MOTOR SPORT/European Grand Prix: Michael and Ralf Schumacher had poured oil on the apparently troubled waters of their personal relationship before they arrived yesterday to start practice for the European Grand Prix, only five days after their controversial last-lap battle in Monte Carlo, but the signs were Rubens Barrichello was less inclined to join in this process of reconciliation.
The problem was triggered when Schumacher forced his way past his Ferrari team-mate Barrichello to take seventh place midway around the last lap of the Monaco Grand Prix and then almost hit Ralf's Toyota in a final attempt to wrest sixth within sight of the chequered flag.
"Schumacher called me on Monday," Barrichello told Gazzetta dello Sport, "but I still have my opinion about it and I told him so. If we hit each other we would have ended up crashing against the barriers and even those three points we managed to gain would have gone up in smoke. Three points are not much for Ferrari but they are still useful at the moment."
The Brazilian added: "Now I know that he won't protect my racing line, so I'll act accordingly. In the future I'll have to consider Michael not as a team-mate but like any other driver. I told Michael I don't agree with what he's done, but we know he always thinks the way he wants . . ."
The Schumacher brothers had earlier settled their differences but there is no doubt tension continues to bubble beneath the surface, many drivers feeling the Ferrari team leader is over-aggressive in close traffic.
Earlier this year Schumacher apologised to his fellow German Nick Heidfeld after leaving him insufficient room as the Williams driver tried to overtake the Ferrari in the Australian Grand Prix, triggering a collision that eliminated both from the race.
Heidfeld, who finished second in last Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, may have the last laugh this weekend after setting the third-fastest time in yesterday's free practice session behind the test drivers Alex Wurz (McLaren) and Ricardo Zonta (Toyota).
Meanwhile, Jenson Button was happy to get back into action; his only driving during his five-week ban from the starting grid had been some test laps at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France.
"It's great to be back racing again, although the conditions today weren't ideal for gauging where we are versus the competition," said the Englishman.
An Italian appeals court yesterday acquitted the defendants from the Williams team in a manslaughter trial over the death of Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian, who had won the Formula One world championship three times, died in May 1994 after his Williams crashed during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
The court ruled Adrian Newey, Williams's former chief designer, was innocent and the case against the team's technical director, Patrick Head, was "timed out" under a statute of limitations.
They had been found not guilty of manslaughter in a 1997 trial and that verdict had been upheld by an appeals court in 1999, but in 2003 Italy's highest court ordered the case be reheard because of errors in the appeals process.
