Schumacher takes blame for ending winning streak

The Ferrari driver led the Sao Paulo race from pole position until the BMW-Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya muscled past on the third lap. But after that he could not keep pace with the Colombian even though he was on a lighter fuel load.

Eventual race-winner David Coulthard then out-paced the German as the Ferrari spun twice in the rain. Afterwards the world champion said he was puzzled by the car's lack of performance and speculated something may have broken after his clash with Montoya.

But a week of exhaustive checks failed to find any faults on the car.

"There was no one particular problem with the car," said Schumacher in Imola. "When you look into it and access the reasons why we did not win, there was nothing major wrong with the car. It was because of the set-up, which is up to me and my engineer."

But Schumacher denied there has been conflict in the Italian team after the defeat handed rivals McLaren their first win of the season and closed the gap in the constructors' championship to 15 points.

"The car was not working well enough to compete," he said, "but it doesn't mean there is a conflict in the team. I am responsible for the set-up and that is it. It is all part of racing and I did not dream to have such a good start to the season. I thought it would be a lot tighter. Now McLaren have caught up in Brazil and it is about maximising our performance."