Rubens gutted by defeat

Barrichello, who had been faster than Schumacher in free practice, taken pole position and set fastest lap, had to be content with second place and eight points at Indianapolis despite pushing his team-mate hard after their final pitstops.

"More than Canada, more than ever, I thought I had the race in my hands," the Brazilian said. "When the Safety Car switches its lights off in the last sector at Indy, you don't have much time to prepare for the restart.

"Michael had prepared his tyres better but I got a lot of wheelspin. It was difficult even to stay flat-out through the banking in Turn 13 because the tyre pressures had dropped and the car was bottoming out. I was in no position to close the door."

Crucially, that meant that Schumacher was in front and got the first bite at the pit stops when the second Safety Car arrived after 10 laps for the accident to Michael's brother Ralf. Barrichello, meanwhile, had to queue behind him in the pits and came out behind three other rivals.

By the time of the second stops, Rubens was almost 15s behind Michael but almost managed to recover it all in the second stint by running eight laps longer. At the crucial point, just before his second stop, however, Barrichello encountered a polystyrene block that had been knocked onto the circuit by Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber.

"It was right in the middle of the exit of Turn 4, which is blind," he explained. "Because I was flat-out I was using the whole track and as soon as I felt a bang I backed off. It was a big hit and I thought I'd lost the suspension because the car went left. It took me half a lap to know it was okay, by when I'd lost the time. Without that, I think I'd have pitted out ahead of Michael."