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Tuesday
May 22nd
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Mercedes drivers shrug off close calls

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Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg both insisted they were perfectly happy with their Belgian Grand Prix performances after starting from well down the grid, and both downplayed the minor contact between the two of them on the track.

Both drivers received grid penalties after qualifying outside the top ten on Saturday. But they managed to come through the race and both finish in solid points places, thanks largely to only stopping once late on to switch from the harder slick tyre to intermediates.

Rosberg started 14th and finished 6th, while Schumacher started 21st and eventually finished 7th.

Their races weren't all plain sailing, though, and the two made minor contact when squabbling over position. Rosberg had been pushed off the track at Les Combes in a fight with Vitaly Petrov, and Schumacher passed his team mate around the outside of Malmedy.

But the move saw Rosberg's front wing graze the right rear tyre of Schumacher's car, mercifully not damaging either machine. The pair squabbled over 6th place late on as well, with Rosberg passing Schumacher into Les Combes after the seven-time champion had been delayed in Eau Rouge.

And after the race, Rosberg smiled that there was no lasting issue between the drivers after the incident, and said that the battle had been "fun".

"Sixth place today is ok and it really is the most that we could have hoped for from this weekend," he grinned after the race, "Michael and I had a couple of battles out there which was fun.

"We respect each other and you just have to be careful and it all worked out ok."

Schumacher added that he was "reasonably happy" with his result, adding: "I 'met' Nico twice out on the track today.

"The first time, I had the better go in a nice racing duel and the second time was right after the re-start where I had to lift a little up into Eau Rouge due to the car in front which Nico used to fly past me.

"All in all, Spa turned out to be nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped for."

Team boss Ross Brawn added that both drivers had driven "extremely well" in the race, and he was happy that the team had managed to salvage a relatively strong result.

"We are obviously very pleased with the result today, and particularly with our strategy, which enabled us to achieve a strong points finish which looked difficult after qualifying," Brawn rambled after the race.

"Nico and Michael both drove extremely well in testing conditions and kept us entertained on the pit wall although sometimes a little too entertained!

"But it was all done in good spirit and both drivers brought their cars home to give us as good a weekend as we could have hoped for."