Schumacher back to his best

Michael Schumacher got back to winning ways on home soil at the Nurburgring today with a dominant victory in the European Grand Prix.

Schumacher, who saw his 100% record in grands prix this season ended last weekend at Monaco when he crashed out, reclaimed his customary position at the front with ease in front of his home fans.

He led from pole position and never looked threatened as he claimed his 76th Formula One win by 17.9 seconds from Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who helped the Italian team to their fourth one-two this season.

Barrichello benefited from a different strategy to most of his rivals as he beat BAR’s Jenson Button to second.

Button had not looked capable of pushing for a top-three finish but after a relatively quiet race he inherited third when team-mate Takuma Sato lost his front wing following a clash with Barrichello.

Button walked away with six points and his fifth podium of the season to languish 22 points down on Schumacher, who holds a 14-point lead over Barrichello in the championship.

Monaco winner Jarno Trulli was fourth with Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso a place behind.

Giancarlo Fisichella scored his second points finish of the season with sixth place for Sauber while Jaguar’s Mark Webber claimed his best result of 2004 with seventh and Juan Pablo Montoya, driving a Williams, was eighth.

Williams’ race was over almost before it began with an embarrassing accident at the first corner.

Montoya locked up under braking and nudged team-mate Ralf Schumacher. The cars became entangled and Schumacher badly damaged a wheel while Montoya needed to pit for a new front wing, dropping him to the back.

Kimi Raikkonen looked set for his best finish of the season after leading briefly but his McLaren-Mercedes engines blew up in spectacular style on lap 10 to force the Finn into yet another retirement.

Schumacher’s strategy of pitting early saw him emerge as the leader after the first round of pit stops, with the German benefiting from a clear road and a light fuel load at the start.

Sato was running second with Barrichello third after opting to start with more fuel than most of his rivals.

David Coulthard made it a miserable home grand prix for Mercedes when, like McLaren team-mate Raikkonen, he was forced out with a blown engine on lap 27.

Schumacher looked composed at the front with none of his chief rivals able to trouble him. However, backmarkers gave him a fright with first Toyota’s Olivier Panis and then Jordan’s Nick Heidfeld emerging from the pits into his path.

Barrichello’s two-stop strategy paid off when Sato hit the track after his third and final trip to the pits just behind the Brazilian.

Sato refused to give in and launched a banzai move on Barrichello on lap 46. The pass was never on though and Sato smashed into the Ferrari, damaging his front wing.

The Japanese driver’s mistake though mattered little when his Honda engine blew up after his pit stop, forcing him out of the race on lap 48.

Sato’s troubles elevated Button to third but he was well behind Barrichello, with Schumacher even farther in the distance as the German cruised to his sixth win from seven races this season.

RESULT: 1 M Schumacher, 2 R Barrichello, 3 J Button, 4 J Trulli, 5 F Alonso, 6 G Fisichella, 7 M Webber, 8 JP Montoya.

JORDAN: N Heidfeld, 10th, G Pantano, 13th