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Sunday, July 29
Michael Schumacher knocked out early
Associated Press
HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- Ralf Schumacher won a wild German
Grand Prix on his home track Sunday in a Formula One race marked by
a crash that involved his brother and forced a restart.
Michael Schumacher, the defending series champion and points
leader, was not injured. He quit in the 24th lap of a race in which
only 10 cars finished.
|  | | Ralf Schumacher, left, is hugged by brother Michael after Ralf's win on Sunday. |
He is seeking his fourth title and is one victory short of the
record of 51 held by the retired Alain Prost.
This was Ralf Schumacher's third victory of the season. He and
his older brother are the only two Germans to win the German Grand
Prix.
"I've had a lot of bad luck on this track, not always finishing
in a good position, so it's a great feeling to win here in
Germany," Ralf said. "German package, German driver, German race
-- a perfect scenario."
After Michael Schumacher dropped out, polesitter Juan Montoya
followed. Schumacher's only challenger for the title, David
Coulthard, was the next to go. Mika Hakkinen also failed to finish.
Schumacher retained his 37-points lead over Coulthard. There are
five races left in the season and a maximum of 50 points to be
gained.
His brother moved into third place with 41 points. Michael has
84, Coulthard 47 and Rubens Barrichello is fourth at 40.
Ralf Schumacher started second and stayed behind his
BMW-Williams teammate, Montoya, for the first half of the 45-lap
race. He took advantage of the Colombian's botched pit stop and
subsequent retirement to cruise to victory.
Barrichello, a Brazilian who won last year, came in second, 46.1
seconds behind. Former champion Jacques Villeneuve of Canada was
third, his best showing in three seasons with his team.
Giancarlo Fisichella of Italy was fourth and Benetton-Renault
teammate Jenson Button fifth and Jean Alesi in a Prost-Acer was
sixth.
The Grand Prix had to be restarted after a crash at the start
involving Michael Schumacher and Luciano Burti.
Schumacher's Ferrari left the starting grid slowly from fourth
position. As cars from down the grid passed the crawling Ferrari,
Burti rammed it in his Prost.
Burti's car flipped, landed upside down, bounced up and turned
over another time before sliding into the gravel and almost
disintegrating. Schumacher and Burti talked as they walked away
from the crash.
The accident left a lot of debris on the track. After bringing
out the safety car, officials restarted the race 26 minutes later,
again over 45 laps.
There was trouble even before the cars took their positions on
the grid.
Fernando Alonso's Minardi was pushed back into the pits with
smoke billowing, and teammate Tarso Marques could not get going.
Both cars started from the pit lane, before the race was stopped.
All cars returned for the restart but Nick Heidfeld's Sauber and
Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar collided in the first corner, leaving
them out of the race.
Montoya made his stop in lap 23, and it took mechanics 30
seconds to disengage the fuel nozzle. The Colombian banged his fist
in the cockpit.
Michael Schumacher went in on lap 24 but could not complete
another full lap, his Ferrari coming to a stop. Montoya was gone
one lap later, smoke coming out of the back of his Williams.
His pit stop behind him, Ralf Schumacher then took the lead
ahead of Barrichello and Coulthard. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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