Ferrari adds to Indianapolis legacy.

The Ferrari team continued its winning run at the United States Grand Prix with a third successive triumph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - and its fourth in the five races held since Formula One returned to the Brickyard.

Although Rubens Barrichello started the race from a convincing pole position, it was team-mate Michael Schumacher who eventually came home at the head of the field to take his and the team's eighth win in nine races this season. The victory was also notable as the Scuderia's 175th grand prix success.

Barrichello got the jump on his team-mate at the start, but was quickly reigned in by the appearance of the safety car, which was required to slow the field while a first corner accident was cleared up. The laps at slow speed hampered the polesitter more than he had expected and, when he went to pull away at the restart, found that he had the world champion diving down his inside.

"My car was excellent today, but when the safety car went in, my tyre pressures were too low and I got wheelspin at the final corner, which is why Michael was able to slipstream me," he explained, "I could not close the door..."

Once ahead, Schumacher eased away, and was helped by the fact that other potential threats self-destructed. Jenson Button dropped out with a gearbox failure, BAR employed a questionable re-fuelling strategy that hindered Takuma Sato's charge, Fernando Alonso suffered a puncture that left him skating down the turn one escape road having made contact with the wall, and Juan Montoya was later excluded for having infringed the rules while switching to the Williams T-car. Even Barrichello was not immune to problems, as often seems to be the case while appearing to challenge his team leader.

"I lost some positions in my first pit-stop, and I also hit something on the track at a blind exit to a corner," he reported, "I felt a big bang, the car turned left and I thought the suspension was broken."

His Ferrari still intact despite what was most likely a piece of debris left in the road following a frenetic opening to the race, Barrichello charged back onto the tail of Schumacher but, having had one effort to take the lead forcibly repelled by the German, settled for second spot.

"After my final stop, I was able to attack Michael on my new tyres, but he closed the door," the Brazilian commented, "I am happy to leave North America with 16 points, but a little bit disappointed as I felt I could have won both here and in Canada."

Barrichello apart, the world champion's only real scare came when he realised that younger brother Ralf had been involved in the worst accident of the afternoon. The Williams driver remained in the cockpit of his shattered car for almost 20 minutes before being taken to hospital for checks, but Ferrari acted quickly to allay any fears Michael may have had for his sibling's well-being.

"I was very concerned when I saw him in the car for so long, but the team told me on the radio that he was okay," Schumacher confirmed, "That helped me big time, because I could see how hard he must have hit the wall."

The German also acknowledged just what a threat his team-mate had posed during the race, and admitted that, had he not managed to fend off the Brazilian's best advance, he may not have been able to take his eighth victory of an already dominant year.

"The timing of the first pit-stop was crucial," Schumacher reckoned, "We had a flexible strategy, with Rubens on a longer first stint and me on a longer second one. In
the final stint, Rubens was quicker than me as he had fresher tyres, which is why he pushed me very hard for a couple of laps and we had a very close fight. I had to manage my tyres, which were marginal on blistering, but getting better once they had worn down a bit and allowing me to push again.

Technical director Ross Brawn admitted that, had it not been for the hitch that delayed Barrichello's first pit-stop, the result may have been different.

"I think that, if Rubens had not had a problem, he might have beaten Michael," Brawn insisted, "The drivers were free to race one another - we just told them to be sensible and not have an accident."