Ralf welcomes points after troubled race

"That was a very turbulent race and after everything that happened we are happy to take away three points," said Schumacher after finishing the chaotic race in sixth position.

"A lot of things went badly, but the rain was especially difficult at the start of the race. The track was really wet and we just could not warm up the tyres," the German added.

"It was like running on smooth ice and we were extremely slow so it was pretty hard work. As the track got drier we improved our pace and the Bridgestone standard wets worked extremely well even in dry conditions.

"At the moment when we decided to change to dry tyres it might have been quite risky. But it was a risk we had to take and it worked. On dry tyres we were quick and I was able to make up ground and take sixth place."

Teammate Jarno Trulli had an even more troubled race, which culminated in an engine failure with just five laps to go.

"This has simply been a chaotic weekend from start to finish," he said. "During the first lap I was hit by a car on the infield and I lost several positions. Then during the first stint we had a major struggle for grip which got worse as the rain increased.

"Then when I could have done with some luck from the safety car I pitted a lap too soon and I was stuck behind it a lap down. I had been starting to make up ground but I was then stuck behind a lot of cars that were slower than me. That lost me a few seconds a lap and with the strategy I had it ruined my race.

"As the track got drier and the temperatures went up, the car became quicker and we were doing pretty well in the last stint on dry tyres until we suffered our engine failure.

"We should have finished in the points but in the end everything that could have gone wrong did. We will hope for a more predictable weekend in Turkey and a better result."