Schumacher heads dominant Ferrari 1-2

The seven-time world champion German, 37, led home his teammate Felipe Massa, 24, to seal Ferrari's second one-two finish in the last three races.

He also enhanced his chances of taking an eighth world title this year by cutting the gap to championship leader Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth, from 17 points to 11.

For Massa, the result equalled his best finish in Formula One, and was his third visit to the podium this year.

Kimi Raikkonen, who started from pole position, came home third for McLaren, but only after making a stunning passing manoeuvre on Briton Jenson Button's Honda with eight laps to go.

The first lap was among the most hectic of the year. Raikkonen and the Ferraris held their positions, but fourth-placed qualifier Briton Jenson Button made his customary bad getaway, with Giancarlo Fisichella and his Renault teammate Alonso going through.

Not for long though as Button stuck his nose inside the world champion and took fifth.

Alonso had to use all his awareness though, as his countryman Pedro de la Rosa tried to follow Button through, forcing the Renault driver onto the concrete run-off area.

At the same time, Toyota's Ralf Schumacher clipped David Coulthard's Red Bull, launching the Scotsman onto two wheels and breaking his own front wing.

The first casualty of the hectic midfield scrap was Nico Rosberg, who spun his Williams into the tyres and out of the race entering the stadium while under pressure from the Midland of Tiago Monteiro.

De la Rosa was next to go as a mechanical failure caused his McLaren to stop - right in front of the huge grandstand owned by their engine suppliers Mercedes-Benz.

Raikkonen, on a three-stop strategy, instantly pulled away from his pursuers, building a six-second lead before his first pitstop on lap 10, but that was as good as it got for the Finn.

A problem left the McLaren mechanics inspecting the car's rear-end, leading to a 15.2 second stop, and dropping to eighth place, behind the battling duo of Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber, in a Honda and a Williams respectively.

It was here where Ferrari took control as Schumacher and Massa pulled out 14 seconds on Raikkonen in just five laps as the Finn remained stuck in midfield.

That got them out well in the lead when they completed their first stops on laps 19 and 20.

They controlled the race for the rest of the afternoon with Schumacher cruising to his third win in a row, and his 89th overall, ahead of his teammate.

Raikkonen's strategy forced him to race for position all afternoon, and he did not disappoint. Before passing Button for third, he had to go wheel-to-wheel with Webber at turn two after exiting the pits from his final stop.

Webber was on course for a fine fifth but saw his challenge ended nine laps from home when the Cosworth engine in the back of his Williams expired.

That gave fifth place to defending world champion Alonso, who was off the pace all weekend.

The off-form Spaniard had a momentary lapse of concentration on lap 62, running wide over the gravel that had earlier claimed Rosberg, but made it back on to the track.

But while Renault's weekend was one of disaster, Toyota's was a different story.

After an engine change in practice forced Jarno Trulli to start at the back, the Italian was inspired and finished on the tail of the Renaults in seventh.

Ralf Schumacher was also strong. After his first lap misdemeanour and a pitlane speeding penalty demoted him down the field, he only missed out on the final points position by 12 seconds.

Christian Klien who took the final point in his Red Bull.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, Germany;
67 laps; 306.458km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1h27:51.693
 2.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +     0.720
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    13.206
 4.  Button        Honda                (M)  +    18.898
 5.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  +    23.707
 6.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  +    24.814
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +    26.544
 8.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +    48.131
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +  1:00.351
10.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
11.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +     1 lap
12.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
13.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps
14.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: M.Schumacher, 1:16.357

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    60
Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    39
Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)    32
Barrichello   Honda                (M)    20
Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)    11
de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)    3
Yamamoto      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    2
Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 12:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       100        1.  Renault              149
 2.  M.Schumacher  89        2.  Ferrari              139
 3.  Massa         50        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      77
 4.  Raikkonen     49        4.  Honda                 37
 5.  Fisichella    49        5.  Toyota                23
 6.  Montoya       26        6.  BMW-Sauber            20
 7.  Button        21        7.  Red Bull-Ferrari      12
 8.  Barrichello   16        8.  Williams-Cosworth     10
 9.  R.Schumacher  13        9.  Toro Rosso-Cosworth    1
10.  Heidfeld      13       
11.  Coulthard     10       
12.  Trulli        10       
13.  Villeneuve     7       
14.  Webber         6       
15.  Rosberg        4       
16.  de la Rosa     2       
17.  Klien          2       
18.  Liuzzi         1       
       
All timing unofficial