Rubens: Coulthard clash was all my fault.

Rubens Barrichello has admitted that he was at fault for the incident that saw his Ferrari collide with David Coulthard at Hockenheim.

As the field jostled for position on the opening lap of the German Grand Prix, Barrichello left his braking too late heading into the chicane and hit the rear of the McLaren, losing his front wing in the process. As a result his race was ruined, despite master tactician Ross Brawn changing the pit strategy for the number two Ferrari in an attempt to move him back up the order.

A late puncture while running ninth only served to show what a wretched race the Brazilian had had as he crossed the line in twelfth before stopping to hop over the pit wall.

"It's been a tough day," a downhearted Barrichello said. "I had to protect my line at the start as Montoya was very close. I tried to get inside Coulthard but unfortunately I locked the rear wheels and I guess it was all my fault. I hit him hard enough to break my front wing.

"My race was therefore spoilt from start to finish. We changed strategy but we always knew that two stops was going to be very hard and that is how things turned out. Sometimes things don't go to plan and today was one of those days."

Brawn admitted that the change of strategy hadn't gone as planned.

"After the incident with Coulthard and the pit stop to change the front wing, we changed Rubens' strategy to make up for lost ground," he said, "but it did not go the way we had hoped. Then, on the last lap he had what seems to have been a puncture on the left rear tyre, but we still have to look into this with Bridgestone."

Barrichello's failure to finish means Ferrari were unable to wrap up the manufacturers' title over the weekend, but a strong finish in Hungary in three weeks will still see the Italian team retain its crown.