Michael Schumacher after the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. (AP)

Sao Paulo: Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher said farewell to Formula One on Sunday with a stirring drive from last to fourth place (as reported in Monday’s Late City edition) against the odds in his final Brazilian Grand Prix.

“The race was rather chaotic, I guess that’s the right word for it,” he told a German television channel. “We had an insanely quick car today. We probably had enough speed to lap everyone, to be honest. We did that sort of anyhow.

“All in all, I’d have to say it was a class finale with the car, with the speed we’ve got. But it just wasn't meant to be today, for me.”

Schumacher started 10th and was fifth when he suffered a puncture as he passed the Renault of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. He then fought his way from the back of the field with one of the most stirring drives of his 16-year career.

Asked about the puncture, and whether an impact with Fisichella might have been to blame, Schumacher was unsure.

“I was told that it happened but I couldn’t judge it myself because I didn’t see it or even really feel anything,” he said. “I just noticed that at some point my tyre wasn’t working any more.”

He leaves Formula One with seven titles, 91 wins and a string of records that may never be beaten.

Schumacher, 37, said he had “no idea” how long it would take to get used to the idea of retirement. He did acknowledge that there were regrets and mistakes made in his career.

“There are certainly some of those but it would get too intense to talk about that now,” he said. “You know the song My Way? I’d say that fits the way I feel.”

Schumacher said he would miss the legions of fans who stuck with him throughout.

“What I’ll miss are the moments, the good and the bad, that we had in the last 16 years — the support the fans gave me that restored my self-confidence at times where things weren’t going so well. The majority of fans supported me all along.

“That was immensely important for me over such a long sporting career. I’d like to say a huge thanks to them all. I know that’s not nearly enough to pay that back but I’m afraid I can’t do more at the moment.”

Sunday’s race was won by teammate Felipe Massa, the first Brazilian since the late Ayrton Senna in 1993 to win his home race.

“I’m really happy for Felipe that he could be the next Brazilian after Senna to win here,” said Schumacher, runner-up in the championship to Renault’s Spaniard Fernando Alonso. “And naturally I congratulate Fernando as well.”

He said did not think about it being his final race.

“For us it was business as usual. The focus was on trying to win the constructors’ title. We knew that would require a one-two finish to get us in position for that. But that required us to concentrate 100 percent on the issue at hand. There wasn’t really much time to think about anything else.”

(REUTERS)

BRAZILIAN Grand PRIX

RESULTS

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:31:53.751; 2. Fernando Alonso (Esp) Renault +00:18.658; 3. Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 00:19.394; 4. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 00:24.094; 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 00:28.503; 6. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 00:30.287; 7. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 00:40.294; 8. Pedro de la Rosa (Esp) McLaren 00:52.068; 9. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 01:07.642; 10. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 1 lap; 11. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1 lap; 12. Robert Doornbos (Ned) RedBull-Ferrari 1 lap; 13. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1 lap; 14. Christijan Albers (Ned) MF1-Toyota 1 lap; 15. Tiago Monteiro (Por) MF1-Toyota 2 laps; 16. Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 2 laps; 17r. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 8 laps; r. David Coulthard (GBR) RedBull-Ferrari 57 laps; r. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 61 laps; r. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 62 laps; r. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-Cosworth 70 laps; r. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth 71 laps.

FINAL STANDINGS

Drivers —1. Alonso 134; 2. M. Schumacher 121; 3. Massa 80; 4. Fisichella 72; 5. Raikkonen 65; 6. Button 56; 7. Barrichello 30; 8. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) 26; 9. Heidfeld 23; 10. R. Schumacher 20; 11. De la Rosa 19; 12. Trulli 15; 13. Coulthard 14; 14. Webber 7; 15. Villeneuve 7; 16. Kubica 6; 17. Rosberg 4; 18. Klien 2; 19. Liuzzi 1; 20. Speed 0; 21. Monteiro 0; 22. Albers 0; 23. Sato 0; 24. Doornbos 0; 25. Ide 0; 26. Montagny 0; 27. Yamamoto 0.

Constructors — 1. Renault 206; 2. Ferrari 201; 3. McLaren-Mercedes 110; 4. Honda 86; 5. BMW Sauber 36; 6. Toyota 35; 7. RedBull-Ferrari 16; 8. Williams-Cosworth 11; 9. Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1; 10. MF1- Toyota 0; 11. Super Aguri-Honda 0.