On Saturday, David Coulthard promised himself that he would become the first driver this season to take victory from pole position, but as the Nurburgring for the second year running brewed up a cocktail of impossible conditions, neither the Scot nor his McLaren teammate Mika Hakkinen could compete with rain-master Michael Schumacher, who claimed his fourth victory of the season at yesterday's European Grand Prix.

Last year the Eifel mountain circuit had been similarly swamped but Schumacher was then recuperating from the broken leg sustained at Silverstone and the race eventually went to Johnny Herbert in almost a `last man standing' scenario. This year, though there was no avoiding the Ferrari driver's mastery when the storm clouds finally burst, unleashing a torrent that by the end of the race had reduced the field to just nine runners.

The start, in spitting rain, did not go the s German's way, however. As the red lights went out and second-placed Schumacher kept pace with pole-winner Coulthard, Hakkinen blasted through from third, between the front-row men, to claim the lead before the trio had even made the first corner.

With Coulthard already falling away thanks to a balance problem that left the Scot fighting hard to stay on track for most of the race, the dogfight for the lead was left to Schumacher and Hakkinen. As the pair tussled through the opening laps, it looked like Schumacher would have to wait until the first pit stop to attempt an assault on the lead. But suddenly the flecks of rain turned to steady drizzle and as Hakkinen battled for grip, Schumacher, always quicker through the second sector of the circuit, gathered the momentum to dive inside the Finn as the pair went through the last corner and, as the spray cleared, Schumacher crossed the start/finish line in front of the defending world champion.

"I was concerned seeing the conditions as I was on the harder tyre and I was worried," he said. "Last year in the same conditions whoever was on the harder compound was lost. I was surprised I could keep the pace that well and get past. Sometimes though, s it's a little bit easier to follow a car and see where s he's sliding and you can correct for that. Once I was in front I took off. It was surprising, honestly, but it was good. What else can I say?"

Once past his chief rival and when the drizzle became deluge, Schumacher's renowned skills in the wet came into their own as prior to his first stop he clawed out a five-second advantage on the lead McLaren. Hampered by a long stop to change his front wing settings, the German's advantage was erased when Hakkinen's simultaneous stop was three seconds quicker. driver.

With the defending champion also requiring a second stop for fuel, Schumacher's passage to the chequered flag was a flawless exhibition of wet weather driving, interrupted only by a cluster of backmarkers that allowed Hakkinen to close. But while the Finn steadily eroded Schumacher's lead, the German claimed his victory was never in any danger.

"If you look at the times you'll see that when I needed to respond to what Mika was doing I did," said Schumacher. "It was a little bit difficult at this stage of the race with traffic. You see the blue flags but you t can't see the gap because of the spray, so you need to be very careful if one of these guys slows down to let you past. So I made sure I kept a good distance and sometimes I also had to off-line as well which was dangerous with the aquaplaning. So I did lose a lot of time but it wasn't a problem."

For the rest of the field it was an afternoon of ceaseless struggle against the conditions, rivals and the attrition rate that left 11 of the 22-strong field heading for their motorhomes before the finish.

Earliest of the casualties were the Jordans of Jarno Trulli and Heinz Harald Frentzen. Trulli finished second here last year after a composed and unshowy drive in dire conditions, but yesterday the Italian t wasn't even given the chance to complete the first lap. Starting from sixth on the grid, his best qualifying position since Australia two months ago, Trulli started well, attacking Ralf Schumacher for fifth place as the pack entered the first Castrol turn. But behind him Giancarlo Fisichella momentarily lost control of his Benetton B200 and clipped the rear of Trulli's Jordan. The EJ10 slewed sideways and, despite severely damaged rear suspension, Trulli was able to limp into the gravel trap and out of danger. His race, however, was over.

His team-mate lasted only marginally longer. Frentzen had made a poor start, slipping from 10th to 12th, but the German avoided the first corner melee that took out Trulli. However, three laps later Frentzen too was taking the long walk back to the paddock when his engine spectacularly blew, leaving him cruising to a halt as a pall of smoke billowed from the rear of his car.

With both Jordans eliminated, Irish hopes focused solely on Eddie Irvine, busily pushing his R1 into sight of Jaguar's first point of the season.

That, too, was a vain hope as on lap 29 the former Ferrari driver got involved in a battle to hold on to seventh spot. Entering turn one with Jos Verstappen of Arrows alongside, Irvine doggedly held on only to lose control on the wetter part of the track, spinning into Verstappen and then colliding with the pursuing Ralf Schumacher, leaving the German stranded. Both Irvine and Verstappen managed to resume but damage to Irvine's car saw the rear wing fly off the Jaguar only a few corners later, sending the Irishman into a terminal spin and out of the race.

Schumacher's march to the title is now looking as relentless as his drive at the Nurburgring. With an 18-point lead over Hakkinen and with 11 races left, the German next travels to Monaco, a race he has won four times and where Ferrari secured a memorable one-two win last year. And yesterday he admitted the momentum was now with Ferrari in the build-up to the showpiece race.

"I have been dreaming of this kind of situation and sometimes dreams come true," he said. "We're now in a very good situation and we have some points in hand when for the last four years it has been the opposite situation. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. Monaco is always a good circuit for me and hopefully it will be good to me again this year."