The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Schumacher in seventh heaven

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Schumacher in seventh heaven

MONTREAL, JUNE 14. World champion Michael Schumacher claimed his seventh victory in eight races in the Canadian Grand Prix here on Sunday but the aftermath of the race was dominated by the shock disqualifications of the Williams and Toyota cars.

The Williams of Ralf Schumacher, who had finished second, and team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, who was fifth, were disqualified as were the Toyotas of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis, eighth and 10th respectively, after FIA race commissioners judged that the brake ducts on the four cars were illegal.

"It was a mistake," admitted Williams' technical director Sam Michael. "There was no intention to cheat but we accept the decision of the FIA."

Both teams have declined their right to appeal.

The decision meant Ferrari was able to celebrate a one-two finish with Rubens Barrichello inheriting second place from Ralf Schumacher while Jenson Button, who had finished fourth in his BAR-Honda, took third.

But the race belonged to Michael Schumacher.

The German started from sixth on the grid in his Ferrari and kept his cool under pressure from Montoya and Barrichello as he moved up to cruise unchallenged to the chequered flag.

A clever two-stop strategy, a superior car and a drive of perfection in warm summer sun saw him come up trumps to record his 77th career victory. It is another record for Schumacher as he becomes the first driver to win a Grand Prix seven times.

"It worked out for us and our competitors had problems, which worked in our favour," said Schumacher.

``We thought on Saturday that we had no chance for pole so we worked our strategy for the race. The car preparation was fantastic. Rubens pushed me very hard at one point and he was very strong but we managed to do it again and it is just fabulous.

"There was pressure from Montoya as well but obviously due to different strategies it was not such a worry. With Rubens it was more critical because if he had passed me who knows how it would have worked out,'' said Schumacher.

His brother Ralf started from pole and drove a faultless race but he could do nothing to prevent the Ferrari driver from sailing past in the pit stops to leave Williams still waiting for their first victory of the season.

The win moved Michael Schumacher further ahead in the world championship to put him 16 points clear of Barrichello while Button consolidated his third place in the title race and now has 44 points.

Michael Schumacher put in the fastest lap of the race after Button and Montoya pitted to leave a clear track in front of him. He stopped on lap 18, after another fastest lap, and came out in third behind Ralf and Button.

By lap 27, Montoya had closed right onto the back of Schumacher's Ferrari but, after three laps of frantic hassling the Williams driver shot into the pits for his second stop.

Ralf Schumacher pitted from the lead for a quick stop at the end of lap 33 and Schumacher moved ahead but Barrichello, now in second, closed on him and almost passed to take the lead on lap 38.

The battle raged for six laps before Barrichello pitted and came out right behind Montoya. At the same time, Fernando Alonso stopped at turn one to record Renault's first double non-finish of the season.

Schumacher pitted for his second stop of the race on lap 46 to briefly hand the lead over to his brother Ralf before returning to the front when the Williams driver stopped on the very next lap.

By lap 50, when Takuma Sato's BAR-Honda ground to a halt with a fourth engine failure in five races while, on lap 66, four laps from the end, Felipe Massa crashed heavily straight on into the tyre wall at turn 10 but the Sauber driver was able to walk away to safety as Schumacher cruised away to victory.

The results: 1. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:28.24.803, 207; 2. Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari; 3. Jenson Button, BAR-Honda; 4. Giancarlo Fisichella, Sauber-Petronas; 5. Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes; 6. David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes; 7. Timo Glock, Jordan-Ford; 8. Nick Heidfeld, Jordan-Ford, 9. Christian Klien, Jaguar, 10. Zsolt Baumgartner, Minardi-Cosworth — Agencies