SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Aug 29: Michael Schumacher claimed a seventh world championship despite only finishing second behind Kimi Raikkonen at an incident-filled Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Finn Raikkonen scored his and McLaren's first win of the season to end the German's run of seven straight Grand Prix victories, but second place was enough to crown Schumacher champion for the fifth year in a row.
It was only Schumacher's second defeat in 14 races this season, but, with Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello placing third, he extended his lead to 40 points and landed the title with four rounds remaining.
Ferrari wrapped up their sixth consecutive drivers' title two weeks ago in Hungary. Raikkonen, who took last year's title race down to the wire before losing out to Schumacher by a point, brightened a miserable season with only his second career win and McLaren's first since the Finn won in Malaysia in March 2003.
Barrichello claimed the final place on the podium in an incident-packed race featuring three safety car periods, having lost almost a lap after damaging his rear wing in a collision at the start.
There was carnage from the outset as Jaguar's Mark Webber, BAR's Takuma Sato, Minardi driver Gianmaria Bruni and Jordan's Giorgio Pantano crashed out, causing the safety car to be deployed.
On the restart, Raikkonen overtook fourth-placed Schumacher and Montoya then pulled off a passing move to drop the Ferrari driver to sixth. Leader Jarno Trulli was the first to pit, but his Renault team mate Fernando Alonso had to retire on lap 12 when he spun into the gravel.
RESULT:
1. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:32:35.274; 2. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari + 3.100; 3. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari + 4.300; 4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber + 12.500; 5. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Sauber + 14.100; 6. Christian Klein (Austria) Jaguar + 14.600; 7. David Coulthart (Britain) McLaren + 17.900; 8. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota + 18.600; 9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault + 22.100; 10. Ricardo Zonta (Brazil) Toyota 3 laps behind; 11. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Jordan 4 laps behind.
Did not finish: Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams, Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Williams, Jenson Button (Britain) BAR, Zsolt Baumgartner (Hungary) Minardi, Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault, Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar, Takuma Sato (Japan) BAR, Gianmaria Bruni (Italy) Minardi, Giorgio Pantano (Italy) Jordan. -Rueters
