By Jamie O'Leary Sunday, November 27th 2011, 19:27 GMT
Michael Schumacher, Mercedes
Michael Schumacher believes Bruno Senna's inexperience was to blame for the pair's coming together on lap 10 of the Brazilian Grand Prix, that ruined the Mercedes driver's race.
Schumacher overtook Senna's Renault for ninth on the start/finish straight, but had his right-rear tyre punctured by the Brazilian's front wing as Senna stayed in the middle of the track and braked later than his rival as they approached Turn 1.
Senna was given a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable incident, while Schumacher had to drive a complete lap with a punctured tyre and fell to the back of the field - a lap down.
Despite finishing back in 15th, he stopped short of castigating Senna, saying: "It was a bit of a shame today with the incident with Bruno, which was caused perhaps due to some lack of experience, but then those things happen. Otherwise I think we could have had a nice race with some solid points.
"After the collision, all I could do was try to fight as much as possible, and hope for rain which did not come. In the first stint after the incident, my car was not well-balanced with a lot of oversteer.
Team principal Ross Brawn agreed with Schumacher's assessment of the incident, and was pleased with the seven-time world champion's pace during his final stint of the race.
"Michael had a good battle with Senna in the early laps, and his pass at the start of lap 10 was clear-cut. However, Senna showed his inexperience trying to defend a position that he had already lost, and the contact ruined Michael's race," said Brawn.
"After an unplanned stop to replace his punctured tyre, Michael was able to demonstrate the car's innate pace, thanks to a better car balance, and his laptimes looked reasonably competitive."
