Schumacher wins European GP

Nurburgring: Michael Schumacher of Ferrari won the European Grand Prix on Sunday, beating second-place Fernando Alonso for the second straight race.

Alonso, who won the title last year, started the race from the pole position, his first of the season. Schumacher started second.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari was third on the 5.148-kilometre (3.2-mile) Nurburgring circuit, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes.

The four were far ahead of the rest of the field. Rubens Barrichello of Honda finished in fifth nearly a lap behind.

Schumacher overtook Alonso at the second pit stop after the 42nd lap of the 60-lap race. Like old times, Ferrari's strategy helped him the team win.

"I felt we had a good strategy. I knew we had a good race pace," Schumacher said.

It was Schumacher's 86th career victory. Two weeks ago, Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix ahead of Alonso.

"It was impossible to stay ahead of them for 60 laps," Alonso said.

Schumacher was ecstatic after the victory, raising his finger as he crossed the line almost four seconds ahead of Alonso. He had led by nearly six seconds entering the last lap.

Schumacher then emphasized his joy, raising both fists and acknowledging the fans while slowing after the victory.

Winner from the pole in the previous Formula One race at Imola, Schumacher followed up with another victory. Last year he only had a tainted triumph over a depleted field because of a tire dispute at the United States Grand Prix.

Schumacher won for the fifth time at the Nurburgring, one of his favorite circuits. He has won here four times. He also won the European GP when it was in Spain.

The seven-time F1 champion has had his ups and downs this season, but has been brilliant in the last two races. In his Ferrari he led practice, qualifying, and won the San Marino GP, holding off Alonso over the last half of the race.

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Last season, Schumacher struggled while Alonso became the youngest driver to win the F1 title. Alonso, however, still leads the driver standings with 44 points after his third second-place finish of the season.

"Second place is a fantastic result for us," Alonso said. "We were a little bit down compared to Ferrari's performance this weekend. To get the eight points means everything is OK and means we should win again."

Schumacher is in second place with 31 points.

Massa, however, was happy with his third-place finish.

"It was a great result for us, especially my first podium," Massa said.

"I think it was a great result helping out for the championship."

Alonso led for the first 17 laps but could not shake Schumacher, who stayed about a second behind with Ferrari teammate Massa also within striking distance.

Alonso pitted first, followed by Schumacher a lap later, giving Raikkonen the lead at lap 19.

After 25 laps, Raikkonen pitted and it was Alonso now two seconds ahead of Schumacher with Massa and Raikkonen following.

The lead changed on the second pit stop.

"Starting from pole position, I was controlling the pace a little bit," Alonso said. "The first pit worked out.

The second pit stop we were maybe 3-4 laps early and that was too much."

Alonso stopped on the 39th lap for fuel and tires. This time, Schumacher stayed out for two more laps, with nearly an empty fuel tank at high speed.

He gained enough of a gap to pit on the 41st lap and come out well ahead of Alonso.

"Obviously, we chose to stay out the extra laps," Schumacher said.

After Raikkonen pitted it was easy to see Schumacher in first nearly six seconds ahead.

With 10 laps to go, the lead was up to nearly nine seconds over Alonso with Massa back in third, 11.9 seconds behind. Raikkonen was next, and the rest of the field was nearly a lap behind.

Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault, who won the second race of the season, ended up sixth after starting from 11th. He was impeded by Jacques Villeneuve of BMW-Sauber in Saturday's qualifying, which resulted in a penalty to Villeneuve.

Villeneuve, starting from ninth, finished eighth, behind Nico Rosberg of Williams.

The next race is next Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.