Schumacher makes perfect start

Michael Schumacher blasted away at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon to boost his hopes of a record 10th win this season.

The five-time world champion powered away from pole and was given a further fillip with Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello grabbing second spot at the start of the 44-lap race.

Barrichello overtook McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen who had claimed the first front row start of his career in qualifying yesterday when Schumacher scored his maiden pole in Belgium.

Raikkonen's hopes of a first win were further hit on the second lap as he was overtaken by the Williams-BMW of Juan Pablo Montoya.

Schumacher, also looking for an outright record sixth won on the track where he made his debut in 1991 and scored his maiden win a year later, had built up an advantage of 2.8secs over Barrichello by the end of the third lap.

Montoya was over six seconds adrift on the 4.3-mile long track which is the longest on the current calendar.