Chinese Grand Prix: Michael Schumacher disappointed with ninth place start

Date published : 17 Apr 2010 - 13:30:50

The Mercedes' driver was once again upstaged by team-mate Nico Rosberg, who will line up fourth behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who starts on pole for the third time in four races. Michael Schumacher, who won the last of 91 race victories in Shanghai four years ago, only just sneaked into the final segment of qualifying today when he edged out Williams' Rubens Barrichello for P10 at the end of Q2. The 41-year-old faces an uphill challenge to claim a decent result tomorrow and there was little surprise the German was left frustrated with his performance. "I am obviously disappointed about my qualifying," he said. "It didn't really come together today. "In certain areas I was just not quick enough and at some corner exits, I struggled a bit with rear end grip. I haven't really found the balance of the car all weekend. "It will be tough to be too optimistic for tomorrow from my grid position but then I had some good starts lately and there is always room for lots of things to happen in Formula One races. "We can still achieve some good points and I am definitely going to go for it." Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn is confident Schumacher is capable of making the most of his disappointing qualifying position. "Michael has not achieved such a good balance on the car this weekend and had a less satisfying day," he said. "However, he will give it everything in the race tomorrow and should have the opportunity to show the progress made since the start of the season." Rosberg, meanwhile, had been second quickest only to the McLarens in practice yesterday but he admitted he had not expected to secure a place so high up the grid today. "Fourth place is quite a nice surprise and I'm very pleased that we seem to have made a step forward this weekend," he said. "We didn't think we would be this far up the grid today as we were struggling in practice this morning compared to the McLarens, but to be level with the quickest Ferrari and a bit closer to the Red Bulls is very satisfying. "It's a good step for us and we're well placed to have a good race tomorrow."