FORMULA 1: In the week running up to yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher spent much of his time talking up the dangers presented by BAR and this year's media darling Jenson Button.

The young Englishman, on the podium three times this year, on pole at Imola two weeks ago and lightning quick in testing at the Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya through the winter, would be a major threat, Schumacher warned darkly. Ferrari wouldn't be as utterly dominant as they had been. It was all to play for.

Schumacher, should he now apply for a job on Sky Sports, the home of the fascinating, thrilling 0-0 draw, would be a shoo-in.

Even had the Button threat not evaporated in a cloud of dust kicked up by the wayward Englishman's car on Saturday in qualifying, it's doubtful the Honda-powered team would have got near the world champion. Schumacher cantered to a 75th grand prix win with 13 seconds to spare over his team-mate, 30 odd seconds in hand over third-placed Renault pilot Jarno Trulli and his engine sounding like a consumptive with a nasty head cold.

"Honestly I'm a bit surprised," said Schumacher of the win that now gives him access to yet another record, that of the best ever start to a season, a landmark he can attain with victory in Monaco in a fortnight.

"I knew the Renaults would be fast. But I honestly thought BAR was the one. I don't know what happened to them. But I'm not surprised that Renault were strong; they have been strong all along and have been one of main contenders since the start of championship."

And the cracked exhaust that had caused heads to crane in hopeful anticipation of disaster each time the flat-sounding Ferrari passed the Barcelona media centre? How had that hindered him? "It was unfortunate it happened so early in the race," he said. "The team noticed it very early after the first stint. Ross (Brawn, Ferrari technical director) came on the radio and said there was nothing they could do and just for me to keep driving and hope it would last. He wasn't very optimistic and neither was I to be honest because we all know what can happen with an exhaust failure. But I just had to drive it home and it's a magnificent tribute to car and team that it did make it home."

It's the Ferrari way. A problem that would for most teams on the grid result in a spurt of flame and instant retirement, represents, in a Ferrari, nothing more than a shrug of the shoulders. Indeed, Schumacher was able to maintain his pace throughout, going ever quicker in the run-up to his second stop, throwing in laps in the short 1:18s while all around were toiling in the 19s. For the German though, it was a big risk.

"I'm exhausted," he said. "Because I had to make sure that I kept the pace because the strategy I was on meant I had a very small window in which I had to operate. I had to keep the pace but I also had to save the car. It was difficult."

The race was over as a contest after the first stop. Despite a stunning start from Trulli, who took the lead from fourth on the grid after what he called "a once-in-a-lifetime start", the Italian was lost as soon as he dived for the pits, Schumacher's pace on his in laps destroying Trulli's advantage and leaving the German in control.

Schumacher's team-mate Rubens Barrichello, on a heavily fuelled two-stop strategy, snuck ahead of the Italian too, when Trulli made his second visit to the pits, and from there it was a stroll, albeit a nervous one, to the flag for the world champion.

Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya, who had started second on the grid and had been expected to throw his weight around into turn one as he had done in Imola, dropped to fourth at the start and eventually retired with brake problems. Ralf Schumacher scrambled home with three points for sixth while attempting to reel in BAR's Takuma Sato.

Button took the last point after starting 14th and struggling to find a way through the pack.

And McLaren? Another disastrous weekend left them in 10th and 11th with only Mark Webber's Jaguar and Cristiano Da Matta's Toyota behind.

So what's to stop Schumacher wrapping up yet another record with a sixth win in Monaco? On a surface judgement of yesterday's race, not a lot. Look through the race's statistics, however, and tiny chinks of light creep through.

The fastest man after Schumacher, just four-hundredths adrift, was Button. Renault's Fernando Alonso, fourth yesterday, was just a tenth off Schumacher.

Trulli, articulating his pleasure at finishing on the podium for the first time since Hockenheim last year, cast a hopeful look forward: "To be honest, we were looking forward more to Monaco than here. We think we should be better there. It should suit our car. I like the circuit and I've always done well there. I'm still looking for a first victory and first pole. Maybe there?"

With Renault's nimble car well suited to Monaco and Button inseparable from Schumacher in pace in a race where qualifying is all, maybe Schumacher wasn't so wrong in talking of a major threat. It may be he just anticipated it's arrival a venue too early.

1 MSchumacher (Ger) Ferrari ... 1hr 27mins 32.841secs

2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari ... 1:27:46.131

3 J Trulli (Ita) Renault ... 1:28:05.135

4 F Alonso (Spa) Renault ... 1:28:05.741

5 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda ... 1:28:15.141

6 RSchumacher (Ger) Williams BMW ... 1:28:46.641

7 G Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas ... 1:28:49.941

8 J Button (Brit) BAR Honda ... at 1 lap

9 F Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas ... at 1 lap

10 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren Mercedes ... at 1 lap

11 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes ... at 1 lap

12 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar at ... 1 lap

13 C Da Matta (Bra) Toyota at ... 1 lap

Not Classified: 14 G Pantano (Ita) Jordan Cosworth 51 laps completed; 15 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 46 laps completed; 16 C Klien (Aut) Jaguar 43 laps completed; 17 O Panis (Fra) Toyota 33 laps completed; 18 N Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 33 laps completed; 19 G Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth 31 laps completed; 20 Z Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth 17 laps completed.

Fastest Lap: M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1min 17.481 secs on lap 12.

STANDINGS: Drivers: 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 50pts, 2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 32, 3 J Button (Brit) BAR Honda 24, 4 J Trulli (Ita) Renault 21, 5 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 21, 6 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 18, 7 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 12, 8 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 8, 9 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren Mercedes 4, 10 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 2. Manufacturers: 1 Ferrari 82pts, 2 Renault 42, 3 BAR Honda 32, 4 Williams BMW 30.