There are more questions now - Schumi

Michael Schumacher made his way to the ninth and top floor of the airship-shaped building that spans the race track here in Shanghai, to take part in the first FIA press conference of the Chinese GP weekend.

Asked if he felt a sense of relief after his retirement announcement in Monza, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver gave a wry smile. "There were people who thought that making the announcement would mean the end of all the questions," he said. "But in fact there are more questions now! We will have to see how it works out." Questions or no questions, the seven times world champion knows exactly what he has to do over the next few days. "We have a very clear target for the next three races and although I have never done better than twelfth in Shanghai I am confident that we should be able to better this time. I was unfortunate to get a puncture in the first Chinese GP and last year we were completely wrong in terms of our tyres. This time, I hope we will be competitive and I see no reason to think we cannot be so. I find Shanghai the city to be very interesting and so different to what we are used to in Europe and I am proud to hear that I have so many fans here who have expressed their sadness at my decision to retire."

As for the three race fight between Ferrari and Renault Michael commented: "it will be very close and the outcome will depend on the characteristics of the tyres and the tracks. And yes, it is possible that others among the top guys could get involved in the battle." In Monza, Schumacher had singled out his title fights with Mika Hakkinen as being the most memorable, so asked why he had not mentioned Alonso in this discussion, he replied: "I fought with Mika for many years, so it stays in my mind, but with Fernando, this is really the first year we have been in competition."