INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, 21 June 2005 — Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher wasn’t about to apologize for his first Formula One win of the season, even though it came in a diminished US Grand Prix.

“I’ve won 84 races, I can afford to have a strange one,” Schumacher said of the triumph achieved with only six runners in the field.

The bizarre situation occurred when the seven two-car teams sporting Michelin tires —including championship front runners Renault — pulled out citing concerns over tire safety.

That paved the way for Ferrari, who were on the verge of seeing their championship hopes slip away after failing to win in eight previous races this season.

After a one-two finish for Schumacher and teammate Rubens Barrichello, however, Schumacher finds himself third in the drivers’ standings while Ferrari are now tied for second in the constructors’ race.

Schumacher insisted the team were poised for a breakthrough, even before the tire controversy.

“I think we had a very good car today to fight for the victory, anyway. We were very strong in practice ... cars and tires were looking very reasonable.”

And he bridled at suggestions Ferrari played the villain’s role when they refused to support the idea of adding a temporary chicane to the circuit that Michelin runners said they needed for safety.

“It’s not in our hands,” he said. “Our tires, we have worked very hard. We have left at home tires with better performance but less durability because we knew what kind of stress the tires would have been under here.

“So I don’t know what is their problem, but this wasn’t our problem.”

As soon as the tire troubles started simmering on Saturday, when Michelin said they couldn’t account for the practice crash of Schumacher’s younger brother, Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher, Ferrari looked the likely beneficiaries of the mess.

The German said he believed the US event would recover from embarrassing events.

“It’s a strange one,” he said of the race. “But not the end, no. We have had good ones, we have had a difficult one, and we will have good ones again.”