Ralf wins battle of brothers in Canada
( 2001-06-11 09:35 ) (7 )

Germany's Ralf Schumacher (L) is congratulated by his brother Michael Schumacher following his victory at the Canadian Grand Prix Montreal, June 10, 2001.[Reuters]

Germany's Ralf Schumacher won a hard-fought battle of brothers in Canada on Sunday with a flawless tactical drive that handed Williams their second victory of the season.

Triple world champion Michael, Ralf's older brother who led from pole and was chasing his fifth win in Montreal, was beaten fair and square into second place by his sibling for the first time over a full race distance.

It was the first time two brothers had been first and second in a Formula One race.

But the Ferrari driver was still smiling after extending his lead in the championship to 18 points after a nightmare afternoon for title rival David Coulthard.

McLaren's Coulthard retired 13 laps from the end with a blown engine while running in third place and now has 40 points to Schumacher's 58 after eight of 17 races.

"It was a happy family day, I'd say," commented Michael, who lost the lead in the pits 23 laps from the end of a race also interrupted by the safety car being deployed.

Finland's Mika Hakkinen was third for McLaren, his first podium finish of the season and doubling his points tally to eight after terrible luck in the earlier races.

The two times champion's young compatriot Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Sauber with Frenchman Jean Alesi, who celebrates his 37th birthday on Monday, fifth in a Prost and being drenched in champagne afterwards.

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa picked up the first point of his Jaguar career in sixth place. There were only nine runners at the finish on a bright summer afternoon.

LAP RECORD

It was Ralf's second career win, his other being at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in April when Michael suffered a suspension problem and failed to finish. That was Williams' first victory since 1997.

Ralf and Michael had scrapped wheel to wheel for much of the race. But the Williams driver, who also started on the front row for the second time this season, made the most of his brother's pitstop, breaking the lap record before pitting himself.

"The whole time the two of us were together I was waiting for him to make a mistake and he didn't," said Ralf. "So I waited for the pit strategy. My car was just brilliant today."

While he celebrated, his Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya could only shake his head.

Montoya, who had been involved in a scuffle and acrimonious exchange with local favourite Jacques Villeneuve on Friday night, crashed out to lengthen Williams' list of retirements.

The Formula One rookie lost control coming out of the L'Epingle corner on the approach to the Casino straight, ploughing into the barriers.

"I don't really know what happened," said Montoya.

The incident also ended the race of Ferrari's Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who had spun earlier and dropped from third to 14th place before climbing back through the order.

He had been challenging Montoya for 10th place and swerved across the track to avoid the Colombian, hitting the barriers.

VILLENEUVE DESPONDENT

Villeneuve pulled over on lap 35 while 10th. He got out of his BAR and walked back to the pits, removing his helmet and waving to the crowd at the river island circuit named after his late father Gilles.

"Something happened and the car wasn't driving any more," said the Canadian former world champion, who described the weekend as the worst of his racing career.

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and German Nick Heidfeld in the Sauber were early casualties, going out on the second lap in a collision that Heidfeld blamed on the Briton.

Benetton team mates Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button endured another miserable afternoon, with the Italian going into the back of his young British team mate on lap one.

That ended Fisichella's race while Button had to suffer a 10 second stop/go penalty for jumping the start.