Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the battle of the brothers and dealt another blow to McLarenrival David Coulthard with a commanding victory in today’sEuropean Grand Prix.
Coulthard finished third behind the Williams of Colombian newcomer Juan Pablo Montoya, leaving the Scot 24 points behind the triple Formula Onechampion in the title chase after nine of 17 races.
A race billed as the battle of the Schumacher brothers saw an early duel between the two local heroes evaporate as younger sibling Ralf blew hischances with a basic mistake at the end of his first, 28th lap, pitstop.
The Williams driver, who won the last race in Canada ahead of Michael and started on the front row alongside the Ferrari, had been right in hisbrother's slipstream and twice tried to sneak past before both pitted at the same time.
As they left, with Michael ahead, Ralf illegally crossed the white line at the end of the pit lane as he rushed to get out before Coulthard came byand picked up a 10-second stop-go penalty.
The setback pushed him down from second to fourth, where he finished the race.
Ferrari's Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello was fifth ahead of McMaren's Mika Hakkinen in sixth place.
Montoya, who had finished just one race before Sunday, was left to battle the Ferrari driver after himself leading for one lap while theSchumachers were in the pits.
But the Colombian, third on the grid and twice smashing the lap record in the early stages of the race, could not sustain a serious challenge tothe Ferrari.
Schumacher powered on to the delight of some 150,000 fans basking in the heat under clear skies, lapping steadily in the closing stages andcompleting the race 4.2 seconds ahead.
It was Michael's second win in a row at the Nuerburgring, the 49th of his career - just two short of Frenchman Alain Prost's all time record of 51- and his fifth of the season.
He also became the first driver to triumph from pole at the circuit since it was reconfigured in the 1980s and returned definitively in 1995.
Montoya has now been second in both his finishes and led three separate races, albeit briefly this time.
Eddie Irvine took his Jaguar home just outside the points in seventh while both Jordans went out of the race with technical problems.