AFTER A GRIPPEING wheel-to-wheel battle with the pole winning BMW-Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher took the lead out of the second corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix, which he then went on to win after a textbook drive.

Once again, it was not to be Montoya that chased him all the way to the finish line as we expected. That pleasure went to his brother Ralf after Montoya had ruined his day and the front wing of his car when he clipped the rear wheel of the Ferrari jockeying for position into the third corner. "I did not know he had hit me. I just saw him drop back and my car worked perfectly throughout the race," said Michael later.

Montoya headed to the pits for a fresh nose section and for the second race in a row he had to fight his way back through the field to what was eventually fifth place.

Rubens Barrichello, running a two-stop strategy from eighth on the grid in the second Ferrari, thrilled his home crowd as he carved through the field to take second place by lap 5 and then pass his own teammate for the lead on lap 14. Sadly, it was a short-lived glory for Barrichello when, two laps later, he had no choice but to park his car when it suffered a hydraulic failure.

After that, it was a two-car race for victory, but a thriller as Michael narrowly kept his lead after the pit stops, Ralf closing the gap from three seconds to half a second as he chased his brother all the way to the line. "I was hoping he would make a mistake and give me a chance, but it never came," said Ralf, who admitted that he had no way to get past without a fault from his brother.

Third place went to David Coulthard's McLaren-Mercedes, a full minute behind the Schumacher brothers, Coulthard losing a lot of time behind Trulli's Renault until he was able to get by during the pit stops. Trulli's hopes of points went a few laps from the flag when the engine in his car blew, but Button made it home into fourth place for the second race in a row after the second Mercedes of Kimi Raikkonen ended up in a gravel trap when a rear wheel hub failed causing him to spin off.

Montoya drove another strong race back through the field to take an eventual fifth place, only just failing to catch Button for fourth as he set fastest lap of the race chasing him down to the flag. The final point of the day, a lap down, went to the Toyota of Mika Salo, his second finish in the points in three races by the Toyota team. "The car is still the same as it was in Australia. We have a lot of changes coming up and things should only get better," predicted Salo.

Brazilian GP - President Montezemolo pleased
FERRARI PRESIDENT LUCA di Montezemolo was delighted with Michael Schumacher's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix. "It was a fantastic race; one of the best of the last few years," said Montezemolo. "Michael drove an unbelievable race and all the way the entire team worked was exceptional. I am very happy that the F2002 has won on its race debut, especially on a track which has never really suited Ferrari."President Montezemolo rang the team at the Interlagos track immediately after the race and spoke for a long time with Rubens Barrichello, who had been one of the stars of the early stages of the race.

"Rubens showed just what he is capable of, behaving like the champion that he is."

Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix, result:
1. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2. Ralf Schumacher, BMW-Williams
3. David Couthhard, McLaren-Mercedes
4. Jenson Button, Renault
5. Juan Pablo Montoya, BMW-Williams
6. Mika Salo, Toyota