Schumacher surprised by Bahrain result

Schumacher and his Ferrari team struggled during the 2005 season, the German scoring just one win after having grabbed 13 victories the previous year.

The team, however, showed promising form during winter testing and Schumacher started the season strongly with pole position in Bahrain.

The German driver led for a big part of the race, only to lose out to world champion Fernando Alonso by 1.2 seconds.

Despite losing the win, Schumacher was delighted with Ferrari's progress.

"I hadn't expected that we would be doing quite as well during the race," said Schumacher on his website. "If you think back to how far behind we were at the end of last season, if you consider how hopeless our situation was, then this is a phenomenal result.

"We all know how hard it is to make even the tiniest bit of progress in Formula One - and considering that, it's almost unbelievable that we managed to close that big gap. It's wonderful to see that all the hard work over the winter has paid off, and I'm happy for everyone on our team.

"There is no better reward  and no better motivation for the next races than this."

Schumacher might have won the race had he not lost a lap's worth of fuel during qualifying, but the Ferrari driver admitted Sunday's result made up for that.

"Of course that's a shame, but the positive insights we gained during the race overshadow this by far," he added.

And with the Malaysian Grand Prix taking place this weekend, Schumacher is optimistic he will be able to keep his momentum going.

"I can't think of any reasons why we shouldn't do well there," he said. "We're all eager to carry on like this now. It's nice to be able to fight back again - it's what I had wished for.

"I'm ever so excited about this season. It's going to be close, it's going to be a tough fight, but that's the way it's got to be."