As Michael Schumacher brushes off criticism of his performance in Canada, when he finished outside the points and was involved in controversial incidents with two drivers, Lewis Hamilton has suggested that the German is effectively past it.

Returning to F1 was never going to be easy for the seven-time champion. Other than the fact that he is 41 and with a team that is not yet on a par with McLaren and Red Bull, or even Ferrari, there is the simple fact that much of the media dislikes him and always has. Incidents such as those in Canada, a number of unconvincing performances, particularly compared to his teammate, and his failure to score a podium result in eight races, has the media - particularly in Britain - baying for blood.

On Thursday, when asked about his performance in Canada, Schumacher dismissed the criticism describing it as part of the show-business element of the sport. He also said that some of those critics (in the media) were merely seeking attention for themselves.

However, the latest person to doubt whether Schumacher's return to F1 was a wise move is championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who before this year had never raced against the German legend. The English youngster feels that age is catching up with his rival.

"I didn't expect anything from him at the beginning," the McLaren driver told reporters. "There was an occasion when I saw him before the season started and I kind of thought his commitment was the same as mine at the time.

"After that he was pushing like crazy and he still is today," he continued. "His commitment is the same as always but it is so challenging. It is very difficult to out-do the youngsters that have the hunger that he had when he started."

Earlier in the day the two were involved in a minor incident which resulted in Hamilton making his feelings quite clear to Schumacher, a gesture that would have been unthinkable no too long ago. At the end of the session the German apologised.

"I must apologise as I did not see him and was not informed he was there," said Schumacher. "As I was planning my lap at that moment and looking ahead, I was unfortunately in his way."

"It is very difficult out there to always find a gap," admitted Hamilton. "I saw him ahead of me but thought he was on a lap and all of a sudden he slowed down to create a gap to the guy in front. Fortunately I missed him, so no hard feelings, and I hear he apologised anyway, so it's all good. There's no problem."