Schumacher: We were Not Strong Enough

World Champion Michael Schumacher was finally a beaten man in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix and he said he had prefered not to have to take second best on the day he won his seventh world title.

Schumacher, who has won 12 of this year's 14 races, finished second as McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen ended his run of seven straight victories. Second place, however, was enough for Schumacher to secure the title crown for another year.

"I would have rather finished the Championship with a victory but today we simply weren't strong enough in the right moment and that is the way it is," said Schumacher. "We have won so many races this year it was clear at some stage that somebody else would win and today it happened, the better one won, but we are quite happy with what we have achieved.

"It was an eventful day, with all the safety cars and conditions we had, it was a tough one. Considering where I had dropped back to and where I finished I think I should only be happy."

Schumacher clinched his seventh accolade on the very track where he made his debut for Jordan some 13 years ago and he admitted that taking the title there in Ferrari's 700th race still made it a special occasion.

"If you think what I have achieved here and how things have started here and I can say I won a very important number, a seventh championship, here in Spa," he said. "In the 700th race for Ferrari, it is the right numbers for us."