[Iceman]

Michael Schumacher says he’s unfazed by the criticism he’s received over the past three races since his comeback.

Schumacher has been pipped by Nico Rosberg in all three qualifying sessions. However his race in Australia was spoiled by a first corner nudge from Fernando Alonso, and he was an early retirement in Sepang when a wheel came loose. Although those problems have been beyond his control they have not done him any favors.

“I’ve been around long enough to know what I call the wave of emotion,” said Schumacher in China on Thursday. “During the winter everybody was very emotional and very supportive and positive and once you’re up on this edge of the wave, there’s a natural happening that you start to fall over the edge. And whether you are the reason for it, or whether it’s just a natural happening, it’s not always important, and because the results have not been as great as some people have expected and even myself, yes, I would have loved to have better results.

“But then the competition is very high and in this respect it’s a natural happening to not have the same positive feedback in the media. But you know, I know exactly what I’ve been doing, I know what’s been going on and I’ve no reason from my side to be disappointed, quite honestly. I still feel very happy. Whether people like it or not is their own choice.”

He conceded that it’s taken him some time to get back into the swing of things.

“It’s natural that there are some characteristic changes but at the end of the day, every year, you get a new car, and you just adapt and work the car around your needs.

“Yes, it has taken a little bit of time after being out for three years, it does need a little bit more time, especially with less winter testing available. But I’m feeling pretty good, I have to say. It’s worked out almost quicker than I expected it to do and I feel very comfortable in the car now and I look forward to when things get to the end to show a little bit better.

“I feel more than happy with what’s going on. One of the big and interesting things is working with the team to develop the car and being involved in this kind of process. That is so much of the fun. The driving is fun as well but you get used to that pretty quickly, but working on the details, that’s what makes it up for me.

“I guess you have Red Bull and Ferrari being a little bit up front and then probably it is right to say that McLaren is a little bit up front on us although the last race could not really show it. We are probably still in fourth position at the moment.

“As you expect in Formula One every kind of race you being new things and it goes step by step. I am quite happy with the general development trend. Naturally as probably most of the teams we will have a little bit bigger upgrade in Barcelona due to time availability and so on, so we are all look forward to that.”

Schumacher said that he is still in the World Championship fight.

“If you take the points system, and you have seen that Fernando had a retirement in Malaysia for whatever reason, it can happen to all of us. I had my retirement in Malaysia, so at one point in the season, most likely, that will hit the guys who are fighting for the championship.

“If we have a quick enough development pace, there’s no reason why we can’t fight for the championship, it’s far too early and there’s such a long season ahead. Development is so important, and we all know how fast the rate of development is. I’m pretty sure we have good potential to develop this car, so it’s far from feeling and thinking that this season is over, for Nico [Rosberg] and even for myself.”