Schumacher Wins; Montoya Out of WC Race

World Champion Michael Schumacher mastered the changing conditions at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to claim his sixth win of the season in Sunday's United States Grand Prix.

But the German Ferrari driver was left hanging on for his record breaking sixth world title when Finn Kimi Raikkonen kept his Championship hopes alive with second place for McLaren-Mercedes.

In a high-pressure race the on-off rain in the first half of the race left Schumacher spinning the roulette wheel for the first time since leaving Las Vegas on the way to Indianapolis.

And as the blackened skies held onto their final drops of rain Schumacher's gambles paid off as those of his closest title rival Juan Pablo Montoya left the Colombian down and out.

Montoya finished sixth after a disastrous race that saw him start slowly, crash into his close pal Rubens Barrichello, slide off in the rain, suffer a stuck fuel hose and finally receive a drive-through penalty.

By contrast Schumacher's second victory at Indianapolis left his team elated but Raikkonen's second place in his first finish at the speedway left the German still needing one point to clinch the crown.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished third to claim his first podium since the United States Grand Prix in 2000 and the first for Sauber since Nick Heidfeld in Brazil in 2001.

Jarno Trulli finished fourth for Renault with Nick Heidfeld fifth in the second Sauber, Montoya sixth, Giancarlo Fisichella seventh for Jordan and Justin Wilson, of Jaguar, claiming his first Formula One point in eighth.

Raikkonen made a clean get-away from pole as Barrichello and Montoya dropped back to fifth and seventh and Michael Schumacher moved up to fourth with a fast start.

Ralph Firman was in the pits at the end of the first lap after colliding with Dutchman Jos Verstappen's Minardi but the main action was at the front as Montoya tried to fight his way through the field.

Montoya attempted to pass Barrichello for fifth at the start of lap three and after being held off at turn one he lunged at turn two and his front right wheel clipped Barrichello's rear left.

Barrichello spun off into the gravel and out of the race and Montoya dropped further back but managed to avoid colliding with the spinning Ferrari to stay in contention in the race.

Things were looking good for Michael Schumacher on lap four when he passed Toyota driver Olivier Panis, who had previously dropped behind Ralf Schumacher's Williams, to take third at turn one.

But it all went wrong for the German driver when rain began to fall and after Panis pitted Montoya and Spaniard Fernando Alonso shot past Schumacher, who could not get the run onto the main straight, on lap eight.

Montoya, determined to fight his way back through the field, made an aggressive move on McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard, who had quietly risen to third behind Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher, on lap 15.

With Scot Coulthard slow after giving way for the rampant Montoya, Alonso made it through to fourth in his Renault. The pair gained another place when German Ralf Schumacher pitted for his first stop.

Montoya pitted at the end of lap 17 but he was left stranded for several agonising seconds when his routine fuel stop was delayed because the team appeared to have a problem with the fuel filler nozzle.

That put the Colombian back out behind Coulthard but his hopes were boosted slightly when Raikkonen pitted at the end of lap 19 and came out directly behind Montoya's team-mate Ralf Schumacher.

Rain began to fall and that left Michael Schumacher with a difficult decision when he pitted one lap later but his team put grooved tyres, not wet, on his Ferrari.

But he pitted one lap later for intermediate tyres at the same time that Williams learned Montoya would be given a drive-through penalty because of his collision with Barrichello.

Ralf Schumacher then spun off on lap 21 and, after crashing into a tyre barrier, he reversed down a slip road to retire as leader Australian Mark Webber, of Jaguar, spun off and out in a similar way.

Montoya pitted on the same lap for his drive through penalty and, unable to change tyres, he slithered around the lap losing time and going off several times before pitting for full wet tyres and fuel.

Briton Jenson Button, whose BAR-Honda crew took the right gamble on tyres, led from Sauber's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Raikkonen on lap 25 and he lapped Montoya as the Williams driver left the pits.

Schumacher eased past title rival Raikkonen on lap 28 to take third and then easily passed Frentzen for second five laps later as Montoya languished in 10th, two laps down, after his troubled race.

Panis, who had started from his best grid position since 1999, retired on the leaders' 32nd lap after completing 27 laps and pitting four times with continued problems on his Toyota.

Schumacher took the lead on lap 38 when he comfortably passed Button to put himself in prime position to take the title with Raikkonen down in fourth and Montoya out off the points at just after the half distance point.

Coulthard, who had gambled on another pair of dry tyres but was left well of the pace as the track stayed wet, dropped further down the field when he was pulled into the pits for a drive-through penalty after speeding in the pitlane.

Button was on course for his first ever Formula One podium but his BAR-Honda ground to a halt on lap 42 to put Raikkonen up to third. But with Schumacher leading that was still not enough to keep the championship battle alive.

Alonso retired from seventh place when his car's engine blew up leaving a trail of heavy smoke and that promoted the rapidly rising Montoya up to seventh. But with Schumacher leading he needed fifth or better to stay in the title race.

Coulthard's race ended on lap 49 and his retirement was rapidly followed by failures for Firman, whose suspension looked to have failed, and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, whose BAR-Honda met a similar fate to Button's machine.

But it was Schumacher's day and the German celebrated by standing on top of his Ferrari and defiantly punching the air safe in the knowledge that his sixth title is now well within his grasp.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The United States Grand Prix Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 73 laps; 306.016km; Weather: Raining. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h 33:35.997 2. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) + 18.258 3. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) + 37.964 4. Trulli Renault (M) + 48.339 5. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 56.403 6. Montoya Williams BMW (M) + 1 lap 7. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) + 1 lap 8. Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 2 laps 9. da Matta Toyota (M) + 2 laps 10. Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) + 4 laps 11. Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) + 4 laps Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:11.473 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 64 Firman Jordan Ford (B) 49 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 46 Alonso Renault (M) 45 Button BAR Honda (B) 42 Panis Toyota (M) 28 Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 22 R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 22 Barrichello Ferrari (B) 3 World Championship Standing, Round 15: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 92 1. Ferrari 147 2. Raikkonen 83 2. Williams-BMW 144 3. Montoya 82 3. McLaren-Mercedes 128 4. R.Schumacher 58 4. Renault 84 5. Barrichello 55 5. Sauber 19 = Alonso 55 6. BAR-Honda 18 7. Coulthard 45 7. Jaguar-Cosworth 18 8. Trulli 29 8. Toyota 14 9. Webber 17 9. Jordan-Ford 13 10. Frentzen 13 11. Fisichella 12 = Button 12 13. da Matta 8 14. Panis 6 = Villeneuve 6 = Heidfeld 6 17. Gene 4 18. Firman 1 = Wilson 1 All timing unofficial