While marginally outpaced by teammate Nico Rosberg also in the first three races of his 2010 comeback, the seven time world champion was seven tenths slower in Chinese qualifying and then a minute behind at the chequered flag.

So slow was Schumacher that Mercedes’ Norbert Haug suspects a chassis flaw, telling the German press on Sunday evening that a new W01 will be supplied to the 41-year-old in Barcelona.

“Give us a chance to look at that (theory) and we can come up with a good explanation,” he said.

Team boss Brawn, who in the past worked with Schumacher also at Benetton and Ferrari with astonishing success, admitted after China that the German’s “pace is a problem”.

The Briton told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “Michael’s problems are difficult to understand.

“It’s not the difficult corners, but the technically simple ones (where he is struggling).

“Until now he has been getting closer and closer to Nico, so what happened in China is totally against the trend,” added Brawn.
(GMM)