Schumacher lifts Shanghai curse

Michael Schumacher thought his Shanghai curse was about to strike again when the rain fell on the qualifying session for the Chinese Grand Prix.

But instead it was third-time lucky for the Ferrari driver as he ended his drought at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday, winning at a track where he had failed to finish among the points in Formula One's two previous visits.

Schumacher, whose victory took him to the top of the drivers' championship standings ahead of Fernando Alonso with just two races remaining, said: "I thought (on Saturday) that the way the weekend was going it may be one of the unlucky ones again when things don't work out for you - but obviously the pendulum of luck has swung the other way and hit me."

Schumacher now goes into the final two races with the slimmest of leads. Both he and Alonso are on 116 points after 17 races, with the German ahead by virtue of his greater number of race victories.

And with Japan's Suzuka circuit the next stop on the calendar this weekend, Schumacher is preparing for one of his favourites races of the season.

"It is very difficult to predict the characteristics of a circuit and then to draw conclusions for the cars, which one it is going to suit better to the circuit and so on," he added.

"In terms of driving style and so on, I love Suzuka. It is a fantastic circuit.

"Our car has been good and we have to see if we can manage the tyre situation as we have done at other circuits. We have to take it from weekend to weekend because it is difficult to make predictions."