Michael Schumacher celebrated his 200th start in fine fashion when he cruised to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, equalling Nigel Mansell’s record of five straight Formula One wins.
Michael Schumacher celebrated his 200th start in fine fashion when he cruised to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, equaling Nigel Mansell’s record of five straight Formula One wins.
Despite a poor start, when he was beat to the first corner by a lightning-quick Jarno Trulli, the world champion fought back to claim his fourth consecutive victory at the Catalunya circuit.
The German beat his team-mate Rubens Barrichello by a solid 13 seconds, with Trulli finishing third.
Trulli drove a strong race to stay ahead of fellow Renault driver Fernando Alonso who, try as he might, could not secure a victory before his passionate home crowd.
Trulli led for the first nine laps before the race slipped into a predictable parade.
Although Schumacher suffered a broken exhaust just after his first stop, Barrichello was the only man who was able to offer any threat to his race dominance. Barrichello led for a brief period before he was ousted by his team-mate on lap 18.
Juan Pablo Montoya who started the race from a promising second position, had a dreadful race. He dropped back to fourth place at the start and had to retire his Williams-BMW on lap 46 when his brakes failed in the pits and his car hit a member of the pit crew.
Montoya’s misfortune allowed his team-mate Ralf Schumacher to inherit sixth place. He was followed home by Giancarlo Fisichella in his Sauber.
A mistake while qualifying cost pre-race hopeful Jenson Button a spot at the top of the front row. Driving valiantly, he managed to finish in the points, taking eighth place after starting at 14th position on the grid.
His BAR-Honda team-mate Takuma Sato qualified in third, but was unable to match the pace of the other front-runners. Denied a taste of the podium, he was resigned to finish fifth.
Earlier, marshals prevented a stoppage to the race when seconds before the start a spectator ran onto the track during the warm-up lap.
In what would probably be the most exciting part of the race, the spectator, apparently an anti-globalisation protestor, ran across the track displaying a hand-written message. After a brief chase, he was tackled to the ground by marshals and marched off.