Schumacher: Championship is Wide Open

World Champion Michael Schumacher says that this year's title race is "wide open" after he was pushed hard before taking Ferrari's second victory of the season in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

"Now the Championship is wide open once again," said Schumacher. "This time the race basically went in our favour - and that was crucial because at Barcelona I had to make up as many points as possible.

"We don't want to seem unkind in saying it but McLaren's bad luck benefited us. With what happened to Kimi at the start I immediately thought about the new placings and Coulthard retiring also allowed us to climb up the table."

Schumacher, driving the new F2003-GA machine in its debut race, has seen McLaren-Mercedes claim two wins so far this year and he faced a strong challenge from Renault's Fernando Alonso in Barcelona.

Schumacher shot back up to second in the World Championship, four points behind McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, when he lead a Ferrari 1-3 in Spain with Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing behind local hero Alonso.

But that result was made even better by the fact that Raikkonen crashed out at the start and his teammate David Coulthard ended his race in the gravel trap on lap 18 meaning that McLaren scored no points and Ferrari hauled in 16.

The German put his performance down to the new car - admitting after the race that he would not have won the race in the old machine - and he praised his team for creating another world beater.

"Our new car is not only stunning it is also a joy to drive," said Schumacher. "I had this impression during the tests and now its performance has been confirmed in a race. It is incredible what they have managed to achieve at Maranello, fine tuning each tiny detail of what was already a practically perfect car. I can only compliment Ferrari."