Schumacher snatches stunning win

13 April 2012

Michael Schumacher snatched a stunning victory in the Spanish Grand Prix after Mika Hakkinen was cruelly denied a fourth successive win in Barcelona.  

The Finn looked set to end his eight-race losing streak but was hit by an engine problem on the last lap of the 65-lap race on the Circuit de Catalunya.

Hakkinen's setback allowed Schumacher to win and take an eight-point lead in the drivers' championship from David Coulthard, who finished fifth.

Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya scored the first podium and first points of his grand prix career at the fifth attempt with second place for Williams BMW.

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve scored the first podium for BAR with third place while Jarno Trulli was fourth for Jordan and Nick Heidfeld sixth for Sauber.

Schumacher's victory margin was 40 seconds as he celebrated the most unexpected of his 47 career wins - just four away from Alain Prost's all-time record.

Hakkinen, who was officially classified ninth, had to hitch a lift on the side of team-mate Coulthard's car after his huge setback.

Schumacher also sought out the Finn to offer his sympathy though Hakkinen is now a massive 32 points adrift of his rival with 12 races left.

Coulthard grabbed fifth place despite having started the race from the back of the grid when his McLaren stalled at the start.

Coulthard also had a pit-stop on lap one after losing his front wing but claimed a point with an heroic charge through the field but missed out on a podium spot for the first time this year.

Jenson Button came home 15th for Benetton having had a pain-killing injection in his injured shoulder, but despite fears looks set to race in the next race in Austria in two weeks.

Eddie Irvine parked up his car 15 laps from the finish on another disappointing day for Jaguar Racing after debutant Pedro de la Rosa crashed out along with Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Irvine's retirement did not help former team-mate Schumacher who was unable to overtake a backmarker in the home straight because the Jaguar was stranded at the side of the track.

The delay ensured Hakkinen emerged from the second round of pit-stops with a lead over Schumacher who had led for all but four of the first 43 laps before his second stop.

But just when Hakkinen must have been beginning to celebrate a first win since Belgium last August, he suddenly slowed dramatically with smoke coming from his engine.

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