Schumacher let down by tyres not talent

Mercedes have leapt to the defence of Michael Schumacher following his difficult Chinese Grand Prix weekend claiming that it was a lack of pace from the car that saw the German lose positions to Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Sebastien Vettel and Felippe Massa.

"We have some issues that we need to understand as the deterioration of his tyres and therefore his pace is a problem that we need to resolve before the next race," said team boss Ross Brawn.