Ferrari's Michael Schumacher overcame the devastation of his mother's death this morning to claim an emotional victory at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. He and his brother Ralf had rushed home by private jet last night to be at their mother Elisabeth's hospital bedside in Cologne before she died in the early hours of this morning after a long illness. The pair made the decision to return to Imola for the race where they started alongside each other on the front row of the grid and it was the elder of the two brothers who emerged triumphant at the end of a very difficult afternoon for both drivers.
It marked the senior Schumacher's first victory of the year and the 65th of his career and ended his error-strewn start to the season which has seen him and his team Ferrari winless since the final race of last year. The 34-year-old claimed victory by 1.8 seconds from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen while Brazil's Rubens Barrichello finished third in the other Ferrari after overtaking the Williams-BMW of Schumacher junior after a terrific battle in the final chicane with just nine laps of the 62-lap race left.
Scotland's David Coulthard finished fifth, Renault's Fernando Alonso was sixth with Juan Pablo Montoya seventh in the other Williams while Jenson Button picked up the final point with eighth place for BAR-Honda.
Ralph Firman retired his Jordan late on while Giancarlo Fisichella was also forced out with four laps remaining.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
