A written reprimand for the Ferrrai driver
Dethroned world champion Michael Schumacher blew his chance of ending a miserable season on a high Sunday when he crashed out of the Chinese Grand Prix - twice.
The Ferrari star was involved in a dramatic collision in the warm up laps ahead of the race which left his Ferrari`s front left wheel hanging off.
The German veered to the left as he slowly made his way round the Shanghai International Circuit less than 30 minutes before the race was due to get underway.
Christijan Albers came up on his inside and mounted the Ferrari. Apart from the damage to the front left wheel, Schumacher`s left back tyre was punctured and smoke poured from the rear of his car. Schumacher tried to steer it back to the pits but was forced to stop and climb out.
An investigation by the Stewards said Schumacher was responsible for crash, but he escaped with a written reprimand.
He began the race from the pit lane in the spare F2005 and climbed back to 16th when the safety car was deployed on lap 19 with debris on the track at turn ten, which turned out to be a broken drain cover. Running tenth after not pitting, he was following the safety car and travelling at a slow speed when he inexplicably skidded off at turn eight and ended up in the gravel. It drew to a close to a season where he and Ferrari and tyre partner Bridgestone have struggled.
After five years of domination, Schumacher`s only victory this year was at the shambolic United States Grand Prix when only a handful of cars started after concerns about the Michelin tyres.
With Juan Pablo Montoya failing to finish, the only silver-lining for Schumacher is that he did in fact finish third in the Drivers` Championship.


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