Formula One European Grand PrixLast Thursday, Ralf Schumacher, with a little protective cover from his brother Michael, spent most of his day fending off accusations that he was incapable of being aggressive in pursuit of glory, after apparently failing to pass his brother while running second in a more potent car at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Yesterday at the European Grand Prix, the younger Schumacher temporarily kicked those accusations to the kerb, blasting past his brother at the start in a move that proved crucial to his eventual victory, his first of the season and the fifth of his career.
"See," he said afterwards, a half smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "even a bad driver can win a race."
It was a race of moments. An afternoon peppered with incidents which altered the landscape of the final result.
At the start, the younger Schumacher sneaked past his championship-leading brother, as the Ferrari driver started badly, attempting to swerve on to the less dusty side of the circuit. That dropped the champion to third and allowed pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen, who had held his first place through turn one, the chance to build a lead on the Williams and the attendant pack.
That Raikkonen did, and faultlessly. The Finn has long been tipped as the closest thing to a real challenger to Michael Schumacher's dominance and yesterday he provided a 25-lap cameo demonstrating the depths of his talents. Granted his McLaren was fuelled lighter than the chasing Williams of Schumacher. But as he pushed out to a six-second advantage over the Williams, Raikkonen showed that the fuel wasn't the issue.
He had maintained the gap despite a five-lap window between their respective stops for the younger Schumacher to press home a lighter fuelled advantage.
But just as Raikkonen looked to have settled into a lead he could hold until the flag, another moment. Powering down the straight towards the Dunlop Kurve hairpin, smoke bloomed from the back of of his McLaren and he cruised to a halt at the exit of turn nine, his race was over.
And so, Ralf Schumacher stole into the lead, but the work had been done in that first overtaking move on his brother. Catching Raikkonen may not have been possible had the Finn completed the race but the German was unrepentant about his inheritance.
"We gained half the time we had lost to Kimi," he said of the long first stint that saw him pit on lap 21, five laps later than Raikkonen. "It would have been hard to get him back but, of course, I have to say we would have done it!
"I had a great start. Michael didn't, for whatever reason, but there I took the chance. You'll have to now ask the expert who decided I couldn't overtake about his expertise."
The momentum for that march forward was achieved in the third of the afternoon's pivotal moments, indeed a sequence, involving Schumacher's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya.
Hampered after his first stop by a decision not to change his front tyres, Montoya came in on lap 40 for his second with the hope that a sub nine-second stop would put him out ahead of Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and in third. That was accomplished and armed with a full set of fresh rubber, the Colombian found himself capable of the kind of pace being enjoyed by his race-leading team mate.
Up ahead, Michael Schumacher - 2.2 seconds to the good. By lap 43, Montoya had reeled the champion in and went to pass the Ferrari on the inside of turn seven. Schumacher took a protective line, Montoya changed tack to an outside assault, the pair clashed and a baying crowd of German Schumacher fanatics were left with the view of their champion frantically calling for assistance to push his still running car from off the lip of the gravel trap.
Montoya sailed into second and Williams's first one-two since the Malaysia Grand Prix of last year was done. The move was the subject of a stewards investigation until long after the race but was eventually ruled legal as a simple "racing incident".
Schumacher rejoined sixth and soon ascended to fifth after McLaren's David Coulthard spun off spectacularly while chasing down fourth-placed Fernando Alonso. The furious Scot accused Alonso of braking too early and too hard into the final chicane and that he was forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
The ability to push was sadly lacking at Jordan, for whom Ralph Firman finished 11th, with team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella 12th.
EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX
1. R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 10
2. J-P Montoya (Col) Williams 8
3. R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 6
4. F Alonso (Spa) Renault 5
5. M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 4
6. M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 3
7. J Button (Brit) BAR 2
8. N Heidfeld (Ger 1
NOT CLASSIFIED: Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota (53 laps completed), Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR (51 laps), Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault (37 laps), Olivier Panis (France) Toyota (37 laps), Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren (25 laps). Fastest lap: Raikkonen 1:32.621 (Lap 14).
DRIVERS' STANDINGS
1. M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 58
2. K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 51
3. R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 43
4. F Alonso (Spa) Renault 39
5. J-P Montoya (Col) Williams 39
6. R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 37
7. D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren 25
8. J Trulli (Ita) Renault 13
9. G Fisichella (Ita) Jordan 10
10. J Button (Brit) BAR 10
11. M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 9
12. H-H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber 7
13. J Villeneuve (Can) BAR 3
14. C da Mata (Bra) Toyota 3
15. N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber 2
16. R Firman (Brit) Jordan 1
17. O Panis (Fra) Toyota 1
CONSTRUCTORS' STANDINGS
1. Ferrari 95
2. Williams 82
3. McLaren 76
4. Renault 52
5. BAR 13
6. Jordan 11
7. Jaguar 9
8. Sauber 9
9. Toyota 4
10. Minardi 0
Nurburgring
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