuable return."