Eight is enough

Schumacher wins French G.P., clinches fifth F1 title

Michael Schumacher wrapped up the Formula One title quicker than any driver in history. Clive Mason/Getty Images

MAGNY-COURS, France (AP) -- Michael Schumacher clinched his record-tying fifth Formula One season title Sunday with a victory in the French Grand Prix.

Starting from the No. 2 spot on the grid, Schumacher took the lead in his Ferrari on the 68th lap when frontrunner Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes skidded on oil apparently leaked by a car that had gone off the edge of the track.

The German made the pass under a yellow flag, but the results were not immediately contested by Raikkonen's team.

Schumacher, who finished in 1 hour, 32 minutes and 9.837 seconds, spent much of the race locked in second place, first behind early frontrunner Juan Pablo Montoya, and then behind Raikkonen, who took second at the finish.

Raikkonen was followed by teammate David Coulthard, Montoya of BMW-Williams, his teammate Ralf Schumacher, and Jenson Button of Renault.

The triumph gave Schumacher an unbeatable 96 points in the season standings with six races remaining, and was his eighth triumph in 11 races so far. No driver has won a season championship so quickly.

His fifth season title tied the record set by Argentina's Juan Manuel Fangio, who won his fifth title in 1957.

After the race, Schumacher said he hadn't felt much pressure through the week because he didn't really expect to win the championship at Magny-Cours. But as he could feel victory in his grasp, he changed his mind.

"I still enjoy it and feel fantastic about it," he said.

Following Schumacher's victory, hundreds of Ferrari fans poured into the streets of Maranello -- hometown of the Ferrari racing team.

About 600 people wearing Ferrari's red team colors celebrated in front of a huge screen when Schumacher crossed the finish line at Magny Course. Some fans played trumpets, others shouted and uncorked champagne. Hundreds more supporters drove through the streets of Maranello, near Modena, waving Ferrari flags.

Montoya won three points Sunday, putting him in second place in the standings with 34. Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari were tied with 32, and Coultard had 30.

Raikkonen finished with 17 points, in sixth place.

Raikkonen was disappointed with the outcome, despite his finest finish of the year.

"I haven't had much good luck this year," Raikkonen said. "Of course, it was my mistake."

Only 11 of 26 cars finished the race.

The race started badly for Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Barrichello, who was blocked from joining the one warm-up lap right before the contest when a jack was forgotten below his front end, and never started the race.

Italy's Giancarlo Fisichella sat out the race after crashing his Jordan Honda in practice Saturday. He was not severely injured, but doctors recommended he skip the race.

Race officials approved a request from Jordan Honda to allow Arrows driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen to take Fisichella's place, but Jordan-Honda said early Sunday Frentzen could not accept the offer because of unspecified legal technicalities.

As a result, Jordan-Honda ran only one car, driven by Takuma Sato.

 

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