Ralf pleased with points despite problems

The German driver started from 15th position after being hit with a penalty for replacing his engine ahead of yesterday's qualifying.

In the race, Schumacher was caught up in the first corner accident and lost his front wing.

Despite that, he fought back and finished in seventh place.

"It was always going to be hard work starting so far back on the grid today so it was a big achievement to score two points," said Schumacher. "Of course there was also the danger of being caught up in an incident at the first corner here and so it proved. It was chaotic and unfortunately I lost my front wing.

"I lost time when I pitted to replace it, but at least we were able to fill up with fuel so we would need only one more stop. Early on in the first stint I struggled with understeer on the heavy load but that improved after the safety car and I was able to make up some ground.

"The balance was good after my second stop and I was able to push hard. Again we have shown a lot of potential this weekend. Now it's just down to us to get it right and avoid any more small problems. That way we can challenge for the podium again soon."

Teammate Jarno Trulli was also involved in the first turn chaos, the Italian losing a lot of places. He went on to finish in ninth place.

"That was a difficult afternoon for me, beginning with the confusion at the start," said Trulli. "The first corner here is hard, braking downhill and it will always make for treacherous starts to the races. Today was one of those days and when I was hit from behind I could not avoid hitting a car in front of me.

"I lost positions and it was a hard battle from there. I enjoyed the first part of the race and made up ground but the main problem for me was the safety car, which came at just the wrong time for me. The car in front of me also slowed down excessively before the field had closed up and it all meant that I lost a lot of the gap that I had gained.

"But the main problem for me was that my tyre choice was a bit too conservative for the race. Yesterday I was confident because I knew from practice that they would be consistent. But they behaved just as they had in qualifying and it was not enough to challenge any higher."