Schumacher Cruises to Fourth Win of 2004 at Imola

World Champion Michael Schumacher preserved his 100 percent start to the season with a comfortable victory in the San Marino Grand Prix in front of the packed red grandstands at Imola.

Schumacher recorded the 74th win of his career and his sixth at Imola in front of Ferrari's 'tifosi' after taking the lead after the opening pit-stops and racing off into the distance.

The German, who started from second on the grid, came home 9.7 seconds ahead of BAR-Honda's pole-sitter Jenson Button - who recorded a second best - with Juan Pablo Montoya claiming the final place on the podium for Williams-BMW.

Significantly, Schumacher's first win at Imola came in the 1994 race in which Ayrton Senna was killed and Formula One is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Brazilian's death this weekend. The fourth successive victory also equals his best start to a season when he won the opening four races in the 1994 season.

Renault pair Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli were fourth and fifth respectively with Rubens Barrichello, of Ferrari, Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who had started from the back of the grid, claiming the final points positions.

Button, starting from the head of the grid for the first time, made a good getaway and led from Schumacher with Montoya and Ralf Schumacher behind. Coulthard ran into the back of a Renault heading into the first corner and damaged the nose-cone of his McLaren and was forced to pit at the end of the opening lap.

Michael Schumacher and Montoya went wheel to wheel as they battled for second place, and Ralf Schumacher lost fourth place to Sato at the same moment at the Variante Alta. Italian Giorgio Pantano's hopes of a positive result in his first Grand Prix in his homeland were dashed on lap six when he parked his Jordan at the side of the track.

Montoya was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap eight, and Button then came in at the end of the next lap. The BAR driver then lost the lead when Schumacher made a quick stop at the end of lap 10.

Schumacher increased his lead over Button by around one second per lap with Montoya in third place. Trulli moved up to fourth after the pit-stops with Ralf Schumacher fifth, Barrichello sixth, Alonso seventh and Sato dropping to eighth.

Schumacher and Button both pitted after lap 26 with the German's lead up to 18.3 seconds, while Ralf Schumacher just held onto his position ahead of Barrichello as the pair almost collided in the pitlane. Ralf Schumacher then moved into fourth place when he got past Trulli as the Italian exited the pitlane at the mid-way point of the race.

Cristiano da Matta, who was given a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags, retired after bouncing his Toyota across the gravel at turn two. Gianmaria Bruni called it a day after mechanics were unable to fix his Minardi in the garage.

Button made his final stop at the end of lap 44 and after Schumacher stopped for a third time, the German was 26.5 seconds in front. Alonso jumped two places in his final stop to move ahead of Barrichello and Trulli, and he then got fourth place after touching wheels with Ralf Schumacher and sending the Williams driver into a spin.

Schumacher dropped down to seventh place behind Trulli and Barrichello, while Jordan's Nick Heidfeld left the track at turn seven and retired. Sato's engine blew up in the closing stages to hand a point to Raikkonen.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The San Marino Grand Prix Imola, Bologna; 62 laps; 305.609km; Weather: Cloudy, dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h26:19.670 2. Button BAR-Honda (M) + 9.702 3. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) + 21.617 4. Alonso Renault (M) + 23.654 5. Trulli Renault (M) + 36.216 6. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 36.683 7. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) + 55.730 8. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 1 lap 9. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap 10. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap 11. Panis Toyota (M) + 1 lap 12. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 1 lap 13. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 1 lap 14. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 2 laps 15. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 4 laps 16. Sato BAR-Honda (M) + 6 laps Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:20.411 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 51 Da Matta Toyota (M) 32 Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 22 Pantano Jordan-Ford (M) 6 World Championship Standing, Round 4: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 40 1. Ferrari 64 2. Barrichello 24 2. Renault 31 3. Button 23 3. Williams-BMW 27 4. Montoya 18 = BAR-Honda 27 5. Alonso 16 5. McLaren-Mercedes 5 6. Trulli 15 6. Sauber-Petronas 1 7. R.Schumacher 9 = Jaguar-Cosworth 1 8. Sato 4 = Coulthard 4 10. Massa 1 = Webber 1 = Raikkonen 1 All timing unofficial