Ferrari's Michael Schumacher thanked his rivals on Friday after the German veteran spotted a retirement message on the rear wing of all three BMW-Sauber F1 cars.
In morning practice, the blue lettering on the rearward-facing elements of the BMW cars read 'Thanks Michael', in reference to 37-year-old Schumacher's 250th and last grand prix in a sixteen year career.
In the afternoon, the team had switched the message to German with the wings now reading: 'Danke Michael'.
"Apart from the extra photographers and cameras, I feel the same as usual," Schumacher told reporters after practice at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil.
He added: "The only difference is the 'thanks' message from BMW, which made me very happy when I saw it. I can only say 'thanks' to them in return!"
German squad BMW-Sauber's Friday driver, Sebastian Vettel, commented: "I hope he saw and he enjoyed it."
Source GMM
CAPSIS International