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Formula One: M. Schumacher closes to within two points of Hakkinen after emotional victory

10 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

MONZA, Italy-- In a day of contrasting emotions, Michael Schumacher won the Italian Grand Prix in his Ferrari and closed to within two points of Mika Hakkinen in the World Championship.

Two accidents at the start of the race ended the day for two other championship contenders-David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello-as well as five other drivers. Unfortunately, fire marshal Paolo Ghislimberti suffered fatal injuries when hit by debris from the second accident.

"I am very sad to hear about the death of a track official," Schumacher said when he heard about the fatality several hours after the race.. "Under these circumstances, what happened in the race is only a secondary importance."

The sell-out crowd of 110,000, most of them Ferrari fans, cheered and celebrated as Schumacher led nearly every lap to earn the 41st Grand Prix victory of his career. Schumacher has now equaled the number of victories scored by the late Ayrton Senna. They are tied for second in the record books behind Alain Prost, who has 52 wins.

Hakkinen finished second, while Ralf Schumacher finished third to share the podium with his older brother.

Asked if this particular win was special, Michael Schumacher said, "Yes, it does mean a lot to me" He then was overcome with emotion and could not continue. Later, he explained why this win meant so much to him.

"We are here in Italy," he said. "We obviously were in some difficulty in the last races where we havent been as competitive as we wished to be for whatever reason, and we are back on the road, which I think we showed very obvious over all weekend. Its my 41st victory, and the crowd just has been amazing. I mean, its much more than it has been (when I won here) in 98. It came a lot more close to me, and its different. Its difficult to put into words."

Schumacher had started on the pole alongside Ferrari teammate Barrichello. As the field entered the first chicane, Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo collided, and Pedro Diniz had to take evasive action.

As the remainder of the cars headed into the second chicane, Heinz-Harald Frentzen ran into the back of Barrichello, and in the ensuing accident, Jarno Trulli, Coulthard and Pedro de la Rosa all crashed out of the race. Johnny Herbert, who had slowed for the accident and was then hit by de la Rosa, made it back to the pits but then retired. Diniz, Ricardo Zonta and Salo all pitted for repairs.

In all, seven cars were eliminated in that first lap, and Jenson Button crashed just before the Safety Car, which had been out from Lap 1 through Lap 11 while workers cleared away the debris, pulled off.

Schumacher took the lead during the restart and held it for the entire race except for the three laps Hakkinen led during the pit stops. With the handling of his West McLaren-Mercedes not to his liking, Hakkinen couldnt match the pace of Schumacher and settled for second.

For the third time this season, Ralf Schumacher brought his Williams-BMW home third.

Michael Schumacher averaged 130.665 mph (210.286 km/h) to finish the 53-lap, 190.614-mile (306.764-km) race in one hour, 27 minutes and 31.638 seconds. His margin of victory was 3.810 seconds.

The championship battles are close indeed as the Formula One teams head to America for the inaugural SAP United States Grand Prix on Sept. 24 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hakkinen is still ahead, 80-78, over Schumacher in the Drivers Championship. It is equally close in the Constructors Championship, where McLaren-Mercedes has 131 points to Ferraris 127.

Text provided by Paul Kelly

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