Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher edged out his brother Ralf to win a closely-contested Canadian Grand Prix and seize the lead of the F1 drivers’ championship in Montreal on Sunday.
Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher edged out his brother Ralf to win a closely-contested Canadian Grand Prix and seize the lead of the F1 drivers’ championship in Montreal on Sunday.
With Finnish McLaren-Mercedes rival Kimi Raikkonen starting from the pitlane after a making a driver error in qualifying, the five times world champion made the most of his chances to record his sixth win at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.
Raikkonen calmly battled his way back to sixth place, salvaging precious points but not enough to prevent the German from powering three clear at the halfway point of the season. Schumacher has 54 to the Finn’s 51.
It was the 68th win of Schumacher’s career, and fourth of the season, but no runaway victory. Schumacher had the Williams of younger brother Ralf in his slipstream for most of the afternoon while Spain’s Fernando Alonso also led for Renault.
Ralf had to make do with second place, 0,7 of a second behind in a reversal of the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix where he beat the Ferrari to the chequered flag.
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the last race in Monaco two weeks ago, was third for Williams after a costly spin on the second lap while in second place behind his team mate. Alonso was fourth.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was fifth, fighting back from 18th place after three laps when he pitted to replace a damaged front wing on his Ferrari, after holding off Raikkonen’s squirming McLaren to the finish.
Australian Mark Webber won two points for Jaguar with seventh place and France’s Olivier Panis was eighth for Toyota.
Local hero Jacques Villeneuve retired from his home grand prix for the third year in a row.
The Canadian former world champion, racing on the 25th anniversary of his late father Gilles’s win for Ferrari at the circuit that now bears his name, retired in the pits on the 16th of 70 scheduled laps.
“Just before I came into the pits there were no rear brakes, I was doing all the braking on the front brakes,” said Villeneuve. “It was just pure bad luck.”
