Needing a victory to keep his title chances alive, Schumacher had mechanical problems both in qualifying and in the race at Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix. He still finished fourth.

A fuel pump malfunction in Saturday's qualifying sent him to the middle of the starting grid, and a punctured tire moved him to the back of the pack in Sunday's race.

The Ferrari driver, retiring after a 16-year career, moved from 10th to seventh position on the first lap, but a flat left-rear tire entering the ninth lap shattered his chances of victory.

He had just passed sixth-placed Giancarlo Fisichella on the outside of turn 1 when the tire blew, forcing him to slowly return to the pits.

He changed tires and returned to the track in 18th place, more than a minute behind race leader and teammate Felipe Massa and out of contention barely 15 minutes into the race.

Schumacher eventually moved into the top 10 midway through the 71-lap race, but wasn't able to move past fourth place.

The tire problem opened the way for Fernando Alonso's second consecutive title at the Brazilian GP. He entered the race needing to finish eighth or better to secure the championship. Last year, he became F1's youngest champion by finishing third.

Schumacher's tough luck began on Saturday in qualifying.

A fuel pump problem in the last part of the qualifying session at the 4.3-kilometre Interlagos circuit kept him from starting better than 10th, six spots behind Alonso.

Schumacher had been more than a second faster than Alonso in the final practice before qualifying on Saturday. He also had the fastest overall time in qualifying with 1:10.313, but it came in the second knockout stage of the session and didn't count at the end.

Schumacher had problems in the previous race too, the Japanese Grand Prix.

The German driver was winning the race in Suzuka when a blown engine forced him out with less than 20 laps remaining. The incident erased the 10-point lead over Alonso he had at the time.

Schumacher can't complain about bad luck earlier in the year, however.

He was 25 points behind Alonso midway through the season, but won five of the last seven races to stay in contention for the title. Some of his rivals, including Alonso, were the ones with problems in that stint.

The 37-year-old Schumacher _ racing in his 250th Grand Prix _ was hoping for an eighth title for himself, and a 15th title for Ferrari, which finished the season second to Renault in the constructors' race.

Schumacher, who retires from Formula One with 91 victories and 68 pole positions, all series records, entered the weekend admitting the drivers' title was practically out of reach, and that his focus was on the constructors' race.