Schuey reckons Ralf won on merit

The Ferrari star lost his front wing after clashing with Montoya and was delayed by having to pit for a new nose section. Meanwhile, Montoya lost a lot of places and was then given a pitlane drive-through penalty.

But Schumacher claims that Ralf Schumacher's Williams would have emerged victorious even if he and Montoya had got through the first corner cleanly. "He drove an expectional race," said Schuey Sr. "I think he would have won anyway. If you look at his times they were similar to Montoya's, who was on a two-stop strategy and therefore had a lighter car. Ralf was very strong with a heavier car. I am really happy for him."

Schumacher has maintained his view that the Montoya clash was a racing incident. "That's racing," he said. A situation like this one doesn't usually happen often. Having said that, it was a shame I lost the front wing. We were very close. Looking at the video, I did actually notice I am much further over the kerb than I had thought at the time. I cannot really remember. Obviously, I was concentrating more on the car on my left, so I was more aware of where the left side of my car was rather than the right."

Having finished third at Sepang, Schumacher is happy to hold a two point lead over Montoya in the championship. "I can only repeat that we were expecting the championship to be very close," he said. "I have said this often since the start of the year. It seems that people forgot that, after our unexpectedly good performance in Melbourne.

"For our part, we are not surprised. On the contrary, I am happy to have picked up 14 points so far. On top of that, I would also repeat that we should not yet be writing off McLaren- Mercedes."