Spat: Former Ferrari team-mates Schumacher (left) and Barrichello (right)Michael Schumacher broke the habit of a lifetime by saying sorry on Monday.
But Sportsmail can reveal that the German's apology came only when Mercedes ordered him to make it after he came within inches of driving Rubens Barrichello up the wall at 190mph during Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Schumacher, who was trying to hold off Barrichello as they scrapped for 10th place at the Hungaroring, said: 'After looking at the scene against Rubens again, I must say the stewards are right with their appraisal. The manoeuvre against him was too hard.
'I wanted to make it hard for him to overtake me and I also showed him clearly that I did not want to let him pass inside. But I didn't want to endanger him with my manoeuvre. If he had this feeling, sorry - this was not my intention.'
Schumacher has famously been reluctant to accept blame for his on-track misdeeds, which included ramming championship rivals Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, over the past two decades.
Ferrari, in particular, insulated him from his critics during his glory years in Italy. But Mercedes, according to sources in Germany, are not being so indulgent in light of the condemnation from around the world.
Bit of a squeeze: Schumacher's Mercedes (right) pushes the overtaking Williams of Barichello towards the pit wall at the Hungarian Grand PrixThey induced an about-turn from Schumacher, who had previously excused his dangerous move as acceptable on the tenuous basis that he left Barrichello adequate space to pass.
Niki Lauda, twice world champion with Ferrari, said: 'To endanger another competitor in such a way is totally unnecessary. I cannot understand why he does those things.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer at Lotus, said: 'It was an unacceptable manoeuvre. He said he left Rubens enough room, but if either car twitches someone is dead. It was totally out of line. He should not only have got a 10-place grid penalty (for the next race in Belgium on August 29) but been banned.
'The guy is under extreme pressure to get results - look how far behind his team-mate (Nico Rosberg) he is.'
The World Motor Sport Council hearing into Ferrari's use of team orders in the German Grand Prix will be held in Paris on September 8.
source: dailymail
