Schumacher Claims Ferrari's 150th Win

World Champion Michael Schumacher held off a spirited but ultimately extinguished fight from rival Juan Pablo Montoya to claim Ferrari's 150th Grand Prix victory in the Canadian Grand Prix today.

Schumacher's historic victory for the Italian Scuderia was his sixth of the season, and proved that Montoya's claims of a turn-around in form were slightly off the mark as the German dominated in an exciting race full of overtaking.

Montoya's strong performance was halted late in the race as his engine blew and he conceded the second place to Briton David Coulthard, who grasped the chance with open arms but had to fight to keep ahead of Barrichello.

The Briton, who won in Monaco two weeks ago, was forced to defend position again, but fought off his Brazilian rival to prevent him from topping Ferrari's day with a one-two finish.

Behind third-placed Barrichello was the second McLaren of Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who had a quieter race and finished more than 30 seconds behind his more experienced teammate.

Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who been on the podium in 50 percent of his races in Montreal, had to settle for fifth place again, for the third successive race, to hand more points to delighted team boss Eddie Jordan as Jarno Trulli claimed the final point for Renault.

Montoya stormed into the lead with a perfect start from pole and immediately chopped across his rival Schumacher to make sure the German could not get past as the pair headed down into turn one.

Montoya was clearly ahead by the first corner, and Schumacher, who was not even close enough to present concerns over another turn one incident, was easily passed by his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.

The Brazilian, clearly pushing hard, passed Montoya for the lead on the opening lap, and went on to reel off seven fastest race laps in the opening 14 to build a five second lead on his Williams rival.

Jaguar driver Pedro de la Rosa hit the wall after being forced wide by one of the Toyotas in the opening lap scuffle and he had to pit to repair the damage but was able to continue at the back of the field.

On lap 10 the Canadian crowd were left disappointed when home hero Jacques Villeneuve stopped out on the circuit with engine problems and the marshals' failure to move the BAR-Honda forced the safety car out four laps later.

It was out for three laps, but in that time leader Montoya chose to make a pit stop and his 11-second long wait hinted that he was filled with enough fuel to last the distance.

He came out fifth, behind the Ferraris of Barrichello and Schumacher, McLaren-Mercedes' Raikkonen and his team-mate Ralf Schumacher, but he moved up to third at the end of lap 18, when Raikkonen clattered the kerbs on the final chicane.

At the end of lap 25, leader Barrichello pitted for a 10.6 second stop to relinquish the lead to Schumacher, who used a clean track to extend his lead over Montoya by one second per lap.

By the time Schumacher pitted, at the end of lap 37, he had a lead of 22.4 seconds, but with a 11.4 second wait, his advantage proved to not be enough and Montoya steamed past him as he left the pits.

With Schumacher now on a heavier fuel load that before his stop, Montoya began to built up a lead lap by lap as the runners behind them began to pit, with Ralf Schumacher the next to stop on lap 42.

But the Williams-BMW fuel filler failed to function and, after a 20.8 second stop, he was back in again three laps later for another 9.8 seconds, dropping him down to ninth place.

Once the main runners' pit stops were over Montoya led Schumacher by nearly 10 seconds, with Barrichello third ahead of Coulthard, Raikkonen and Jordan driver Fisichella.

Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine parked his Jaguar up at the side of the track and both Toyotas retired, with Scot Allan McNish almost forcing the safety car out again when he spun on lap 48.

Montoya had to stop again, and after setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 49, he came in at the end of lap 50 for an 8.2 second stop which dropped him to third behind the two Ferraris again.

Barrichello then pitted for a 5.8 seconds stop at the end of lap 54 which dropped him to fourth behind Coulthard and leader Schumacher, but at the start of lap 57 Montoya's fight came to an end when his engine expired coming into turn one.

The unlucky and disconsolate Colombian took a long walk back to the pits, dejectedly waving at the crowd as he pondered another missed chance to get back at his rival Schumacher.

Jenson Button was another unfortunate late retirement, and he parked his smoking Renault at the side of the track after completing 66 laps to end what has been a difficult weekend for the on-form Briton.

Montoya's retirement left Schumacher almost 20 seconds ahead of Coulthard, with Barrichello hounding the McLaren-Mercedes driver for the runners-up spot as Schumacher was left to cruise to the end unhindered.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal; 70 laps; 305.049km; Weather: dry, windy. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h 33:36.111 2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) + 1.132 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 7.082 4. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) + 37.563 5. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) + 42.812 6. Trulli Renault (M) + 48.947 7. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 51.518 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap 9. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap 10. Sato Jordan Honda (B) + 1 Lap 11. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) + 1 Lap 12. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap 13. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) + 1 Lap 14. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) + 2 Laps 15. Button Renault (M) + 5 Laps Fastest Lap: J.Montoya, 1:15.960, lap 50 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Montoya Williams BMW (M) 57 McNish Toyota (M) 46 Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 42 Salo Toyota (M) 42 de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 30 Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 17 Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 9 World Championship Standing, Round 8: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 70 1. Ferrari 86 2. R.Schumacher 27 2. Williams-BMW 54 = Montoya 27 3. McLaren-Mercedes 33 4. Coulthard 26 4. Renault 12 5. Barrichello 16 5. Sauber-Petronas 8 6. Button 8 6. Jordan-Honda 6 7. Raikkonen 7 7. Jaguar-Cosworth 3 8. Fisichella 6 8. Minardi-Asiatech 2 9. Heidfeld 5 = Toyota 2 10. Trulli 4 = Arrows 2 11. Irvine 3 = Massa 3 13. Webber 2 = Salo 2 = Frentzen 2 All timing unofficial