Schumacher Grabs Seventh Canadian GP Win

by Will Gray

World Champion Michael Schumacher claimed his seventh win of the season and the 77th of his career - also becoming the first driver in history to win the same event seven times - as his Ferrari team pulled out strategic masterstroke to claim victory in the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Schumacher started from sixth on the grid, his worst qualifying performance of the season, but a two-stop strategy allowed him to come home ahead of his brother Ralf, who started from pole for Williams-BMW.

It was a hat-trick of wins in a row for Schumacher in the Canadian event and his seventh victory in total at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Rubens Barrichello completed a positive result for Ferrari as he claimed the final place on the podium in third place having started from seventh on the grid.

He benefited from the retirement of Renault drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, who both started ahead of him, and he also got ahead of Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya thanks to his two-stop strategy.

Button's run of podiums came to an end with fourth with Montoya fifth and Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella, McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen and Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta completed the points scoring positions.

Ralf Schumacher made the perfect start to lead from Button, but Jarno Trulli's race was over immediately when he pulled to the side of the track before the first corner after suffering suspension failure on his Renault.

Fernando Alonso took third place into the opening corner ahead of Montoya, Michael Schumacher and Raikkonen, who got ahead of Barrichello. David Coulthard was involved in collision with Jaguar pair Christian Klien and Mark Webber at the first turn.

Barrichello forced his way past Raikkonen on lap eight on his way to setting a new lap record, while Webber retired because of suspension damage picked up in the earlier incident.

Button and Montoya pitted from second and fourth respectively without drama and Alonso and Ralf Schumacher made their first stops soon after to leave Michael Schumacher in the lead. He eventually emerged ahead of Montoya in third place.

Raikkonen was hit with a drive-through penalty after crossing the white line on his exit from the pit-lane, with Ralf holding a four-second advantage over Button.

Nick Heidfeld was involved in an incident in the pit-lane when he attempted to leave his pit-box while his car was being refuelled and he dragged one of his Jordan mechanics along the floor, but he was unhurt.

Montoya, Button and Ralf all made their second stops with the race leader benefiting from a quick stop to extend his advantage, although his brother Michael was left at the head of the field albeit still needing to pit.

Alonso parked his car at the side of the track to end Renault's race and Barrichello was unable to remain ahead of Montoya following his second stop. Schumacher came out ahead of Button after his stop in second place with Ralf pitting a third time immediately afterwards.

Button and Montoya stopped at the same time and the Williams driver lost time when the refuelling hose got stuck in his car briefly, with BAR's Takuma Sato exiting the race when his Honda engine failed again.

Schumacher was left in front of Ralf, with Barrichello third ahead of Button and Montoya as he came home to claim victory. Sauber's Felipe Massa was involved in a heavy shunt five laps from home.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada; 70 laps; 305.270km; Weather: Sunny. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h28:24.803 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) + 1.062 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 5.108 4. Button BAR-Honda (M) + 20.409 5. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) + 21.200 6. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap 7. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 1 lap 8. da Matta Toyota (M) + 1 lap 9. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 1 lap 10. Panis Toyota (M) + 1 lap 11. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) + 2 laps 12. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) + 2 laps 13. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 3 laps 14. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 4 laps Fastest Lap: Barrichello, 1:13.622 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 63 Sato BAR-Honda (M) 49 Alonso Renault (M) 45 Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 31 Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 7 Trulli Renault (M) 1 World Championship Standing, Round 8: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 70 1. Ferrari 122 2. Barrichello 52 2. Renault 61 3. Button 43 3. BAR-Honda 51 4. Trulli 36 4. Williams-BMW 48 5. Montoya 28 5. Sauber-Petronas 13 6. Alonso 25 6. McLaren-Mercedes 7 7. R.Schumacher 20 7. Toyota 5 8. Sato 8 8. Jaguar-Cosworth 3 9. Fisichella 8 9. Jordan-Ford 2 10. Massa 5 11. Coulthard 4 12. da Matta 4 13. Webber 3 14. Raikkonen 3 15. Heidfeld 2 16. Panis 1 All timing unofficial