Schumacher handed Singapore reprimand

Michael Schumacher has been handed a reprimand for the collision with Sergio Perez that saw him forced to retire from the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was attempted to make a move for position when he clipped the back of the Mexican's Sauber and went off into the wall - bringing out the Safety Car while his car was removed from the tyre barriers.

While he called it a 'misunderstanding', Schumacher was later reprimanded for the incident - which he also insisted was more dramatic than it looked.

"It was a very unfortunate ending to my race in Singapore tonight and obviously I am a bit disappointed," he said. "What happened was what I would call a misunderstanding between Sergio Perez and myself. He was about to go inside and lifted, and I was not expecting him to do that so early, and therefore hit him. It's probably one of those race incidents which look more impressive from outside than from inside, as I am totally ok and my impact in the end was not too heavy.

"It was a pity because my car and the tyres worked well, and therefore the pace was very good. I will look ahead to the next races and hope to have better endings there."

Despite the incident leaving him with a puncture, Perez was able to continue to finish the race in tenth place although the contact left him to adopt a different strategy.

"I think tenth was the best we could manage today," he said. "I was on a two-stop strategy, starting on the supersoft tyres and changing after 15 laps to the soft compound. For my second stop I had to pit earlier because I had a puncture after the accident with Michael, and then I had to do a very long last stint - actually just a bit over half the race distance - with the second set of soft tyres.

"I think Michael was too optimistic with what he tried. It is a shame to have lost a place to Felipe Massa in the end, but the tyres were finished and I couldn't defend anymore. We will keep fighting to get back sixth place in the championship."