Schumacher Leads Dominant Ferrari 1-2 at Imola

Michael Schumacher scored a commanding victory in the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday as he and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello claimed the Italian team's first one-two finish since they won the World Championship in Hungary last year.

German Schumacher delighted the passionate 'Tifosi' crowd as he led from start to finish in a processional race where excitement gave way to admiration of a near-polished performance from the scarlet Scuderia.

Ralf Schumacher claimed third for Williams-BMW after a storming start pushed him ahead of Ferrari's Barrichello into the first corner, but he lost the place in the first set pit stops and was purely out-paced by the Ferrari pair.

There was no repeat collision between Ferrari driver Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian Williams driver could not get close to his rival after the hopes of warm temperatures that suit the Michelin runners were dashed by cloud.

Montoya finished a lonely race in fourth place, well ahead of the Renault of Briton Jenson Button, who showed his team, in this race at least, can beat the McLaren-Mercedes team fair and square as Scot David Coulthard scored the final point for sixth.

Coulthard's countryman Allan McNish was the first retirement of the race when his Toyota ground to a halt immediately after the start, and Takuma Sato, of Jordan-Honda, continued the debutants' trend of early departures by disappearing with gear selection problems after just 5 laps.

It was a sorry day for Jordan, as their second car, of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was forced to park up at the side of the track after 21 laps to leave the team packing up early.

It was the Sauber team who made the early pit moves, when German Nick Heidfeld went in from 9th place, but he was forced to return to the pits a second time after his fuel filler refused to work and dashed his hopes of a point-scoring finish as he was also given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

Ralf Schumacher gradually dropped away from his brother Michael as Barrichello pressed to get past the Williams-BMW and the pair in turn pulled away from Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth.

The Renaults were next to pit, and Jenson Button managed to overhaul his teammate Jarno Trulli despite stopping for exactly the same amount of time in his pit, and also got past Coulthard's McLaren through the first round of pitstops.

Schumacher remained ahead of Barrichello, with the Williams pair of Ralf Schumacher and Montoya chasing and Kimi Raikkonen in fifth, before he parked up in the McLaren garage at the end of the 44th lap.

Briton Eddie Irvine dropped out after 48 laps when his Jaguar failed and Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi spun into the gravel trap after completing 50 laps.

Barrichello's hopes were almost ruined when his team made their only glitch of an otherwise ideal race as his mechanics had trouble with the left rear wheel and his stop lasted 13.9 seconds.

But he was far enough ahead of Ralf Schumacher to keep his second place, and the top six order remained the same to the end with Schumacher taking a dominant victory ahead of Barrichello, his brother Ralf, Montoya, Button and Coulthard.

Jacques Villeneuve finished just outside the points in seventh for British American Racing Honda, with Brazilian Felipe Massa eighth for Sauber, Trulli ninth for Renault, with Heidfeld and Minardi's Mark Webber the final finishers.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The San Marino Grand Prix Imola, Bologna; 62 laps; 305.609km; Weather: Hot and dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h 29:10.789 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 17.907 3. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 19.755 4. Montoya Williams BMW (M) + 44.725 5. Button Renault (M) + 1:23.395 6. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) + 1 lap 7. Villeneuve BAR Honda (M) + 1 lap 8. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 lap 9. Trulli Renault (M) + 1 lap 10. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 lap 11. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) + 2 laps Fastest Lap: R.Barrichello, 1:24.170, lap 38 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 50 Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 45 Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 44 Panis BAR Honda (B) 44 De la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 30 Salo Toyota (M) 26 Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 25 Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 19 Sato Jordan Honda (B) 5 McNish Toyota (M) 0 World Championship Standing, Round 4: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 34 1. Ferrari 40 2. R.Schumacher 20 2. Williams-BMW 37 3. Montoya 17 3. McLaren-Mercedes 9 4. Button 8 4. Renault 8 5. Barrichello 6 5. Jaguar-Cosworth 3 6. Coulthard 5 = Sauber-Petronas 3 7. Raikkonen 4 7. Minardi-Asiatech 2 8. Irvine 3 = Toyota 2 9. Webber 2 = Heidfeld 2 = Salo 2 12. Massa 1 All timing unofficial