Schumacher hoping for upward curve

Editor

Michael Schumacher believes that his sixth place in Italy could serve as the start of a period of consistent improvement for the team…

Michael Schumacher believes that his sixth place in Italy could serve as the start of a period of consistent improvement for the team.

Having qualified fourth on the grid, Schumacher endured a tough initial stretch before finishing strongly as many of his rivals struggled.

The result is the second time that the former World Champion has finished sixth, a position he has only bettered on one occasion thus far this season.

It also marks a run in which he has finished five of his last six races having endured a torrid run of luck in the first half of the campaign that saw him retire at five of the first seven grand prixs.

The German admits that he is hopeful that the result at Monza is the start of an even greater improvement.

“It was a fun race today – although I must admit that, following our performance on Friday, I had secretly hoped we would be able to move up the field. But we had a tricky first stint. After that, everything went really well, we were on the pace and I think we showed a clear upwards trend today,” he said.

“I kind of ran out of laps this afternoon and, if the race had been a bit longer, I’d have been able to battle even further forward. Overall, though, we got everything out of it today. Now we need to keep this trend going – and everybody in the team is working hard on it.”