Michael Schumacher strengthened his chances of a fourth World Championship by scoring his second victory in the space of week at the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
Schumacher not only took his tally of victories to 50 at Magny-Cours, but turned the tables on pole-sitting brother Ralf, who finished second. Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari came home in third place.Michael Schumacher strengthened his chances of a fourth World Championship by scoring his second victory in the space of week at the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
Schumacher not only took his tally of victories to 50 at Magny-Cours, but turned the tables on pole-sitting brother Ralf, who finished second. Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari came home in third place.content here
Michael Schumacher strengthened his chances of a fourth World Championship by scoring his second victory in the space of week at the French Grand Prix on Sunday.
Schumacher not only took his tally of victories to 50 at Magny-Cours, but turned the tables on pole-sitting brother Ralf, who finished second. Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari came home in third place.
The German leapt for joy on the podium as he scored his fourth win in six races, his sixth of the season. Schumacher is now just one victory short of Alain Prost’s all-time record.
Few onlookers would have known that Schumacher suffered clutch problems at the start of the race and had to fight off the effects of a bad head cold he contracted in Germany.
"Fifty is a great number and this was a big step in the championship for us," he said, while still insisting "it could still all go wrong," said Schumacher.
"As you saw last year, when I lost all my points at two races, things can turn around so quickly. It is a comfortable lead, but there are seven races to go and 70 points to give away, so there is no reason to start celebrating until it is done."
"This was the perfect result for us," he grinned. "We’ve had a one-two with Ralf winning and now we’ve got a one-two with me winning.
Schumacher started the race fearing clutch problems could destroy his day.
"The clutch problem at the start meant I almost lost a position to David at the first corner," he said. "I was inside, he was outside, but I kept it going. It was quite close. If I had got behind him, working our strategy would have been far more difficult."
Ralf led the early running after converting his maiden pole position into an early lead and looked as though he was set to stay there, but Michael got ahead at the first round of stops and with a faster race car under him, never looked back.
David Coulthard was forced to watch Schumacher net another 10 points, while he languished in fourth place following a stop-and-go penalty for pitlane speeding.
In a race brimming with strategic battles, the result was always going to be decided in the pitlane. Mika Hakkinen’s race did not last long enough for any strategy to come into play, as the Finn’s disastrous season took another blow after stalling on the dummy grid. The double world champ’s McLaren was wheeled back into the pitlane, but refused to restart.
"Well I think you simply can’t believe how much bad luck I have had," said Hakkinen. "The engine was fine and then suddenly it stopped. I was super disappointed."
As Schumacher, it looked like he was going to have to work hard at Magny-Cours to repeat his victorious performance at the Nurburgring. Ralf snatched pole position at the French circuit on Saturday. Michael was beaten off the line by Ralf and duly forced to hold grid position by slotting into second place at the first corner.
With Coulthard in third, the top three drivers initially pulled clear of Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth and Barrichello fifth. With all the leaders, bar the Ferrari No 2, opting for a two-stop strategy, the gaps were small by the time the first pitstops came around.
Ralf led the way and came in first on lap 25, followed immediately by his brother on the next lap. The Williams crew went to work for 10,3s, almost three seconds longer than the men from Maranello, allowing Michael to take the lead when both had made it back onto the Nevers circuit.
Coulthard was next in from third place and the McLaren mechanics were no slouches and re-suited and booted the sole MP4-16 in 9,1s and put the Scot back out in second place behind Schumacher.
Unfortunately his success was shortlived and Coulthard was forced to make another trip to the pits six laps later to receive a 10-second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. The extra stop put paid to any hopes of making it onto the podium and despite closing in on Barrrichello during the closing stages, Coulthard had to settle for fourth.
Ahead of Coulthard, the potential Schumacher brothers battle turned into a one-horse race as Michael stretched his legs out front, while Ralf struggled on his second set of tyres.
"On my second set of tyres, I was losing everything," said Ralf. "If I had come out in front of Michael, then I think it would have been very difficult for me to hold him."
Montoya, in the second Williams, opted for the harder Michelin compound and was able to do longer stints. The strategy looked as though it could pay off with the Colombian leading the race twice. However, he still had to make two stops and could not make up the time while in the lead. Montoya’s BMW engine then expired, forcing him to retire just 20 laps from the flag.
Barrichello added cause for extra celebration for the Ferrari camp by coming home third. The Brazilian has not been on the podium since Monaco in May and after qualifying eighth, he had looked unlikely to spray the champagne in France. But a three-stop strategy allowed Barrichello to keep his pace up and after Coulthard’s stop-go penalty third place was his for the taking.
"Ross [Brawn, Ferrari’s technical director] asked me if I wanted to do three stops and I agreed because I knew I would be able to be quick out on the circuit the whole time. It was a hell of a race," Barrichello said.
Jarno Trulli brought some cheer for the Jordan team by finishing a distant fifth after driving a solid race to keep both teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen and the Sauber pair of Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen behind him. It was Heidfeld who won the battle of the Swiss team’s young guns by taking the final point in sixth, with Raikkonen close behind in seventh.
Retirements included Jaguar’s Eddie Irvine, who came to a halt at the side of the track on the inside of the Adelaide hairpin on lap 56, while running seventh. The Ulsterman drove a storming race and battled with first the BAR-Honda of Olivier Panis, who finished ninth, and then later Frentzen. Jenson Button also notched up a DNF after his revamped, but still not fully competitive, Benetton-Renault finished the race in the gravel trap on the penultimate lap.
