A Bad Day Great for ‘Schumi’

Nobody is better in the rain than Michael Schumacher, who proved it again Sunday with an easy victory in the German Grand Prix in Nuerburgring.

On a chilly, blustery afternoon, the Formula One points leader won easily at the track only an hour’s drive from his boyhood home near Cologne. He was cheered on by a crowd of 142,000 that included Chancellor Gerhard Schroedrer.

“To see all these guys come here over the weekend with this bad weather, I hope I warmed up their hearts a bit,” Schumacher said.

The 31-year-old racer called the victory--his fourth in six races this season--”one of the most wonderful days in my life.”

The two-time series champion was serenaded by chants of “Schumi, Schumi,” blaring horns, waving German and Ferrari flags.

Starting second to McLaren’s David Coulthard on a dry grid, Schumacher soon was behind McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen. He took the lead from the second row, touching wheels as he went by Schumacher.

But the rain came, and with it went Hakkinen’s best chance. Schumacher won by 13.821 seconds. Only Hakkinen, the two-time and defending F1 champion, was with him on the lead lap at the end.

Coulthard wound up third, followed by the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fischella’s Benetton and the Arrows of Pedro de la Rosa.

Schumacher, who covered 67 laps on the 2.831-mile road circuit in 1 hour 42 minutes 00.3 seconds, averaged 111.520 mph.

The victory gives him a commanding lead in the standings--46 points to 28 for Hakkinen and 24 for Coulthard. Schumacher is trying to give Ferrari its first driver championship in 21 years.