FORMULA 1: Eddie Jordan has hit out at world champion Michael Schumacher for attempting to manufacture a comic-book ending to the US Grand Prix.

The Jordan team leader said it was impossible to stage a dead-heat in the race as Schumacher claimed he tried to do in Indianapolis on Sunday.

And the Irishman warned that Schumacher's attempted manipulation could not have come at a worse time as Formula One battles for viewers with other sports and to attract sponsors.

Schumacher led for all but two of the 73 laps but slowed in the final metre as he tried to cross the line alongside Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello and lost by 0.011 secs.

"How can you have a dead heat?," said Jordan. "In modern technology when one thousandth of a second is possible, dead heats are gone out with Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Roy of the Rovers and all that stuff.

"There is no such thing as dead heats in anything any more, timing is too accurate with beams and lasers and stuff. Michael isn't that good yet."

Jordan said Schumacher gave viewers the excuse to switch off, especially after a weekend which had seen a thrilling climax in the Ryder Cup.

"It is a very, very financially hostile market at the moment and there were other sports on TV, one where golf made a huge impact on everyone throughout the globe by hard fighting," added Jordan.

"People want to see real competition, fought to the last ounce. That is what happened in golf, I understand it happened in the superbike race.

"People are not going to turn on a Formula One race when they know the end is going to be decided other than by true racing."

Schumacher said he wanted to cross the line together with Barrichello but then confusingly claimed he also wanted to repay his Brazilian team-mate for his sacrifices this year including being ordered to move over for him in Austria last May.

"After Austria, this isn't very clever is it? They could take the result away from them, couldn't they," added Jordan, though the early indications are that the governing body, FIA, will not take any action.

Ferrari's sporting director Jean Todt insisted he did not expect any action from the governing body having been fined $1million, and half-suspended, following the fix at the A1-Ring.

But Todt disputed Schumacher's claim that the team had told him not to try and manufacture the ending which resulted in Barrichello probably being the first accidental winner of a race in history.

"He had no special instructions to win or to lose," said the Frenchman. "There was no team orders. No need to have them.

"The only thing was said was after the second pit stop was there will not be any more fights - and there wasn't. It was not planned, there were seven centimetres in it at the end. Michael could have won but he wanted to have Rubens very close to him which we were happy with.

"You know we love Michael and we love Rubens but we work for Ferrari and that is the only thing that really does matter for us.

"I think it's very presumptuous and not humble to say we are controlling everything, we are not controlling everything. We try to, we do our best but we don't want drivers to fight against each other if it is not in the interests of the company. What does matter is to have two Ferraris first and second."