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Michael Schumacher Wins French GP and Fifth WC

Michael Schumacher claimed a record-equalling fifth World Championship at the French Grand Prix on Sunday in a dramatic race which saw the title settled with just five laps to go.

Michael Schumacher claimed a record-equalling fifth World Championship at the French Grand Prix on Sunday in a dramatic race which saw the title settled with just five laps to go.

Schumacher was second, with the title race looking set to go to his home race in Germany in one week's time, but he overtook McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Raikkonen with five laps to go when the Finn ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin.

Schumacher led the race for only 14 laps, but he was able to cruise home to take the win and the world crown, and celebrated by punching the air as he wiggled his car across the line.

Scot David Coulthard made it a silver-dominated podium by driving his McLaren-Mercedes into third place behind Raikkonen after the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello had dropped out of the race before it even began.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya once again failed to win the race from pole and finished fourth with Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher fifth, but it was not enough for either driver to keep the title battle alive.

Briton Jenson Button, already on his way out at Renault, claimed a point for the French team in their first home race since returning as a complete manufacturer, but the French Grand Prix, this time, belonged to a German.

Schumacher stood in the car, both arms aloft to the crowd before a tearful meeting with Jean Todt as Ferrari mechanics surrounded him in parc ferme to celebrate his record success, which now puts him on a level with Argentine great Juan Manuel Fangio in World Championship hauls.

But for teammate Brazilian Barrichello, the race was a disaster from the start, when he had a front jack left under the nose of his Ferrari after his team ran out of time as they struggled to get his car ready for the race.

It looked like it would be the second race in a row that Barrichello would be forced to start from the back and battle through the pack, but it was not to be as the team could not fix the problem after the car was wheeled into the pits.

The furious Brazilian was left punching out at his team in frustration as he jumped out of the stricken Ferrari to signal his race as over and headed back through the pits before running back to the paddock in disgust.

As Barrichello fumed, Montoya flew off the startline and into the lead as he comfortably headed off rival Schumacher into the first corner, with Raikkonen holding onto third.

Behind them, Olivier Panis, of British American Racing, and Takuma Sato tangled and went off the track, with both skipping across the gravel trap before returning to the track.

Sato continued, but Panis had to pit for repairs after the opening lap, and after a long wait the Frenchman was left to return to the track, but he was already a lap behind.

Felipe Massa was in trouble early on when he was called into the pits for a drive through penalty after jumping the start to move up to eighth, but in his haste to get out of the pits, he crossed the white line and was given another drive through penalty which dropped him down to 16th place.

The order remained the same from the start, with Montoya continually resisting the pressure from Schumacher for the lead and Raikkonen hanging on behind, with Schumacher, Coulthard and Button all within around seven seconds of the lead.

But the leaders pulled away before they began their pit stops on lap 20, with Button coming in first for 9.6 seconds and teammate Trulli one lap later for an 8.4 seconds stop at the same time as seventh placed Eddie Irvine stopped.

Jordan, who started with one car after Giancarlo Fisichella was injured on Saturday, were out of the race after just 24 laps completed when Japanese driver Takuma Sato missed his braking point and went straight on into the gravel trap at the final chicane.

Leader Montoya stopped at the end of lap 24 to hand first place to Schumacher, who then came in two laps later. Montoya's stop of 8.4 seconds was exactly the same as Schumacher's, but the German made it out of the pits ahead.

But the World Champion mistakenly crossed the forbidden white line at the exit of the pit lane as he came out alongside Montoya to claim the corner, leaving the Williams mechanics cheering and Ferrari preparing to be punished.

Schumacher stayed out ahead of Montoya as the FIA investigated the incident before issuing him a drive-through penalty when he was on his 34th lap, while the rest of the top eight remained the same as before the stops.

Schumacher tried to build enough gap to allow him to come in and out and still remain in the lead, but he only had an eight second lead when he came in at the end of lap 35 and he dropped to third behind Raikkonen.

On lap 37 Canadian Jacques Villeneuve retired his smoking BAR Honda to end a disappointing day for the British team as Panis had retired earlier in the race to take the number of retirements to four.

Schumacher's drive-through left the top four of Montoya, Raikkonen, Michael and Ralf Schumacher covered by less than three seconds as they carved through traffic.

Montoya was the first to make his second stop, on lap 42, and he was left stationary for 11.6 seconds as he fuelled to the end of the race but returned to the track in sixth place.

Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher pitted one lap later but, like his brother Michael, he put a wheel over the white line after his stop and was penalised with a drive-through penalty.

It was not until lap 48 that Schumacher came in for an 8.8-seconds stop. One lap later Raikkonen made an 8.7-seconds stop and just made it out ahead of Schumacher as Coulthard was left in the lead.

On lap 50, a host of drivers added themselves to the retirement list, with Massa out after parking his Sauber in the pits, Mika Salo out when the engine blew on his Toyota, and Jarno Trulli out when his Renault expired.

Four laps later, there was another lead change when Coulthard pitted and, even though his 7.7-seconds stop was the fastest of the leaders, he came out alongside Schumacher in a battle for second.

Like most of the race leaders, except the least experienced Raikkonen, Coulthard drove across the white line in an effort to beat Schumacher into the corner, and he was penalised with a drive through penalty but did not lose a place.

Raikkonen held onto the lead from Schumacher for lap after lap, but finally caved in to the pressure when he slid wide at turn five after the stranded Toyota of Allan McNish distracted him.

Schumacher slipped through on the inside to take the lead and cruise home to a victory which left him delighted on the podium as the tearful Ferrari team cheered on from below.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The French Grand Prix Magny Cours, France; 72 laps; 305.886km; Weather: Dry, windy. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h 32:09.837 2. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) + 1.105 3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) + 31.976 4. Montoya Williams BMW (M) + 40.676 5. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 41.773 6. Button Renault (M) 1 Lap 7. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1 Lap 8. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1 Lap 9. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 2 Laps 10. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 4 Laps 11. McNish Toyota (M) 7 Laps Fastest Lap: Coulthard, 1:15.045, lap 62 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 52 Rear Wing Trulli Renault (M) 49 Mechanical Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 48 Mechanical Salo Toyota (M) 48 Engine Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 35 Engine Panis BAR Honda (B) 29 Mechanical Sato Jordan Honda (B) 23 Spun Off Barrichello Ferrari (B) DNS Engine World Championship Standing, Round 11: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 96 WC 1. Ferrari 128 2. Montoya 34 2. Williams-BMW 66 3. Barrichello 32 3. McLaren-Mercedes 47 = R.Schumacher 32 4. Renault 15 5. Coulthard 30 5. Sauber-Petronas 10 6. Raikkonen 17 6. Jordan-Honda 6 7. Button 11 7. BAR 5 8. Fisichella 6 8. Jaguar-Cosworth 3 = Heidfeld 6 = Toyota 2 10. Trulli 4 = Arrows 2 = Massa 4 = Minardi-Asiatech 2 12. Irvine 3 = Villeneuve 3 14. Webber 2 = Salo 2 = Frentzen 2 = Panis 2 All timing unofficial

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