Ralf rues Coulthard contact
Williams' Ralf Schumacher was gutted his first race back from injury ended in the garages after he was punted off track by McLaren's David Coulthard in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix

The German, who was back in action after a six-race lay-off due to the injuries he sustained at the United States Grand Prix - was in fourth spot when Coulthard made a lunge down the inside of Schumacher at the Turn-1 hairpin. The resultant damage forced Schumacher to retire on lap 37 losing vital points for the team.
"It's a true pity that my race had an early end," Schumacher said. "My car had a puncture following contact with Coulthard. He tried to overtake me but I think his move was a bit too optimistic. Anyway, I came into the pits to fix the car which we thought had been damaged but after a careful look, the engineers decided that I could continue the race.
"However, too much time had elapsed by then and it was too late to get out on track again, because I would have been two laps down. It's a shame, because my race had been good until then and I had been fighting in the top five positions. It's true I had lost a place at the start, but all in all I was in a position to collect some useful points."
All was not lost, though, for team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya brought his car home in fifth spot despite a difficult race.
"My start wasn't too bad and I was able to pass Panis but then I went to the inside and it was so dirty that it was like stopping and everybody passed me back," the Colombian said. "I tried to regain my position and I overtook Jacques Villeneuve twice but I didn't have enough traction and he just passed me back. It was real fun! It's good to have achieved fifth position from where we started and I am glad to have collected some good points for the team."
Technical director Sam Michael added: "It was not a good day in terms of results. However, the car pace and strategy was not bad. At least Juan drove through the field and picked up some points. What happened between Ralf and Coulthard was a racing incident and unfortunately it resulted in Ralf's car not scoring points. In terms of reliability, we had no problems."

Post-Race Press Conference - Chinese GP
Button Urges BAR to Improve Starts

Latest news
Ranking Lewis Hamilton's 10 F1 seasons with Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton’s decade at Mercedes has been one of remarkable success not seen before in Formula 1.
Dennis singles out Jaguar as Porsche's biggest Formula E threat
Jake Dennis says Porsche cannot let off its development of its Gen3 Formula E powertrain, and singled out Jaguar as a threat to the German manufacturer in the coming rounds.
Verstappen buoyed by new handling characteristics of 2023 F1 tyres
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is hopeful the new Pirelli tyres will help further dial out the inherent understeer of the current generation of cars.
Pastrana adds NASCAR Truck Series race to Daytona programme
Travis Pastrana has added the season-opening NASCAR Truck Series race to his appearance at Daytona International Speedway this month.
Why Albon won't be "throwing around laptops" to gain a 2023 F1 edge
OPINION: At the Williams 2023 Formula 1 season launch, Alex Albon’s easy-going nature was again a point of focus. But does being “too nice” really matter in modern F1? Albon’s own expressions put that in an intriguing new light
How the last Sauber-built Alfa offers F1 2023 evolution clues
Alfa Romeo has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal a new car for 2023, in addition to a fresh livery. This offered a first look at some of the understated changes produced by the revised regulations, along with points of convergence in the second year of the ground effect rules
The pioneering F1 car that preceded Lotus’s terminal decline
In the hands of Ayrton Senna the actively suspended 99T would be the last F1 race-winning Lotus but, as STUART CODLING reveals, it was a complicated machine that caused more problems than it solved
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.