Michael Schumacher has definitely had more satisfying victories. He's never had a stranger one.
What was expected to be a race-long duel between Schumacher's Ferrari and the Williams-Renault of local favorite Jacques Villeneuve in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix never developed because of an uncharacteristic mistake by Villeneuve.The 26-year-old Canadian - the man who drew many in the record crowd of more than 100,000 to the circuit named after his late father, Gilles - was out of the race moments after it began.
Villeneuve, who came into the seventh event of the season leading by three points over two-time Formula One champion Schumacher in the standings, crashed at the end of the second lap.
"I went into the corner a little bit fast and lost it," Villeneuve said unhappily. "It was a beginner's mistake, I guess, so it's very annoying. . . . It was amazing how slippery it was. It surprised me. When the car went, that surprised me too because I didn't think I was going into the corner too fast. This is going to be a hard one to swallow."
It was even harder to swallow for Frenchman Olivier Panis and David Coulthard of Scotland.
Panis, who was running seventh at the time, lost control of his Prost-Mugen Honda, caromed off a concrete barrier and slammed head-on into a tire wall on lap 52 of what was supposed to be a 69-lap race.
He wound up in a Montreal hospital with closed fractures to both lower legs, injuries which may keep him out of action the rest of the season.
The crash also brought an early end to the race, bringing out a red flag after the completion of the 54th lap and giving Schumacher his second win of the season and the 24th of his career.
"I hate to win a race like that and I feel badly for Olivier," the German driver said.
But Schumacher didn't feel nearly as bad as Coulthard, who made an unscheduled tire stop and wound up losing a race he appeared to have won, thanks to a broken clutch.
Coulthard had a lead of more than 32 seconds over Schumacher before his stop, and most of that margin was because Schumacher was also experiencing blistering of his tires.
Schumacher, who previously won the Canadian race in 1994, started from the pole and led until his first pit stop on lap 28. Coulthard had moved to second place on lap 25, when Giancarlo Fisichella made his first pit stop, and took over the top spot when Schumacher stopped.
Coulthard, who has two previous Formula One victories, stayed on the track until lap 40 and appeared ready to go to the end without another stop.
Meanwhile, Schumacher, losing ground because of blistered tires, was forced to make an unscheduled third pit stop on lap 51. One lap later, just moments before the crash, Coulthard decided he had a big enough margin to stop for fresh tires and retain the lead.