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| April 21, 2003 | Monday | Safar 18, 1424 |
Grieving Schumacher wins after mother dies
IMOLA (Italy), April 20: World champion Michael Schumacher, grieving the death of his mother hours earlier, gave Ferrari an emotional first win of the Formula One season at their home track on Sunday.
The German, wearing a black armband on the victory podium, started the race after dashing with his younger brother Ralf to mother Elisabeth’s hospital bedside in Cologne for a final farewell on Saturday evening.
She died on Sunday morning, aged 55.
Schumacher kept his helmet on as he was led away from the finish area by Ferrari team boss Jean Todt, the Frenchman’s arm lightly on his shoulder.
It was his 65th career win and Ferrari’s 160th. Schumacher fought back the tears as the German anthem sounded. He did not spray the champagne, which was left unopened by all three drivers.
Todt, who attended the post-race news conference in his place, said the decision over whether to compete had been left to Schumacher.
“I think it was very important. He decided together with his brother yesterday to go to Germany and definitely he felt in a way more comfortable having been there,” said the Frenchman.
“It’s a shame sometimes that people may want not to understand what he is. Today I think he has done a big demonstration and we are very proud of him.”
McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, still the championship leader, finished second while Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher’s team mate, took third in what was set to be the final race appearance of the F2002 car.
Raikkonen has 32 points to team mate David Coulthard’s 19. Schumacher has 18.
The champion, without a podium finish since his last victory at the 2002 season-ending Japanese Grand Prix, had started on pole position with Ralf’s Williams alongside him on a family front row.
For a while it seemed as if fate was steering Ralf, his mother’s ‘little one’ who said in a statement on Saturday that he thought about Elisabeth every step of the way in qualifying, towards a poignant victory.
The Williams driver, who took his first win at Imola in 2001, outsprinted Schumacher off the start and led for the first 15 laps, repeatedly shutting the door on the squirming red Ferrari in his rearview mirrors.
But the army of red-shirted ‘tifosi’ had their wishes granted when Ralf came in for his first pitstop two laps before his older brother, allowing Ferrari to go one and two before their own round of refuelling.
Ralf finished fourth, his hopes of joining Michael on the podium dashed when Barrichello muscled his way past at the end of lap 52.
“I feel terribly sorry for the Schumacher brothers,” Mercedes motorsport vice president Norbert Haug told Germany’s RTL network after the race.
“But they showed everyone their greatness today when, of all people, those two had such a great fight at the start. They’re great boys.”
The Schumacher family have now dominated the San Marino Grand Prix for five years, with Michael leading a Ferrari one-two last year and winning in 2000 and 1999.
Briton Coulthard was fifth, ahead of Renault’s Spanish driver Fernando Alonso and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams.
Briton Jenson Button collected the final point for BAR.
Result (race distance: 62 laps): 1. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari one hour 28 minutes 12.058 seconds; 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1.882 seconds behind; 3. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 2.291; 4. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 8.803; 5. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 9.411; 6. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 43.689; 7. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 45.271; 8. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR one lap; 9. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota one lap; 10. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber one lap; 11. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber one lap; 12. Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota one lap; 13. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault one lap; 14. Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Jaguar two laps.
Did not finish (not classified): Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 57 laps completed; Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 54; Ralph Firman (Britain) Jordan 51; Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 38; Justin Wilson (Britain) Minardi 23; Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 19.—Reuters
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