Motor Sport/Canadian Grand Prix: Michael Schumacher conjured up his seventh win in eight races this season in front of a capacity crowd at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, shredding the hopes of his rivals that the handicap of starting sixth on the grid might be too great for him to overcome.

Slowing up in the closing stages, he took the chequered flag just one second ahead of his brother Ralf's Williams-BMW, which had started from pole and set the pace so decisively in the opening stages that it looked as though he might repeat his 2001 victory here.

Yet Michael ran a perfect two-stop strategy through this gruelling race, piling on the pressure with strategic precision whenever it was needed to emerge commandingly after the second round of refuelling stops.

Ralf's three-stop strategy failed to work as well and he had to be satisfied with the second step on the podium. Rubens Barrichello took third place in the other Ferrari, while Jenson Button salvaged a disappointing fourth, 0.7sec ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams after a disappointing race which had seen his BAR-Honda start from second place on the grid.

The younger Schumacher accelerated into the lead at the start, ahead of Button, but there was drama immediately behind them as Jarno Trulli's Renault, tipped as a strong contender after qualifying third, abruptly slowed and pulled over to the left, already out of the race with apparent suspension problems.

Meanwhile, Sato, who had started from the pits after a spin ruined his qualifying lap of Saturday, accelerated towards the pit exit to be confronted by cars spinning in all directions after David Coulthard's McLaren found itself tapped into a spin setting off a chain reaction which left Jaguar's Mark Webber bound for the pits for repairs at the end of the opening lap.

Ralf Schumacher completed the first lap 1.1 seconds ahead of Button, with Alonso third ahead of Montoya, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren.

The younger Schumacher looked in complete control and by lap eight had opened a 3.2-second advantage over his pursuers. On lap six Barrichello moved ahead of Raikkonen and began to close on his team leader in the other Ferrari.

Button made his first refuelling stop from second place at the end of lap 13, leaving Ralf Schumacher with a 5.6-second lead over Alonso, and when Ralf came in at the end of lap 15 the Spaniard took the lead before himself stopping on lap 17.

Michael Schumacher then surged ahead, setting a couple of quick laps before coming in for his first stop on lap 19. Ferrari had hauled itself dramatically into contention from its lowly grid positions and as the race settled down Michael's Ferrari was a third behind his brother's Williams and Button's BAR.

The champion maintained the pressure from third throughout his second stint, putting himself in a position from which he could vault into the lead by staying out late for his second pit stop.

For several laps Barrichello, with a lighter fuel load, hustled the world champion, but despite several feints down the inside, never quite managed to pull it off.

For the Brazilian it was frustrating. After the second round of stops he found himself back in third behind Ralf's Williams and all prospect of a Ferrari one-two had disappeared.

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX, Montreal, Canada 70 laps: 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 01:28:24.403, 2 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 01:28:32.803, 3 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 01:28:38.403, 4 J Button (Bri) BAR Honda 01:28:50.403, 5 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 01:28:51.003, 6 G Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 69 laps, 7 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 69 laps, 8 C Da Matta (Bra) Toyota 69 laps, 9 D Coulthard (Bri) McLaren Mercedes 69 laps, 10 O Panis (Fra) Toyota 69 laps, 11 T Glock (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 68 laps, 12 N Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 68 laps, 13 C Klien (Aut) Jaguar 67 laps, 14 Z Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth 66 laps, 15 F Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas DNF 62 laps, 16 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda DNF 50 laps, 17 F Alonso (Spn) Renault DNF 44 laps, 18 G Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth DNF 43 laps, 19 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar DNF 9 laps, 20 J Trulli (Ita) Renault DNF 1 laps.

Drivers' Championship: 1 M Schumacher 70, 2 R Barrichello 52, 3 Button 43, 4 Trulli 36, 5 Montoya 28, 6 Alonso 25, 7 R Schumacher 20, 8 Sato 8, 9 Fisichella 8, 10 Massa 5,

Manufacturers' Championship: 1 Ferrari 122, 2 Renault 61, 3 BAR Honda 51, 4 Williams BMW 48, 5 Sauber Petronas 13, 6 McLaren Mercedes 7, 7 Toyota 5, 8 Jaguar 3, 9 Jordan Cosworth 2