Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher cruised to another easy victory at Hockenheim on Sunday after a promising assault by McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen came to a sudden end.
Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher cruised to another easy victory at Hockenheim on Sunday after a promising assault by McLarens’s Kimi Raikkonen came to a sudden end.
Schumacher led the race from start to finish with only the lone McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen offering any resistance. Raikkonen crashed out on lap 13 after abruptly losing his rear wing.
After crashing heavily, Raikkonen flung his steering-wheel and elbowed past track officials after his crash. Later in a statement he said he was trying to keep up with Schumacher “and only needed a few more laps” to catch him.
“At least we know the pace is there,” Raikkonen said.
Team boss Ron Dennis maintained the failure had not been a “design” problem. About Raikkonen’s disappointment Dennis said: “He is part of a team and his disappointment is no greater than ours. But we could have beaten Michael.”
The victory at the German racer’s home circuit, Hockenheim, was Schumacher’s eleventh win from 12 starts this season.
Briton Jenson Button from BAR Honda was relegated to thirteenth place after an engine change on Friday, but stormed through the field to finish second on the race day.
A superb duel with Alonso was the highlight of the race, though Button was forced to drive sections of the race with one hand after a helmet problem presented itself.
Despite this, Button squeezed past the Spaniard on lap 51, pushing him into third place ahead of McLaren’s David Coulthard.
“This was without doubt the best race of my F1 career,” Button said after the race. “I’m just so thrilled to finish second when I thought the best I could hope for was maybe fifth, at best.”
Juan-Pablo Montoya started from second on the grid but lost all chances of a victory chase with a sluggish start. Montoya finished ahead of Mark Webber, Antonio Pizzonia – who replaced injured Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher – and Takuma Sato, who claimed the final point-scoring positions.