Schumacher tops Lauda record

The German double champion took a decent sized step towards his third world title with his second race in succession and his 16th in a Ferrari
That's one more than the previous record holder Niki Lauda and carried on building the Schumacher legend with his fourth win in six years at the most famous circuit of them all to lead the world championship by eight points.

'Driving for Ferrari is special and winning in a Ferrari is super special so beating this record is super special,' he said, so going on to become the most successful driver in a Ferrari is one more on top of that. It is great, of course but it doesn't mean that much at the moment. It was more important to win the race for this year's championship.'

Monaco is usually all about conquering a sinewy street circuit that punishes men and machines but Schumacher won this race in a straight-line 50-yard dash off the start line. Schumacher thundered from second on the grid to take the lead going into the first bend and was never headed after that.

The secret he said later was down to a dash to Ferrari's Fiorano test circuit in Italy on the Friday free day. 'I went there to practice my starts and do a few things on the car set up,' he said.

Hakkinen admitted he was not as sharp at the start as he could have been at the start. 'We are not allowed to practice starts on the warm up lap so I had no chance to prepare for it here,' he said.