Schuey Celebrates 10th Anniversary with New Record

Michael Schumacher celebrated his tenth anniversary in Formula One by taking his record 52nd career win after a chaotic and crash-interrupted Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.

The race, halted and then re-started, was rich in drama and veered from the nightmarish to the surreal before Ferrari's World Champion could celebrate an historic victory.

It was Schumacher's eighth win in 14 races this season and his fifth at the wooded Ardennes circuit that witnessed his first Grand Prix appearance in 1991 with Jordan and his first triumph in 1992 with the Benetton team.

"I had an average start today and I was able to defend my position," Schumacher said. "Thanks to whatever problem Williams had, I didn't have to fight against them. With the first start, they just pulled away and I had no chance. I think, even on the second start, Ralf from the second position would have just beaten me into the first corner.

"We didn't need to find out, though, and I had a clear race from that moment on. I'm obviously delighted. I was pushing flat out until the second pit stop, then I eased off for whatever reason. I thought I had the chance to open up the gap for an extra pit stop and we didn't know what the weather was going to do. I just wanted to have that safety."

With three races remaining in the 2001 season, Schumacher, who surpassed Frenchman Alain Prost as the most successful driver in the history of the sport, is only five points away from braking the record for most points in one season.

Teammate Rubens Barrichello finished in fifth place, and admitted he was thinking about countryman and friend Luciano Burti, who crashed during the race.

Barrichello said: "I am not exactly feeling great right now and it has nothing to do with the race, as I am referring to what happened to my friend Luciano.

"I was not sure what condition he was in, but I still concentrated on the race. Luckily, at the end I was still able to pick up two important points for the Championship."