Schumacher disappointed with himself after missing Q3 in European GP qualifying

The seven-time world champion was just 0.281 seconds off the fastest time in Q2, but the competitive nature of the field meant that was only good enough for 12th on the grid.

Fernando Alonso, who qualified just ahead of Schumacher in 11th, said he could not be too disappointed with such a small gap to the pace, but Schumacher said that he was disappointed with himself because he did not put all of his best sectors together on the same lap.

"Naturally you have a slight disappointment," Schumacher said of missing out on Q3. "Clearly I could have easily been in the top 10 if you take my best sectors.

"I just didn't put them together, which for myself is a disappointment because I didn't perform as I'm used to performing.

"A realistic situation [for qualifying] was position five, sort of middle of the pack in Q3. That would have been possible. Everything is so close it's just unfortunate to be where we are."

Schumacher added that he took heart from the fact that Sergio Perez finished on the podium from as low as 15th on the grid in Canada.

"If you took the last race, where Perez started from and where he finished, let's hope I can do something similar," he said.

"[Being eliminated in Q2] offers the chance to make a different strategy, and we will see tomorrow if that makes sense or doesn't make sense. Having fresh tyres can help a slight bit, but not a big deal."