Schumacher blames himself

Mercedes' Michael Schumacher has placed the blame for his exit in the second part of qualifying squarely on his own shoulders.

German says poor lap time was of his own making

Mercedes' Michael Schumacher has placed the blame for his exit in the second segment of qualifying squarely on his own shoulders. The seven-time World Champion was only 12th fastest around the streets of Valencia, whilst team-mate Nico Rosberg will line-up sixth for Sunday's race. It is only the second time this season that Schumacher has failed to make it into the top-ten shootout - Bahrain being the other - and the German says the poor result was of his own making. "Of course, I'm not particularly happy about not making it through Q2 but that was clearly down to me - I didn't get my lap together," the 43-year-old said. "On my first run, I was too aggressive in turn 12 on my first timed lap, then had to abort the second lap and pit because the tyres were no longer in good enough condition to improve. After that, I was a bit too conservative on the second run and that cost us, because the times were so close today. "On the other hand, my starting position opens up strategic possibilities for tomorrow. I have new sets of tyres available which is the positive aspect of my situation. We will certainly make the most of them."