Michael Schumacher was pleased to emerge on top in his near 50-lap battle with Jenson Button after claiming the best result of his comeback year so far with fourth place in the Spanish Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion ran in his grid position of sixth prior to the sole pit stop round during which he managed to jump Button after the McLaren driver lost time at his service, Schumacher overtaking the world champion around the outside of the first corner as his rival rejoined the track.
Button immediately made the most of his MP4-25’s superior straight-line speed advantage and applied immense pressure onto the Mercedes driver over the next series of laps, but Schumacher expertly covered Button’s advances before going on to consolidate the position.
Fifth became fourth on the penultimate lap after the other McLaren of Lewis Hamilton crashed out and Schumacher was satisfied with the result, given he knew Mercedes didn’t have the pace to challenge for the podium.
“We knew right from the beginning that there was not going to be a chance for us to compete for the victory – not even for the podium, that was pretty unrealistic,” he told reporters.
“It was sort of keep position and maybe take your opportunity if someone gives them to us and thanks to some glitches in pit stops we gained one position.
“It was then an entertaining race for quite a long part because Jenson naturally pushed quite hard.
“So I’m pretty sure it’s been rather frustrating for him and exciting for me to keep this position where we are.”
Although his W01 didn’t have the pace to challenge for the leading positions, Schumacher, who finished over a minute adrift of race winner Mark Webber, was content with his afternoon.
“It’s been okay,” he said of the race.
“I haven’t been able to fight for position wins in terms of fighting to overtaking somebody, it was just a position to defend for myself.
“Afterwards I actually got quite a reasonable pace inside the car so it’s okay, it’s been an okay weekend.”
After a torrid Chinese GP weekend, Schumacher reverted to the chassis he used in pre-season for this weekend while the changes made to the W01’s wheelbase have also suited the 41-year-old’s driving style.
The German believes his Barcelona performance, in which he outperformed team-mate Nico Rosberg all weekend for the first time, proves his hunch that something was amiss with his car in Shanghai.
“The car is certainly more normal again and by all means I have been sure that I have been proved in a way right there have been whatever issues in China - some are known, some are still unknown – but there are always some gremlins around every so often,” he added.
