Schumacher wins tragicomic US GP

Michael Schumacher’s first win of the season came under a cloud in a farcical United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis today.

Sun, 19 Jun, 2005 - 21:21

Michael Schumacher’s first win of the season came under a cloud in a farcical United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis today.

The Ferrari driver was one of only six to line up at the start after 14 rivals pulled into the pits to retire after the warm-up lap.

Seven teams took that decision after Michelin advised against racing due to concerns about the safety of their tyres.

That left just six cars on the grid with both Ferraris quickly streaking clear of the two Minardis and Jordans, whose usual battle to avoid last place today became a battle for a podium.

Schumacher was able to cruise to victory, with the only worry coming when he almost collided with team-mate Rubens Barrichello coming out of the pits.

The fans who bothered to stay in their seats were treated to a parade, with Schumacher winning by 1.5 seconds from Barrichello.

Tiago Monteiro scored an unlikely podium finish with third place for Jordan, their first since 2003.

His team-mate Narain Karthikeyan was fourth place to become the first Indian driver to score points.

Minardi claimed their first points for exactly a year with Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher finishing fifth and sixth.

Schumacher admitted it was an “odd” way to win his first race of the season.

“It was very close, it was quite a race the two of us (he and Barrichello) had going.

“The team said ‘let’s go and have fun’ and that’s what we had. It was a bit of a strange grand prix, and not the right way to win my first one this year.”

Missiles were thrown onto the track by angry fans but Schumacher played down the problem.

“It was mainly bottles and a bit of beer as far as I could smell, but conditions were okay,” he quipped.

Asked whether he was aware of the other teams’ plans to pull straight in at the start, Schumacher told the post-race media conference: “We didn’t know exactly what they were going to do we were simply concentrating on ourselves.”

“Obviously with Rubens it was a close fight but other than that it was a bit of an odd grand prix.”

British racing legend Sir Stirling Moss described the fiasco as “an absolute bloody disgrace” which would leave thousands of spectators disappointed and going away “slamming the sport”.

Moss said: “I cannot see why they could not put in a chicane. If Ferrari didn’t like it they could have pulled out of the race.”

Although he said he could understand the decision of drivers to pull out, Moss described the move as “regrettable”.

Red Bull driver David Coulthard David Coulthard said he was embarrassed by the fiasco.

“I’ve not experienced anything like this in my career before,” he told ITV news.

“Frankly, I’m embarrassed.”

He joined other drivers, including world championship leader Fernando Alonso to watch the race from monitors in the pit lane.

Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone admitted the fiasco was not good for the competition in the US or Michelin’s future in the sport.

“Michelin brought the wrong tyres,” he said. “It is as simple as that.”

“The difference is you can’t tell people to do something when the tyre company says you can’t race on those tyres.

“I feel sorry for the public and I feel sorry for the promoter here.”

Formula 1 United States Grand Prix Race, Indianapolis, USA Result:

1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1hr 29mins 43.181 seconds

2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:29:44.703

3 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan at 1 lap

4 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan at 1 lap

5 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi at 2 laps

6 Patrick Freisacher (Aut) Minardi at 2 laps

Not Classified: Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 0 laps completed, Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 0 laps completed, Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR 0 laps completed, Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 0 laps completed, Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 0 laps completed, Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR 0 laps completed, Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 0 laps completed, Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber 0 laps completed, Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 0 laps completed, Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber 0 laps completed, Ricardo Zonta (Bra) Toyota 0 laps completed, Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 0 laps completed, Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams 0 laps completed, David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 0 laps completed.

World Championship Standings

Drivers’ Championship (provisional):

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 59pts

2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 37

3 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 34

4 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 29

5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 27

6 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams 25

7 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 22

8 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 20

9 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 17

10 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 17