Schumacher fends off Alonso to Imola win

Schumacher beat the Renault driver by two seconds after 62 hard-charging laps to record his seventh win at the circuit.

McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya completed the podium after clever pit-strategy from his McLaren crew allowed him to pass Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa at the final round of pitstops.

Seven-time world champion Schumacher led from the start from front-row qualifier Jenson Button, Massa and Alonso as Button's Honda teammate Rubens Barrichello dropped two places to fifth.

The safety car was deployed at the end of lap one after Midland's Christijan Albers destroyed his car in a big accident at the Villeneuve chicane.

Albers rolled his car five times through the gravel after Super Aguri's Yuji Ide tried an optimistic move in the second part of the corner. Albers walked away unscathed, and Ide was able to continue after pitting for repairs.

Schumacher built up a 13-second lead before the first round of pitstops. Button made the first move on lap 15, pitting for the first of three planned stops in 9.4 seconds.

Massa and Schumacher both stopped soon after, but Spaniard Alonso, who was carrying more fuel, continued until lap 25 and lapped over half a second faster than his rivals before pitting.

Alonso's blistering pace in the five laps before the pitstop saw him emerge in second place - ahead of Button and Massa, and with an 11.2 second deficit to Schumacher.

But the German was suffering from a lack of grip as Ferrari had put a set of used Bridgestone tyres on his car for the middle stint of the race.

That allowed Alonso to cut the gap to the leader down to 0.4 seconds within 10 laps as his Michelin rubber provided no such problem.

Alonso pitted for the final time on lap 41, but Schumacher's in-lap was so fast that he emerged ahead of last year's race winner when he emerged from the pitlane one lap later.

Alonso continued to pressure the leader, but it was he who made a crucial error with three laps to go when he ran wide onto the kerbs exiting the Villeneuve chicane.

That gave Schumacher a two-second lead, which he held onto to take his 85 Grand Prix win, and his first in 13 races.

Behind Montoya and Massa, McLaren's Finn Kimi Raikkonen ended a quiet race in fifth ahead of Williams' Mark Webber and Button.

Button could have finished higher but for a problem at his second pitstop. His lollipop man gave him the order to go before the fuel rig had been detached and the Briton knocked over his team's entire rig.

After stopping in the pitlane, the team removed the part and he was able to continue. Alonso's Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella completed the points-scoring positions in eighth.

Schumacher's win puts him second in this year's drivers' World Championship standings, 15 points behind Alonso.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The San Marino Grand Prix
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, San Marino;
62 laps; 305.609km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1h31:06.486
 2.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  +     2.096
 3.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    15.868
 4.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    17.096
 5.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    17.524
 6.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)  +    37.739
 7.  Button        Honda                (M)  +    39.635
 8.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +    40.200
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +    45.511
10.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +  1:17.851
11.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  +  1:19.675
12.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  +  1:22.370
13.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  +     1 lap
14.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
15.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
16.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:24.569

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)    48
Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    45
Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)    41
Ide           Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    24
Trulli        Toyota               (B)    7
Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 4:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso        36        1.  Renault               51
 2.  M.Schumacher  21        2.  McLaren-Mercedes      33
 3.  Raikkonen     18        3.  Ferrari               30
 4.  Montoya       15        4.  Honda                 15
 5.  Fisichella    15        5.  BMW-Sauber            10
 6.  Button        13        6.  Williams-Cosworth      8
 7.  Massa          9        7.  Toyota                 7
 8.  R.Schumacher   7        8.  Red Bull-Ferrari       2
 9.  Webber         6       
10.  Villeneuve     5       
11.  Heidfeld       5       
12.  Rosberg        2       
13.  Barrichello    2       
14.  Klien          1       
15.  Coulthard      1       
       
All timing unofficial