Schumacher silences Ferrari's critics with fastest race victory

You've got to hand it to Michael Schumacher. When he does things he usually does them in style, and here yesterday he was at his stylish best.

Ferrari came to their home race in the eye of the storm of controversy they had stirred up around the thorny subject of Michelin's front tyre tread width, desperately in need of a victory to stem the attack by Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen on Schumacher's world championship lead, and stinging from a feeble eighth place finish in Hungary three weeks earlier.

But when the chips were down Schumacher not only delivered pole position, but a perfect race performance. It was not just his 50th victory since joining the famed Scuderia back in 1996, it finally unseated Englishman Peter Gethin as the victor of history's fastest-ever Grand Prix.

Back in 1971 Gethin, a jockey's son, had ridden his BRM to a hair's-breadth success just ahead of Ronnie Peterson, Francois Cevert, Howden Ganley and Mike Hailwood. Yesterday afternoon only Montoya troubled Schumacher and he was an official 5.3 seconds behind as the Ferrari driver's 247.585 kmh winning average eclipsed Gethin's 242.615.

"There were many things that came together here," Schumacher said, his emotional pleasure momentarily suggesting that perhaps the tears of past Monza triumphs might become the only thing to overtake him. "And it's quite a while ago since we last won in 2003. We've had some tough races behind us. Then we had the summer break and a big push in the team and at the factory. Everyone was very motivated, more than 100 percent.

"It's been an unbelievable thing to watch," he added. "I was able to pay some of that effort back yesterday by taking pole position, but today was one of the greatest days of my career. I am so in love with all those guys in the team, from the designers and engineers and mechanics to the lady who sweeps the factory. To all of them, a big thank you!"

Schumacher's greatest moment of concern came at the start. By his own admission he almost overshot the tight chicane in the first corner, approached at close to 350 kmh even from a standing start, and had to compromise his line in order to stay on the track. That left Montoya to take avoiding action, but by the second chicane the Colombian came sneaking down the outside and actually nosed ahead. In some gripping racing the two of them went through the tight corner side-by-side before physics told and Montoya lost momentum and had to fall back in line. He only just kept fast-starting Jarno Trulli at bay, but the Italian didn't complete that opening lap as his Renault suffered an hydraulic problem.

"It was tight in the first corner and I almost didn't make the chicane, then Juan came on the outside and we had a nice fight," Schumacher said. "It was very hard but fair, and a vital factor in winning the race."

Montoya later closed within a second of Schumacher during the latter part of the race, but ultimately lost out when lapping backmarkers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Zsolt Baumgartner. In the end he settled for a damage-limiting second place that keeps him firmly in contention for the title. "I think it was pretty good, that first lap!" he said. "On the first set of tyres the car was okay, but we made a lot of ground in the second. Then we were pretty close but I lost time in traffic, behind slow backmarkers, so after that I paced myself to the end. It would have been very hard to pass Michael anyway."

In their wake, Rubens Barrichello just kept the upper hand over Raikkonen, the second Ferrari and the McLaren Mercedes finishing less than a second apart, six-and-half seconds behind Montoya. David Coulthard should have taken fifth but suffered wretched fortune when loss of fuel pressure forced him out on the 46th lap and handed the place to Spanish driver Marc Gene, who substituted strongly for an unwell Ralf Schumacher at BMW Williams.

The result gives Schumacher 82 points, to Montoya's 79 and Raikkonen's 75.

Montoya said he did not believe that Ferrari's result had anything to do with the regulation change concerning the tread measurement of his Michelin tyres. "I think it's down to the nature of this track, where downforce and grip are less important," he suggested. "I think we should go back to being very strong in Indianapolis."

RACE DETAILS

1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari, 53 laps 1hr, 14min, 19.838sec
2 J P Montoya (Col) BMW-Williams, 53 1:14:25.132.
3 R Barrichello (Br) Ferrari, 53 1:14:31.673.
4 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes, 53 1:14:32.672.
5 M Gene (Sp) BMW-Williams, 53 1:14:47.729.
6 J Villeneuve (Can) BAR Honda at one lap.
7 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar at one lap.
8 F Alonso (Sp) Renault at one lap.
9 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber at one lap.
10 G Fisichella (It) Jordan-Ford at one lap.
11 Z Baumgartner (Hun) Jordan-Ford at two laps.
12 N Kiesa (Den) Minardi Cosworth at two laps.
13 H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber at three laps.

Not classified: D Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes (at eight laps); O Panis (Fr) Toyota (at 18 laps); J Verstappen (Neth) Minardi Cosworth (at 26 laps); J Button (GB) BAR Honda (29 laps); C Da Matta (Br) Toyota (50 laps); J Wilson (GB) Jaguar (51 laps); J Trulli (It) Renault (53 laps)

Constructors Standings

1 Williams-BMW, 141.
2 Ferrari, 137.
3 McLaren Mercedes, 120.
4 Renault, 79.
5 BAR Honda, 18.
6 Jaguar, 17.
7 Toyota, 14.
8 Jordan Ford, 11.
9 Sauber Petronas, 9.
10 Minardi, 0.