MOTOR SPORT / US Grand Prix: McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen did the decent thing, with his second place at yesterday's US Grand Prix serving to postpone Michael Schumacher's record-breaking sixth title celebrations for a fortnight.

But a brief hiatus is all it will be realistically as Schumacher balanced strategy and aggression perfectly to take maximum points in Indianapolis as Juan Pablo Montoya's championship charge was washed away by the rains that fell across the venerable circuit.

Montoya had done the bulk of his work yesterday, after qualifying fourth ahead of Schumacher's seventh, and with his Williams FW25 working better around Indianapolis's tricky mix of power and precision the Colombian looked to be well-placed to restore the car superiority he had enjoyed in the clutch of races prior to Schumacher's recent fightback at Monza.

But Schumacher doesn't come unarmed either. And yesterday the defending world champion even managed to ally the elements to his bid to surpass Juan Manuel Fangio's 46-year-old record of five titles.

With Michelin's dry tyres working more effectively in the sunshine of Saturday Schumacher looked to be at a disadvantage, but when the early morning forecasts for rain at the race start began filtering through yesterday, Schumacher, Ferrari and their tyre partners Bridgestone must have had a hard time suppressing a wry chuckle, for the Japanese company's wet weather rubber has, all season, proved vastly superior to Michelin. And so it proved again.

But as the rains fell, Schumacher erred, opting to stay on dry tyres as he made his first regulation stop.

"It was a crucial moment in the race," said Schumacher. "Because we have seen this kind of rain before where it goes away quite quickly and this is what we thought. But even coming down the pitlane I thought, 'hmmm, maybe we should go with wets', but it was too late at that stage, it would have caused a fuss and a mess."

The error cost Schumacher dearly as he plummeted from the fourth place he had gained at the start to outside the top 10 as his dry tyres performed badly in the wet and he was passed by a succession of Michelin runners still on dry but more effective tyres.

But as the rain came on with a vengeance, Schumacher got his chance. He pitted on lap 21 for wets and thereafter, as his rivals struggled, Schumacher reminded everyone just how good he and Bridgestone's tyres are in the rain as he blasted through the field to finally take the lead with two-thirds gone.

From there Schumacher was imperious, building a 20-second gap over Raikkonen. The German stayed out on his wet tyres even as they began to degrade as the track dried, waiting to change to dry tyres in his regulation second stop and thereafter cruising to an emotional finish.

"It's a great and important win," he said. "And also an important one for the rest of my competitors as far as my championship is concerned. It is so fantastic today, so emotional. After not a great qualifying and then falling back in rain due to slicks, and coming back into it on the dry tyres, it had everything in it today. To win this one at this crucial stage of championship means a lot."

Raikkonen, seven points adrift of championship leader Schumacher at the start, had maintained his pole position into turn one and looked comfortable in the lead until the rain began to fall. Raikkonen had pitted on lap 19 and left the pitlane on dry tyres, a timing disaster for the McLaren driver which required him to revisit three laps later for wet tyres.

But Schumacher's quicker reaction, pitting on 20 and 21, had given him the edge and Raikkonen was always playing catch-up, first having to reel in Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jenson Button, who had got their timing right pitting for fuel and wet tyres in a single visit.

But once Button blew up late in the race and Frentzen had been passed, Raikkonen could do nothing but hang on for eight points which will see him go to Japan in two weeks with the slimmest of chances of becoming the sport's youngest champion. He will start nine points behind Schumacher, needing to win and for Schumacher not to finish.

And what of Montoya. Indianapolis had been invaded by thousands of jubilant Colombians but midway through Sunday afternoon their spirits had been dampened by both the rain and the disasters that befell their hero.

Montoya lost ground from the start dropping to eighth before mounting a determined fightback to third just before the rains fell. But in the interim he had disposed of Rubens Barrichello with a foolhardy move down the inside which left his Brazilian friend beached.

The race stewards ruled the move illegal and handed down a drive through penalty. But even before Montoya lost those valuable seconds he, like many others, had been caught out by the rain.

One of those who did profit from the rain and Bridgestone wet tyres, however, was Giancarlo Fisichella, the Italian scoring seventh place and two points for Jordan, the team's first points finish since Barcelona in May.

But it was Schumacher's day and so in two weeks the defending champion will go to Suzuka needing just a single point to take the title, even if Raikkonen wins.

1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari1hour 33min

35.997secs

2 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes

01:33:54.197

3 HH Frentzen (Ger) Sauber Petronas

01:34:13.897

4 J Trulli (Ita) Renault 01:34:24.297

5 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber Petronas

01:34:32.397

6 JP Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 72 laps

7 G Fisichella (Ita) Jordan Cosworth72 laps

8 J Wilson (Brit) Jaguar 71 laps

9 C Da Matta (Bra) Toyota 71 laps

10 J Verstappen (Ned) Minardi Cosworth

69 laps

11 N Kiesa (Den) Minardi Cosworth 69 laps

DNF: 12 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 2 laps, 13 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 21 laps, 14 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 21 laps, 15 O Panis (Fra) Toyota 27 laps, 16 J Button (Brit) Honda 41 laps, 17 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 44 laps, 18 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren Mercedes 49 laps, 19 R Firman (Brit) Jordan Cosworth 52 laps, 20 J Villeneuve (Can) BAR Honda 63 laps.

Drivers' Championship: 1 M Schumacher 92pts, 2 K Raikkonen 83, 3 J Montoya 82, 4 R Schumacher 58, 5 R Barrichello 55, 6 F Alonso 55, 7 D Coulthard 45, 8 J Trulli 29, 9 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 17, 10 HH Frentzen 13, 11 G Fisichella 12, 12 J Button 12, 13 C Da Matta 8, 14 N Heidfeld 6, 15 O Panis 6, 16 J Villeneuve 6, 17 M Gene (Spa) Williams BMW 4, 18 R Firman 1, 19 J Wilson 1.

Manufacturers' Championship: 1 Ferrari 147pts, 2 Williams BMW 144, 3 McLaren Mercedes 128, 4 Renault 84, 5 Sauber Petronas 19, 6 BAR Honda 18, 7 Jaguar 18, 8 Toyota 14, 9 Jordan Cosworth 13, 10 Minardi 0.