Schumacher finds total contentment at home

World champion fulfils dream with win at Hockenheim for Ferrari but brother Ralf spoils family party

It cannot be easy for the man who has just about everything to satisfy himself, but Michael Schumacher found a way yesterday.

For all the records he has claimed and landmarks he has established, few achievements have given the German more pleasure than this first victory for Ferrari in his home grand prix.

A crowd of 120,000 basked in the sunshine and the reflected glory that Schumacher seized that long coveted prize with a regulation, authoritative drive. He controlled the race from start to finish, anxiety penetrating that imperious countenance only towards the end of his first tyre stint, when his younger brother Ralf, in a Williams-BMW, threatened to close in.

Fresh rubber gave the elder Schumacher fresh momentum and settled the complexion of the grand prix. The family domination was broken only four laps from the end, when Ralf had to make an unscheduled pit stop and was relegated to third place, behind his team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya.

Rubens Barrichello, in the other Ferrari, also lost crucial time in the pits, when his crew had problems with the fuel cap, and he finished fourth.

Michael Schumacher had no such glitches to encounter. He has, indeed, completed a full tour of the 17 world championship venues without a breakdown and has scored points in every race. That, of course, is a record.

This season he has dropped only 14 points from a possible 120, registering nine wins from the 12 races. That equals a record he already shared with Nigel Mansell and the chances are that he will manage at least one more victory from the remaining five grands prix.

This one had its own currency, a priceless treasure to flaunt and share with an adoring public who demanded nothing less on this re-designed circuit. Schumacher, whose only other win here was seven years ago, driving a Benetton, said: "I really wanted this. I hadn't done it in seven years for Ferrari and it was beginning to look as though it wasn't supposed to happen for me at Hockenheim.

"We have achieved so much this year and over the past three years but to finally win this one means so much to me. After winning the championship last week and then seeing the crowd here and winning the race, it's a dream come true.

"I had a very tough battle with Ralf in the first part of the race and the German fans loved it. We struggled with the temperatures and blistering tyres. But the tyres stayed together for the second and third stints and I was able to take it easy at the end. Then I could enjoy the slowing down lap. It was just a shame for Ralf and that the two Schumachers did not finish first and second.''

Ralph Schumacher's loss was Montoya's gain, the Colombian subsequently taking a four-point advantage over his team-mate in the contest for runner-up position in the championship. Montoya, who had pole position for five consecutive races before Schumacher's Ferrari halted the sequence here, perhaps earned his luck by winning the most enthralling fight of the day. He overtook Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren-Mercedes for fourth place and then had to resist the bold retaliation of the Finn for almost half a lap of nerve-jangling racing.

Montoya said: "The team told me I was losing too much time behind Raikkonen and that I had to get past him, but that was difficult and it was interesting for a while. I had a bit of luck when Ralf had to stop again but that's racing. I had five poles before coming here and this is the best result I've had in that period.''

Ralf Schumacher could not suppress his dismay at finishing behind his partner after stopping to take air into the pneumatic valve system of his engine. But he had out-performed Montoya all weekend, producing the perfect response to the demand from Frank Williams, the team principal, but he had to raise his game.

The younger Schumacher said: "It's very disappointing. Everything that could have gone wrong for me did. I was held up on the track and in the pit lane, and then had to make the extra stop because of the engine problem. But second and third is a good result for the team.''

Barrichello shared some of his despondency. Again his game plan was torn up through circumstances beyond his control. Having changed to his spare car just before the start he sat helplessly in the pits as mechanics tussled with the fuel cap. He is now five points off the second place in the championship that he craves.

McLaren, having had the better of the battle with Williams in France, a week earlier, were less effective here and David Coulthard was more than grateful for his fifth place. The final point went to Nick Heidfeld, in a Sauber, on a day when only nine of the 22 starters were running at the end.

Raikkonen, never one to shirk an adventure, managed to bring his crippled car back to the pits after sustaining a puncture and then losing his shredding tyre around the circuit. Five laps from the end he lost control of the McLaren and this time there was no coming back.

Allan McNish pulled up his Toyota with flames spitting from the back. Jenson Button's inauspicious weekend was complete when the engine of his Renault cut out and Eddie Irvine retired his Jaguar with a brake fluid leak.

HOCKENHEIM DETAILS

1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1hr 27min 52.078sec (average speed 209.262 kph)
2 J P Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW +10.5sec
3 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW +14.4
4 R Barrichello (Br) Ferrari +23.1
5 D Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap.
6 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas +1 lap

7 F Massa (Br) Sauber-Petronas +1 lap; 8 T Sato (Japan) Jordan-Honda +1 lap; 9 M Salo (Fin) Toyota + 5 laps

Not classified: G Fisichella (It) Jordan-Honda 59 laps completes; K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 59 laps; E Irvine (GB) Jaguar 57 laps; E Bernoldi (Br) Arrows 48 laps; O Panis (Fr) BAR-Honda 39 laps; J Trulli (It) Renault 36; J Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda 2; J Button (GB) Renault 24; A McNish (GB) Toyota 23; M Webber (Aus) Minardi-Asiatech 23; H-H Frentzen (Ger) Arrows 18; P de la Rosa (Sp) Jaguar 0.

Constructors' Championship: 1 Ferrari 141; 2 Williams-BMW 76; 3 McLaren-Mercedes 49; 4 Renault 15; 5 Sauber-Petronas 11; 6 Jordan-Honda 6; 7 BAR-Honda 5; 8 Jaguar 3; 9 Minardi-Asiatech 2; 10 Toyota 2;

11 Arrows 2.