Schumacher endures another 'tough race'

The world champion, who accepted the blame for the incident, was forced to pit after the to replace his front wing, and then lost further time when he was given a drive-through penalty for the clash. However, Schumacher fought back through the field to finish sixth, and declared himself happy given the circumstances.

"It was a tough race with an unfortunate start," said Schumacher. "I made a mistake and hit Jarno and I have apologised to him. That was the decisive moment of my race. It came as a big surprise that I was still able to fight for points after I pitted for the drive-through penalty. So, I am happy enough in the circumstances. Let's hope the next race will be better."

Some consolation for Ferrari came from Rubens Barrichello, who took the Italian team's first podium finish of the year, coming home second behind race winner Kimi Raikkonen. He lost time avoiding the opening lap troubles, but fought his way up to second. "The car set-up was fantastic but having fallen back, I had to catch up and that compromised my race," said Barrichello. "After that it was trouble free."

Ferrari boss Jean Todt agreed with Schumacher that it had been a tough race for the team, but was relived to leave Malaysia having scored 11 points. "All things considered, Michael's sixth place is significant for the Drivers' championship," said Todt. "Rubens drove a good race to take second place. We have therefore picked up a total of 11 points, which are important for both championships."