Schumacher Takes First Win with Ferrari in Germany

World Champion Michael Schumacher cruised to a triumphant victory at Sunday's German Grand Prix to delight his horn-blowing home fans and equal his and Briton Nigel Mansell's record for the most victories in a season.

Schumacher's ninth win of the year came with ease as he led from start to finish in a processional race which was only livened up by a titanic one-lap scrap between Finn Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams-BMW.

German Schumacher was unbeatable as he stamped his authority on Formula One by pushing his season's points haul past the 100 mark and underlined his dedication and drive to secure win after win when he clocked up his 62nd career victory, his second in his home Grand Prix.

Schumacher's brother Ralf lost out on a family one-two on home German soil at Hockenheim after losing second place to Williams-BMW teammate Juan Pablo Montoya when he was forced to pit three laps from the end.

Rubens Barrichello finished fourth after another gremlin hit race in which he took to the grid in the spare Ferrari with seconds to spare and hit trouble in the pits to cost him a possible podium finish. Briton David Coulthard was fifth for McLaren-Mercedes, while Nick Heidfeld secured the final point for Sauber.

At the start, Schumacher got away well to lead cleanly into the first corner with his brother Ralf and teammate Barrichello tucked in behind, and Montoya losing out to Raikkonen.

The two Renaults made rocket starts once again and Trulli moved up to sixth with Button climbing into the top ten from 13th as Heinz-Harald Frentzen stalled his Arrows on the grid and Mark Webber's Minardi was slow to get away.

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa was the first man out, however, when he parked his Jaguar at the side of the circuit after the Arrows team pushed Frentzen back into the pits, fixed the problem and sent him out again.

Ulsterman Eddie Irvine was struggling in the second Jaguar and spun twice, while Button soon began dropping down the order right to the back as the leaders remained in the same positions they had concluded the opening lap.

At the start of lap 11, Montoya began a fantastic one-lap battle with Raikkonen as they fought wheel to wheel for fourth place and the Colombian finally made it past in the stadium section.

The second Renault of Trulli was soon in trouble, dropping down the order and out of the top ten before to coming in for a new set of tyres on lap 16, by which time the two Schumachers and Barrichello had stretched out a 15-second gap on fourth-placed Montoya.

Leader Schumacher had, by lap 20, pulled out a 4.3-second lead on his little brother with Barrichello pushing the Williams driver hard in an effort to find a way past, while the two Renaults were already lapped.

On lap 22, Frentzen pulled into the pits to retire and three laps later Scot Allan McNish ended his race after the rear of his Toyota developed a small fire and he parked it at the side of the track.

Australian Mark Webber also retired on the leaders' 25th lap, bringing his Minardi into the garage after another encouraging drive, and Button retired one lap later when he spun off the circuit after a difficult day.

Rubens Barrichello began the leaders' pit stops at the end of lap 26, with an 8.6 second stop then leader Michael Schumacher pitted one lap later and was stationary for two tenths of a second less.

That left Ralf Schumacher in the lead before he pitted on lap 29, having set the fastest lap of the race. But he was held up by Jacques Villeneuve's British American Racing Honda when he entered the pits and his hopes of overhauling his brother were extinguished.

Montoya pitted on the following lap and was stationary for 7.7 seconds, three tenths of a second less than his Williams teammate, and when he returned to the track the order remained exactly as it was before the stops with the Michael and Ralf Schumacher one-two, Barrichello third and Montoya fourth.

Trulli was given a drive-through penalty at the end of lap 34, but three laps later he was out of the race after losing control in the stadium and going straight on into a gravel trap.

One lap earlier, Raikkonen lost his hopes of another points-scoring finish when his left rear wheel punctured. He was forced to hobble back to the pits as his tyre disintegrated and dropped down the 13th place.

Panis spun out of a points-scoring position on lap 41 when he, like Trulli, lost control of his car in the stadium section. Meanwhile, at the front, Schumacher had developed a nine second lead on his brother Ralf.

Barrichello was the first of the leaders in for the second round of stops at the end of lap 46, but his refuelling rig seemed to have some sort of problem and he was stationary for more than 20 seconds.

Michael Schumacher, his brother Ralf and then Montoya then came in on consecutive laps, and the order resumed with Michael ahead of Ralf and Montoya in third, five seconds ahead of the unfortunate Barrichello.

The debt-ridden Arrows team's weekend finished on a low when Enrique Bernoldi retired his smoking car at the side of the circuit on the leaders' 50th lap, and Fisichella retired his Jordan with a likely engine blow-out on lap 62.

For the second race in succession, Raikkonen hit trouble five laps from the end when, after losing the lead in France one week earlier, he spun out and crashed into the wall on the outside of the final corner.

Then, with three laps to go, Ralf Schumacher was forced to relinquish second place when he had to stop with a suspected hydraulics problem and was passed by teammate Montoya to leave the Colombian to move into second place in the Championship.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The German Grand Prix Hockenheim, Germany; 67 laps; 306.468km; Weather: Hot and dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h 27:52.078 2. Montoya Williams BMW (M) + 10.503 3. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 14.466 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 23.195 5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) + 1 Lap 6. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap 7. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap 8. Sato Jordan Honda (B) + 1 Lap 9. Salo Toyota (M) + 1 Lap Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:16.462, lap 44 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Reason Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 59 Engine Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 59 Spun off Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 58 Brakes Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 49 Engine Panis BAR Honda (B) 40 Mechanical Trulli Renault (M) 37 Spun off Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 28 Engine Button Renault (M) 25 Engine McNish Toyota (M) 24 Hydraulics Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 24 Mechanical Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 19 Hydraulics de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1 Transmission World Championship Standing, Round 12: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 106 WC 1. Ferrari 141 2. Montoya 40 2. Williams-BMW 76 3. R.Schumacher 36 3. McLaren-Mercedes 49 4. Barrichello 35 4. Renault 15 5. Coulthard 32 5. Sauber-Petronas 11 6. Raikkonen 17 6. Jordan-Honda 6 7. Button 11 7. BAR 5 8. Heidfeld 7 8. Jaguar-Cosworth 3 9. Fisichella 6 = Toyota 2 10. Trulli 4 = Arrows 2 = Massa 4 = Minardi-Asiatech 2 12. Irvine 3 = Villeneuve 3 14. Webber 2 = Salo 2 = Frentzen 2 = Panis 2 All timing unofficial