Alonso 'disappointed with himself' for jump-start in China GP

He leapt from third to first off the line, having set off too soon.

“I made a serious error at the start because my reflexes let me down and I set off early,” Alonso told reporters.

“It has never happened to me before and I am very disappointed with myself.”

He is said to have overtaken Britain's Charlie Whiting, Red Bull-Renault's Sebastian Vettel, and Australia's Mark Webber, reaching first position at the first bend.

But a penalty for his jump-start left him in fourth place overall.

Alonso and many other drivers made tyre-changes due to the heavy rain which transpired to be unnecessary in the end.

“It's not surprising teams were getting it wrong. In a race like this, anything can happen. We made five pit-stops to change our tyres, and that's not usual, but I think overall we made the right decisions at the right moments.”

In the end, the race was won by Britain's Jenson Button (pictured) of McLaren-Mercedes, who pipped team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the post, leaving the latter in second position.

Schumacher, however, has revealed that he was 'frustrated' by his finish, which saw him come in 10th.

“It is one of those races that you call frustrating,” lamented the seven-times world champion.