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| July 29, 2002 | Monday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18,1423 |
Record 9th victory for Schumacher
HOCKENHEIM, July 28: Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher returned home in style Sunday, adding a rare and record-equalling German Grand Prix win to his historic fifth Formula One title.
The German, ever the unstoppable success machine with 62 grand prix wins to his credit now, was in control from the moment he started his home race on pole position for the first time.
On a day to delight one side of the family and disappoint the other, Schumacher led his younger brother Ralf for most of the race until the Williams driver was forced to make a third pitstop three laps from the end.
The lost time pushed Ralf back to third, behind his Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya who finished 10.5 seconds behind the triumphant Ferrari.
It was the German’s ninth win in 12 races, equalling the record for a single season that he already holds jointly with Britain’s former champion Nigel Mansell, and his third victory in a row.
Schumacher equalled the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of five titles at the last race in France and now has 106 points out of a maximum 120. Nearest rival, Montoya, is 66 behind.
With five races remaining, there can be little doubt that the German is not through with winning yet even though the team’s focus is switching to help team mate Rubens Barrichello finish as overall runner-up.
Results: 1. Michael Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari, one hour 27 minutes 52.078 seconds (average speed 209.262 kilometres per hour); 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Williams-BMW, 10.503 seconds behind; 3. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams-BMW, 14.466; 4. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari, 23.195; 5. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren-Mercedes, one lap behind; 6. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber-Petronas, one lap; 7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber-Petronas, one lap; 8. Takuma Sato (Japan) Jordan-Honda, one lap; 9. Mika Salo (Finland) Toyota.
Did not finish: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Arrows-Cosworth; Allan McNish (Britain) Toyota; Mark Webber (Australia), Minardi-Asiatech; Jenson Button (Britain), Renault; Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR-Honda; Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault; Olivier Panis (France) BAR-Honda; Enrique Bernoldi (Brazil) Arrows-Cosworth; Eddie Irvine (Britain) Jaguar-Cosworth; Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan-Honda; Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren-Mercedes..—Reuters/dpa
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