HOCKENHEIM, July 25: Ferrari's Michael Schumacher equalled his own record of 11 wins in a single season with a majestic victory from pole position in his home German Grand Prix on Sunday.
While Ferrari failed to clinch the constructors' championship with six races remaining, the world champion celebrated his 81st career success and 11th in 12 races to match his 2002 record.
It was the German's third win at Hockenheim and he crossed the line 8.3 seconds ahead of BAR'S Jenson Button to wild celebrations and air horns from an army of red-shirted Schumacher supporters.
Button put in a remarkable day's work after being relegated 10 places on the grid following an engine change on Friday. Renault's young Spaniard Fernando Alonso was third after a wheel-to-wheel battle with Button ended with the Briton squeezing past 13 laps from the finish.
Schumacher is now 36 points clear of team mate Rubens Barrichello in the championship and ever closer to an inevitable and unprecedented seventh title. The German has 110 points, Barrichello 74 and Button 61. In the constructors' standings, Ferrari have 184 points to Renault's 85.
Astonishingly, Schumacher has now gone 50 races without a mechanical or technical failure of any sort. Briton David Coulthard was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, who paid the price for a sluggish start from the front row in his Williams.
Australian Mark Webber was an impressive sixth for Jaguar, ahead of his former team mate Antonio Pizzonia who was making his Formula One comeback as a stand-in for Williams' recuperating Ralf Schumacher. Japan's Takuma Sato took the final point for BAR.
RESULT (RACE DISTANCE: 66 LAPS):
1. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:23:54.848; 2. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR 1:24:03.236; 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:24:11.199; 4. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:24:14.079; 5. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:24:17.903; 6. Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 1:24:35.956; 7. Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Williams 1:24:36.804; 8. Takuma Sato (Japan) BAR 1:24:41.690; 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Sauber 1:25:01.950; 10. Christian Klien (Austria) Jaguar 1:25:03.426; 11. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:25:05.106; 12. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1:25:08.100; 13. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber 1 lap; 14. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 1; 15. Giorgio Pantano (Italy) Jordan 3; 16. Zsolt Baumgartner (Hungary) Minardi 4; 17. Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) Minardi 4.
NOT CLASSIFIED (DID NOT FINISH): Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Jordan 42 laps completed; Cristiano Da Matta (Brazil) Toyota 38; Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 13. -Reuters
