Euro GP: Schu dominates

The only team to give Ferrari a run for its money was BAR, but this time it wasn't Button, but team-mate Takuma Sato who proved the thorn in the side of the Italian team. But a collision between the Japanese driver and Barrichello as he tried to take second place ended in tears for Sato, and then a lap later the BAR's Honda engine failed.

"Takuma was very quick," said Schumacher. "We don't know what could have been if he had finished. We are there and we know we are strong, but we do look better due to other circumstances at the moment."

But Sato was never going to threaten the modest German for the win - that was clear after a couple of laps. Schumacher had taken pole position by such a margin that you had too believe he was running light. When he pitted on lap eight of the grand prix, that much was proved true. It might have given the opposition a shred of hope - if only he hadn't built up almost a quarter of minute of lead by the time he ducked in.

With a succession of fastest laps in the opening stages of the grand prix, it was clear in no time that Schumacher would not have to entertain the thought of losing another race. The German was lapping a knockout two (or more) seconds fastest than anybody else, leading by 14s after only six laps!

His cause was helped by incidents at the first corner. As a result of some early pushing and shoving, it was fourth-placed starter Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) who emerged in the second place. He did not deserve to be there on speed, and there was nothing that a train of cars behind him could do to prevent Schumacher from thundering into the distance.

Schumacher covered the inside line at the start and managed to keep Takuma Sato and Jarno Trulli behind him. Trulli had made his usual flying getaway, but Sato kept his second place with a dive down the inside of the right-hander. But as they exited side-by-side, Sato's momentum meant they both had to run wide. They did so again at the left-hander that followed, which led to Raikkonen's unexpected promotion.

When it was all sorted out, Schumacher's rapidly-increasing advantage was over Raikkonen, Sato, Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), Jenson Button (BAR-Honda), Jarno Trulli (Renault), Olivier Panis (Toyota) and David Coulthard, who had made a fantastic start from the back in his silver McLaren-Mercedes.

As this bunch settled into formation, the dust was still settling from other goings-on at the first turn. Juan Pablo Montoya did absolutely nothing for his working relationship with Ralf Schumacher by spearing into his team-mate after locking up under braking. Ralf in turn punted into Toyota driver Cristiano da Matta, which put them both out on the spot - although Montoya continued.

"I was just a passenger," said Schumacher Jr, who is rumoured to have signed for the Toyota team. "Montoya ran into the back of me. I didn't even see Cristiano, so what could I do? I'm sorry Cristiano was a victim of the incident."

Ralf older brother was doing just fine at that point. With a giant lead already secured by lap nine, he could comfortably make the first of three stops with no resolution to the stalemate behind him. The world champion emerged at the very tail of that queue, but had no need to try anything rash - he could simply wait for the others to pit.

Raikkonen and Trulli were into the pits a lap later, while Coulthard was having a little moment over the kerbs at the Veedol Chicane. One more lap passed and Alonso was in. It was clear that most people would be three-stopping this afternoon.

The Renaults and Raikkonen emerged into a pack of bickering midfielders (mostly Jaguars and Jordans), which ultimately meant Alonso and Trulli were not going to be anywhere near fighting for second when the stops were done. In fact, a general lack of fight from the car and the Michelin tyres left them out of touch and alone for the rest of the afternoon.

The traffic would have been bad news for Raikkonen too, although he didn't have to worry about it for long. His Mercedes engine let go just as it did last year (although he was leading the race then), and he could only trudge away after his most impressive stint of the year.

Button also pitted, and also emerged in the dogfight that temporarily swallowed the Renaults. All of which meant his team-mate Takuma Sato was leading, from Barrichello (the only top runner to two-stop on the day) and Schumacher.

On lap 13, Sato was in, but had been lapping fast enough to emerge ahead of any traffic. Barrichello completed the first round of stops on the sixteenth tour.

That put Schumacher back on top, and meant the race was now a simple one to read. Schumacher was undoubtedly in a class of his own, and the battle for second was one between the three-stopping Sato and the two-stopping Barrichello.

Behind them, Button clearly had the measure of the Renault pair, although he did lose some time behind Coulthard's McLaren before pulling off the move of the day around the Scot's outside at the first corner. Time lost there probably put Button off thinking about third position.

"David made a little mistake in the last corner," said Button. "I was able to get him into Turn 1 on the outside, which is pretty brave I suppose. But I had to get past him because he was slowing me down by almost two seconds a lap."

Coulthard retired a while later anyway, but at least won the race to complete the most laps in a McLaren.

"I ended the first lap in the same place as many other races when I've started near the front," said Coulthard, who had been relegated to the back after an engine change. "Our performance has been stronger this weekend, so that gives us some hope."

And so the major intrigue was the Sato versus Barrichello fight, which was a classic strategic encounter during which the Japanese and the Brazilian rarely even saw each other on the track until Sato emerged from his final stop.

It was always going to be tight, but Sato may have thought he had done enough to vault past the Ferrari. Sadly for him, Barrichello just slipped past as Sato exited the pits. But the BAR-Honda man was faster, and next time round was just behind Barrichello's rear wing.

It's debatable whether Sato was close enough to have a go, but he had a go anyway. The result of a lunge up the inside was a front wing damaged on the side of the Ferrari, which spoilt an otherwise excellent afternoon's work in which he totally outshone Button.

Barrichello could continue unharmed, but Sato had to pit for a new nose. He may still have been on for points - but (as always seems to happen to Sato) his Honda engine gave in with an impressive plume of smoke. It may be some strange consolation for Sato that his chances of a podium were already gone when that happened.

Button brought himself home third, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas) and Mark Webber (Jaguar), the latter pair making good work of two-stop strategies.

The final point went to Montoya, who had a thrilling afternoon if nothing else. After his first-turn bash, he had to stop for a new nose cone. He took on fuel, which left him running an odd strategy. At times this left him with very worn tyres. Montoya had lock-ups and a near-spin, but this didn't stop him elbowing his way through the midfield to take eighth, albeit a lap down.