Schumacher takes lead

Michael Schumacher led the European Grand Prix from pole position on home turf at the Nurburgring today.

Schumacher made a clean getaway to lead from Fernando Alonso, with Takuma Sato - who had started second – slipping to fourth as Kimi Raikkonen moved into the top three.

Raikkonen found himself second after Alonso made a mistake while further back Williams endured a nightmare start.

Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into team-mate Ralf Schumacher at turn one. Schumacher’s car was terminally damaged while Montoya needed to pit for a new front wing.

David Coulthard made good progress having started at the back of the grid following an engine problem which hampered him in qualifying.

The Scot was up to ninth by the end of lap one with Jenson Button losing a place at the start to slip to sixth.