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Brazilian Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari
waves on the podium after winning the Chinese Grand
Prix at Shanghai Circuit September 26,
2004. (Reuters) |
Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello made history on
Sunday as the first winner of a Formula One Grand Prix in China. While the
Brazilian celebrated before a sellout 160,000-strong crowd, his world champion team mate
Michael Schumacher was lapped in the first race he has finished without
scoring a point for five years.
Briton Jenson Button was second for BAR, 1.035 seconds behind
Barrichello, with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen third after challenging
strongly in the first half.
It was Barrichello's second win in a row, and ninth of a career spent
largely in Schumacher's shadow, and gave China a winner in red as the
gleaming $325 million Shanghai circuit made its grand prix debut.
"I had a very good start and I was amazed by the grip on the first
lap...I was feeling good the whole way through," said the Brazilian,
second place in the championship now assured behind Schumacher who won his
seventh title last month. Schumacher has 136 points, Barrichello 108 and
Button 79.
Spain's Fernando Alonso was fourth for Renault, ahead of Colombian Juan
Pablo Montoya for Williams and Japan's Takuma Sato in sixth for BAR after
starting 18th.
Sauber filled the final two scoring positions with Italian Giancarlo
Fisichella seventh and Brazilian Felipe Massa eighth.
"It was really nice. Towards the end, because I had an eight-second
gap, I didn't push that much," said Barrichello, who drenched the elegantly suited Ferrari
president Luca di Montezemolo with champagne on the podium before pouring
the remainder over his own head.
His race from pole position
to chequered flag stood out in marked contrast to Schumacher's unhappy
afternoon. The German finished 12th and was
lapped for the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix
of August 2003.
 "Certainly it was not my weekend," he said. "But I have had so
many good weekends this year and we have still won the grand prix with
Rubens and those are the important factors."
The last time Schumacher, who has retired from just one race this year,
had finished a grand prix without scoring points was Australia in 1999
when he came eighth and the scoring system was different.
After spinning out in the worst qualifying performance of his career on
Saturday and starting from the pitlane, the winner of 12 of the season's
first 13 races banged wheels with Jaguar's Christian Klien on lap 12.
A spin three laps later pushed him back from 11th to 12th place and his
frustration was compounded by a puncture 20 laps from the end.
Button ran a two-stop
strategy, compared to the other front-runners' three,
which made his third place in qualifying even more impressive.
His points, and Sato's fine effort, enabled BAR to pull nine points
clear of Renault in the battle for overall second place with two races
remaining.
Ferrari, who have already won the constructors' championship, have 244 points to
BAR's 105. Renault have 96.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-09-27 09:36