Michael Schumacher set his championship chances back on course with two races to go, scoring a lights to flag victory in the Italian Grand Prix, supported by a third place for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate Rubens Barrichello. It was Michael’s fifth win of the season, his first since the Canadian race and the 69th of his F1 career. Today’s victory was also the German’s half century of wins for the Scuderia. The top five all finished in grid order, with Juan Pablo Montoya splitting the two Ferraris, in second place in his BMW-Williams. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for McLaren-Mercedes and Marc Gene fifth for BMW-Williams.

As the lights went out, Schumacher pulled away cleanly from pole, while Barrichello dropped to fourth behind a quick-starting Jarno Trulli in the Renault, while Kimi Raikkonen was fifth in the McLaren-Mercedes. Michael made a mistake at the first corner, which allowed Montoya to pull alongside at the second chicane. The two men ran side by side, with Michael retaining the lead on the way to the first Lesmo.

By lap 10, the world champion led by 3.5 seconds, as Rubens closed on Montoya. The majority of the field was on a two stop strategy, with the refuelling stops initiated by Coulthard on lap 11. Barrichello came in on lap 14, rejoining fifth. One lap later, Schumacher is in, temporarily promoting Montoya to the lead, but only for one lap as the Colombian refuelled on lap 16.

Three laps later, the Williams man began to close on Schumacher and by lap 24 the gap is under two seconds. Barrichello initiated the second run of pit stops on lap 31, followed next time round by Montoya and Coulthard. The Scotsman rejoined in sixth place behind Barrichello. Michael and Raikkonen both made their final trip down pit lane on lap 34. As Schumacher pulled out of the pits, he rejoined just behind Gene in the Williams. But when the Spaniard made his second stop, the order was restored as before.

On the final stint, none of the leading group was in a position to challenge, and so the race reached its conclusion with Michael Schumacher extending his lead from one to three points in the Drivers’ Championship with two rounds remaining. The German has 82 to Montoya’s 79, while Raikkonen who finished fourth is still third, but now seven behind the Ferrari driver. In the Constructors’ Championship, the Scuderia is still second but has closed to within four points of BMW-Williams. 

FERRARI RACE REPORT

Michael Schumacher: 1st 1:14.19.838 53 laps chassis 229, Rubens Barrichello: 3rd + 11.835 53 laps chassis 233, Temperatures: air 23/25°C, track 34/36 ° C

Sixth win of the season, the fifth with Michael Schumacher. This was victory number 165 from 684 grands prix starts for Scuderia Ferrari, the fifteenth in the Italian Grand Prix. For Michael it was win sixty nine and his fiftieth for Ferrari.

Jean Todt: 'The result brings enormous satisfaction. I would like to embrace everyone at Ferrari and our partners, both the technical ones, especially Bridgestone and Shell and the commercial ones such as Philip Morris, Vodafone and Olympus. I want to share this victory with them. The tension we felt was as strong as our will to win. It was almost as if the team was trying to win for the first time ever. As a group we aim for success and we work hard to achieve it. After yesterday’s qualifying, we knew we had a chance and we took it. It was an indescribable feeling standing on top of the pit wall stand during the prize-giving, with all the fans shaking me by the hand. As from tomorrow, for those who stayed in Maranello, we will be immediately concentrating on the remaining two events. On Tuesday we begin another intensive test session, working at three circuits: Jerez, Fiorano and Monza. Today was only the first step on a steep climb. The nearer you get to the peak of the mountain, the harder it gets.'

Michael Schumacher: 'I think this is the greatest day in my career. It is a long time since I won. We made a big push over the summer break with everyone in the team giving more than a hundred percent. To everyone in the team who was so motivated and worked so hard, from the engineers, the mechanics and even the lady who cleans, I have to say a big thank you. We have worked a lot on our starts and mine was good, but I made a mistake at the first chicane which allowed Juan to close. We had a good fight; it was hard and fair. After that I was able to build a lead. The second stint was not so good, but in the final stages I opened up the gap again, easing off when Juan slowed down. After my second stop I got a shock, as the team told me the Williams was coming. I thought ‘how did he do that’ but then I realised it was Gene. I nearly went off, I was pushing so hard to stay ahead. It was a beautiful and emotional feeling on the podium. The result is also a relief. We believed in ourselves and we knew we could fight back. The championship is still very open. We have improved and we keep on improving. The engine guys have done a tremendous job and that should help us in the last two races.'

Rubens Barrichello: 'I am quite happy to be third. It is better than being in the wall, like the last race! My car was very good at the start, but I lost time on the first lap with Trulli. He was alongside me and put me on the grass and so I had to back off, which meant I had to defend my position against Raikkonen and I almost ran into Trulli when he had a problem. By then, Juan was already 2 seconds ahead, even though I was able to close on him a bit. Unfortunately, my tyres were not as good on the second stint when I had too much understeer. I also had a problem with backmarkers. Nevertheless, I was able to maintain position ahead of Raikkonen. I am happy to have helped Ferrari close the gap to Williams in the championship.'

Ross Brawn: 'What a day! After the pain comes the pleasure… The drivers were fantastic, the car worked really well, as did the Bridgestone tyres. Everything worked out for the best and Ferrari has proved it did not give up after the recent poor results. It was incredible to see how happy our fans were from the podium. Being this competitive today augurs well for the last two races of the season. We worked very well all weekend, learning all the time. Michael had an exceptional race and Rubens also drove very well.'