Schumacher goes vroom-vroom Down Under

Schumacher goes vroom-vroom Down Under
Agence France Presse

Melbourne, March 4: Triple World champion Michael Schumacher cruised home to hand Ferrari their first season success over rivals McLaren at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix here on Sunday.

In a race shrouded by the death of a track marshall, Schumacher eased off to beat McLaren’s David Coulthard with Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello third.The marshall was struck by debris when Canada’s former World champion Jacques Villeneuve’s BAR car broke apart along a wall on the fifth lap. A coronial inquest is to take place into the incident.

‘‘We are all shocked about this (death),’’ Schumacher said after the race. ‘‘Everyone is very down about this and we must see what can be one to improve their working conditions from a safety point of view.’’

Schumacher, who led by 15 seconds at one stage in the 8 lap-race, eased off to beat Coulthard by 1.5 seconds. It was Schumacher’s second consecutive Australian GP win and his fifth in succession following wins late last season at Monza, USA, Japan and Malaysia.

The tragic sequence of events began when Villeneuve ran the back of Ralf Schumacher’s Williams’ car after Schumacher had appeared to brake sharply in the centre of the track.

His BAR car lifted off the ground and hurtled along the safety fence leaving it a mangled wreck, minus all tyres. Villeneuve and Schumacher got out of their cars and were transferred back to pit lane, but an ambulance was summoned for the critically-injured track marshall. It was announced later he had died.