Race standings
1. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari) 1hr 33min 35.636sec
2. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW at 10.399sec
3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 16.381
4. David Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren-Mercedes 17.106
5. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Jordan-Honda 1:08.285
6. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas one lap behind
7. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Sauber-Petronas one lap
8. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger)Jordan-Honda one lap
9. Olivier Panis (Fra) BAR-Honda one lap
10. Luciano Burti (Bra) Prost-Acer one lap
11. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Benetton-Renault one lap
12. Jean Alesi (Fra) Prost-Acer two laps
13. Jos Verstappen (Ned)Arrows-Asiatech two laps
14. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Jaguar two laps
15. Tarso Marques (Bra) European Minardi three laps
16. Jenson Button (Gbr) Benetton-Renault four laps
17. Fernando Alonso (Spa) European Minardi seven laps
Drivers Standings
1. M. Schumacher (Ger) 78 points
2. D. Coulthard (Gbr) 47
3. R. Schumacher (Ger) 31
4. R. Barrichello (Bra) 30
5. JP. Montoya (Col) 12
6= M. Hakkinen (Fin) 9
6=. N. Heidfeld (Ger) 9
6=. J. Trulli (Ita) 9
9. J. Villeneuve (Can) 7
9=. K. Raikkonen (Fin) 7
11=. HH. Frentzen (Ger) 6
12. O. Panis (Fra) 5
13. E. Irvine (Gbr) 4
14. J. Alesi (Fra) 3
15=. G. Fisichella (Ita) 1
15=. J. Verstappen (Ned) 1
Constructors standings
1. Ferrari 108 points
2. McLaren-Mercedes 56
3. Williams-BMW 43
4. Sauber-Petronas 16
5. Jordan-Honda 15
6. BAR-Honda 12
7. Jaguar 5
8. Prost-Acer 3
9. Benetton-Renault 1
9. Arrows-Asiatech 1
Schumacher not only took his tally of victories to 50 at Magny-Cours, but turned the tables on pole-sitting brother Ralf, who finished second. Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari came home in third place.
The German leapt for joy on the podium as he scored his fourth win in six races, his sixth of the season. Schumacher is now just one victory short of Alain Prost’s all-time record.
Few onlookers would have known that Schumacher suffered clutch problems at the start of the race and had to fight off the effects of a bad head cold he contracted in Germany.
"Fifty is a great number and this was a big step in the championship for us," he said, while still insisting "it could still all go wrong," said Schumacher.
"As you saw last year, when I lost all my points at two races, things can turn around so quickly. It is a comfortable lead, but there are seven races to go and 70 points to give away, so there is no reason to start celebrating until it is done."
"This was the perfect result for us," he grinned. "We’ve had a one-two with Ralf winning and now we’ve got a one-two with me winning.
Schumacher started the race fearing clutch problems could destroy his day.
"The clutch problem at the start meant I almost lost a position to David at the first corner," he said. "I was inside, he was outside, but I kept it going. It was quite close. If I had got behind him, working our strategy would have been far more difficult."
Ralf led the early running after converting his maiden pole position into an early lead and looked as though he was set to stay there, but Michael got ahead at the first round of stops and with a faster race car under him, never looked back.
David Coulthard was forced to watch Schumacher net another 10 points, while he languished in fourth place following a stop-and-go penalty for pitlane speeding.
In a race brimming with strategic battles, the result was always going to be decided in the pitlane. Mika Hakkinen’s race did not last long enough for any strategy to come into play, as the Finn’s disastrous season took another blow after stalling on the dummy grid. The double world champ’s McLaren was wheeled back into the pitlane, but refused to restart.
"Well I think you simply can’t believe how much bad luck I have had," said Hakkinen. "The engine was fine and then suddenly it stopped. I was super disappointed."
As Schumacher, it looked like he was going to have to work hard at Magny-Cours to repeat his victorious performance at the Nurburgring. Ralf snatched pole position at the French circuit on Saturday. Michael was beaten off the line by Ralf and duly forced to hold grid position by slotting into second place at the first corner.
With Coulthard in third, the top three drivers initially pulled clear of Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth and Barrichello fifth. With all the leaders, bar the Ferrari No 2, opting for a two-stop strategy, the gaps were small by the time the first pitstops came around.
Ralf led the way and came in first on lap 25, followed immediately by his brother on the next lap. The Williams crew went to work for 10,3s, almost three seconds longer than the men from Maranello, allowing Michael to take the lead when both had made it back onto the Nevers circuit.
Coulthard was next in from third place and the McLaren mechanics were no slouches and re-suited and booted the sole MP4-16 in 9,1s and put the Scot back out in second place behind Schumacher.
Unfortunately his success was shortlived and Coulthard was forced to make another trip to the pits six laps later to receive a 10-second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. The extra stop put paid to any hopes of making it onto the podium and despite closing in on Barrrichello during the closing stages, Coulthard had to settle for fourth.
Ahead of Coulthard, the potential Schumacher brothers battle turned into a one-horse race as Michael stretched his legs out front, while Ralf struggled on his second set of tyres.
"On my second set of tyres, I was losing everything," said Ralf. "If I had come out in front of Michael, then I think it would have been very difficult for me to hold him."
