MOTOR SPORT/Italian Grand Prix: The man with the hardest job in Formula One was allowed a brief respite from his torment yesterday - Rubens Barrichello leading home his team-mate Michael Schumacher to claim his eighth career win at the Italian Grand Prix and seal a Ferrari homecoming parade that had been in danger of being rained off.
After four years of bowing and scraping to the dictates of Schumacher's number one status, the subservience seemed to be finally getting to Barrichello this year. All season long the Brazilian's face has grown longer and longer as the fortnightly chore of driving the grid's best car, but only in support of his team-mate, ground him down.
Yesterday, though, he had his chance to shine, but only because the rain clouds darkened the skies over Milan.
After claiming pole position with Formula One's fastest ever recorded lap on Saturday, Barrichello chose his race strategy wisely as rain yesterday morning left the track damp and treacherous in the minutes before the start.
While the bulk of the grid chose dry weather tyres and prayed for the emerging sun to quickly work in their favour, the Brazilian opted for wet tyres, hoping to exploit the extra grip in the early laps and build a lead.
This he did, blasting away to a six-second lead in the opening laps as the pursuing Fernando Alonso of Renault and Jenson Button of BAR struggled to find their footing in the damp.
No such luck for Michael Schumacher. The champion had started third but after running wide at the first chicane and spinning in a tussle with Button at the second chicane, the German found himself at the back of the pack, struggling on slick tyres and in danger of fading from the reckoning.
Of course, that was without factoring in the tactical nous of Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn and Schumacher's ability to pull rabbits from hats.
But while Schumacher and his pit crew plotted his return, up ahead Barrichello had worries of his own. As the first laps ticked away the Brazilian's advantage ebbed and he was reeled in by Alonso. Barrichello had no option but to pit for dry tyres on lap five and cede the lead to the Spaniard.
"I thought that on the wets I could open a gap in the first five laps that I would be able to really be happy," said Barrichello, "but it was difficult to know when (to make a pit stop). I think it was a lap too much, too long, to be honest, but everything eventually worked out very well."
Not, though, before Button took over from Alonso at the head of the field in their first stop.
The Briton, looking fast and secure, seemed to be on course for a maiden victory, but in mid-race both Ferrari drivers suddenly found electric pace and roared back into the mix.
Schumacher, slicing through the pack on the back of laps half a second better than any of his rivals, had climbed to fourth by race's final third and when Alonso spun out at the Variante della Roggia on lap 41, the German was in a podium spot and with Button in his sights.
The BAR driver, running more rear wing and thus slower in the straights, had no answer to Schumacher's speed and two laps later could do little as Schumacher swept past.
Up ahead was Barrichello, also having found his true pace in mid-race, when he reeled off a stunning sequence of laps to climb from fourth to take the lead after his third stop.
"When I came out of the pits I had no one in front and no one behind that I could see. So then I asked 'which position am I in, which position am I in?' And they said 'P1' and then I said something in Portuguese which I can't say here now but it was just a phenomenal feeling."
And so Barrichello got his moment in the sun. But the race history chart will, as Schumacher seemed so keen to impress in the final laps, show that the champion was running half a second quicker than his team-mate in the last few tours. As if Schumacher wanted the world to know that while Barrichello had briefly escaped, it was always within his powers to fix the shackles once more. 1R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari ... 1hr 15mins 18.448secs
2 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari ... 1:15:19.795
3 J Button (Brit) BAR Honda ... 1:15:28.645
4 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda ... 1:15:33.818
5 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW ... 1:15:50.800
6 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren Mercedes ... 1:15:51.887
7 A Pizzonia (Bra) Williams BMW ... 1:15:52.200
8 G Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas ... 1:15:53.879
9 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar ... 1:16:15.209
10 J Trulli (Ita) Renault ... 1:16:24.764
11 R Zonta (Bra) Toyota ... 1:16:40.979
12 F Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas ... 52 laps
13 C Klien (Aut) Jaguar ... 52 laps
14 N Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth ... 52 laps
15 Z Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth ... 50 laps
DNF: 16 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault Renault 40 laps, 17 Giorgio Pantano (Ita) Jordan Cosworth 33 laps, 18 Gianmaria Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth 29 laps, 19 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 13 laps, 20 Olivier Panis (Fra) Toyota 0 laps.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 136pts, 2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 98, 3 J Button (Brit) BAR Honda 71, 4 JTrulli (Ita) Renault 46, 5 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 45, 6 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 42, 7 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 28, 8 D Coulthard (Br) McLaren Mercedes 24, 9 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 23, 10 G Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 19, 11 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 12, 12 F Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 10, 13 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 7, 14 O Panis (Fra) Toyota 6, 15 A Pizzonia (Bra) Williams BMW 6, 16 C Klien (Aut) Jaguar 3, 17 Cristiano Da Matta (Bra) 3, 18 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 3, 19 Timo Glock (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 2, 20 Zsolt Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth 1.
MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 Ferrari 234pts, 2 BAR Honda 94, 3 Renault 91, 4 Williams BMW 60, 5 McLaren Mercedes 52, 6 Sauber Petronas 29, 7 Jaguar 10, 8 Toyota 9, 9 Jordan Cosworth 5, 10 Minardi Cosworth 1.
