Michael Schumacher's start to the 2011 campaign went from bad to worse as the German retired from the Australian GP with a suspected bent suspension.
The seven-time World Champ was tipped as an outside favourite to the take the victory in Australia, however, could only manage tenth place on the grid, putting him immediately on the back foot.
It was also put him in the midst of things when the race started and he was tagged by Jaime Alguersuari on the opening lap.
The contact put Schumacher into the pits for new tyres as he suffered a puncture. And although he returned to the fray, the Mercedes GP driver was lapping at the back of the pack before finally parking his car on lap 19.
He later revealed that he had suffered floor and suspension damage in the accident.
"I had quite a good start and made up quite a few positions, I was already passed Kobayashi, and then at Turn 1 it got a bit tight and I had to slow down," Schumacher told the BBC.
"That was okay, I got going again and got running down to Turn Three, but turning in somebody knocked on my right rear, I don't know the circumstances.
"But the consequence was that I had a puncture, and that meant that it destroyed the rear tyre and that destroyed the rear of the floor. When the tyre is punctured it will fall into pieces and that broke off bits and pieces around the tyre and that was quite substantial.
"On top of that I'm pretty sure we had a bent suspension because I had a funny behaviour between left and right corners, so that was a bit entertaining for the 20 laps that I did.
"But it wasn't worth it and I think the team quite rightly decided for safety reasons to come in and not risk anything."
