Schumacher Wins 3rd F-1 Race

Michael Schumacher kept his word.

The German promised to make Ferrari fans happy and he did, driving to victory, 1.1 seconds ahead of Finland's Mika Hakkinen in Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix.

The third consecutive season victory and the second straight in the race also might help Schumacher fulfill another promise: Ferrari's first world drivers title since 1979.

Sunday's triumph gave Schumacher 30 points in the championship standings and a 24-point lead over Hakkinen, the defending world champion.

The runner-up finish gave the McLaren driver his first season points; Hakkinen failed to finish in the previous Grand Prixs in Australia and Brazil.

Hakkinen, who started from the pole position with Schumacher alongside, led by nearly five seconds at the halfway point, but began losing most of his lead by lap 43.

As his huge crowd of fans cheered, Schumacher charged into the lead at the end of the 44th lap, when Hakkinen made his second pit stop.

Schumacher pitted for the second time with 14 laps left, came out with a lead of 3.7 seconds over Hakkinen, and stayed in front through the end of the 62-lap race.

Schumacher raised his hands in triumph as he crossed the finish line against a backdrop of thousands of waving red-and-yellow Ferrari flags.

David Coulthard, Hakkinen's British teammate, finished third, 51 seconds back, giving McLaren 10 championship points after two races without points.

Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari's other driver, finished fourth, completing a sensational day for the home team at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari autodrome.

"It was very exciting to win here - I did it for our fans," Schumacher said. "I had promised it."

The next championship race, the British Grand Prix, is at Silverstone April 23.

Silverstone is where Schumacher crashed last year, breaking his right leg and missing seven races and the title. He said he wasn't afraid to go back.

"I am physically and mentally strong again, I don't expect strange feelings there," he said.

Schumacher's victory Sunday wasn't painless.

He spn early and was lucky to hold second place. Then he nearly slammed into Pedro Diniz' Sauber while trying to overtake the Brazilian.

"I lost two seconds behind Diniz," Schumacher said. "I almost hit him because I was coming very fast from behind and he braked at a corner. I was lucky."

It was the 38th career victory for Schumacher, a two-time world champion with the Benetton team in 1994-95.

Thousands of excited Ferrari fans shouting and waving flags poured onto the circuit to give Schumacher an ovation at the award ceremony.

Schumacher was timed in 1 hour, 31 minutes, 39.776 seconds.

Hakkinen complained that his race was ruined when he hit something on the track and damaged the front of his car's floor.

"It caused an aerodynamic problem," he said. "It made the car very difficult to drive. Then, just before my second stop, the engine almost stopped and that was enough to lose."

Only the top four finishers completed the 189.896 miles.

Those who failed to finish included top qualifiers such as Heinz Harald Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher, Michael's younger brother.

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