Jeers and whistles greet Schumacher's win

Michael Schumacher never thought Ferrari's first win of this Formula One season would be greeted by irate fans.

Michael Schumacher never thought Ferrari's first win of the Formula One season would be greeted by bottles thrown on to the track by irate fans.

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The world champion's first win in eight months, and after nine successive defeats, was a hollow one with just six cars starting Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix.

Only Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello had a realistic chance of beating him.

Chants of 'Bullshit, Bullshit' rang out as the top three approached the podium, with many fans deserting the stands before the end of the race.

"Obviously I would have wished to fight this race under normal circumstances," said the German after seven of the 10 teams pulled out because of concerns about the safety of their Michelin tyres.

"I think it was a minority," he said of the fans who jeered and whistled, their hostility directed as much against Formula One bosses as anything.

"If you look even at the podium, yes there were people booing but a lot more yelling and a lot of Ferrari supporters."

Schumacher, who has now won a record 84 races and is third in the championship, felt his car would have been good enough to win even in normal circumstances and rejected a suggestion that Indianapolis had witnessed Formula One's darkest day.

"I think we had a much darker day if I remember 1994," he said, alluding to the death of Brazilian Ayrton Senna at Imola that year.

"I've won 84 races, I can afford to have one strange one."

The German expressed little sympathy for Michelin's plight, saying that Ferrari's partners Bridgestone had erred on the side of caution.

"We have had a tyre which is quicker. We didn't use that because we knew what is going to face us here," he said. "I'm not saying that the others purposely choose something wrong but whatever it is, it's their problem and not our problem.

"I think everybody learned from what happened today and everybody will make sure that this doesn't happen again because the penalty is very big to everybody, to the fans, to the teams who didn't race. Nobody liked that."

Sunday's win was Schumacher's fourth at Indianapolis and his third in a row at the circuit. It was also the 100th for a car produced under the direction of designer Rory Byrne.

While fans and commentators screamed farce and fiasco, Ferrari boss Jean Todt was determined to put the afternoon's events into a more sporting context.

"To put this result in boxing terms, we and Bridgestone won with a technical knockout," he said.

"I am very surprised by the situation that arose today but would prefer not to comment on things that are not directly my responsibility."