Barrichello win fires up Ferrari party

Rubens Barrichello led world champion Michael Schumacher to a runaway one-two win before a red sea of Ferrari fans in their team's home Italian Grand Prix Sunday.

An afternoon that had promised to favor Williams and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, who started on pole after clocking the fastest qualifying lap in Formula One history, turned into another day of Ferrari domination.

Brazilian Barrichello crossed the line 0.2 of a second ahead of Schumacher for his third win of the season and fourth of his career.

A tide of flag waving, flare-brandishing fans flooded the pit straight to acclaim their heroes and pay tribute in an extraordinary season that has seen 13 Ferrari wins in 15 races with more in the pipeline.

"It was such a feeling," said Barrichello of his reception on a newly built podium stretching out over the cheering throng.

"It was unbelievable. As far as my eyes could see there were people. Amazing."

Briton Eddie Irvine, a former Ferrari favorite and honorary Milanese, put the icing on the cake for the local 'tifosi' with an unexpected third place for Jaguar an enormous 52.579 seconds behind the winner.

"There's nothing like being away for a while to appreciate the podium," he said of his first podium since Monaco more than a year ago.

Italian Jarno Trulli produced more cheers with fourth place for Renault, despite starting from the back of the grid after a delay in leaving for the formation lap.

British team mate Jenson Button followed to anchor Renault's best showing of the year while Frenchman Olivier Panis was sixth for British American Racing.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Everything went according to plan for Ferrari, celebrating their fourth constructors' title in a row and Schumacher's record-equaling fifth drivers' crown before their home supporters.

Schumacher was also able to add a points scoring record to his year's achievements, breaking his own 2001 record of 123 to take his season tally to 128, even if the race failed to win a place in the record books as the fastest ever.

Ferrari have now also finished the last 51 races on the podium and Schumacher, winner of a record 10 races, has now run up 17 podiums in succession.

They have also chalked up seven one-two finishes in 2003.

Champagne flowed at Jaguar, who started the season as the laughing-stock of the paddock with an embarrassingly underperforming car.

Team boss Niki Lauda acclaimed Irvine's "brilliant" performance and the troubled team moved up to sixth overall in the standings. Jordan, who will also have Jaguar's Ford Cosworth engines in 2003, slipped back to seventh.

The last European race of the season turned into a major disappointment for Williams, who have so far had little more than Ralf's win in Malaysia to celebrate on race day.

Montoya, starting on pole for the seventh time this season, made a sluggish start as Ralf went into the lead by cutting the first chicane.

Ralf was ordered to let Montoya through but his engine blew on lap five and he retired. The Colombian followed after 34 laps with suspension problems while in third place.

"I didn't have a good start at all as the engine nearly stalled," said Montoya. "It is clear that at the moment we are still underperforming compared to Ferrari."

GRIM DAY

The Colombian led for less than a lap and could do nothing to stop the red Ferraris sweeping past as the crowd stood and roared their delight.

McLaren had a grim day, David Coulthard running at the back of the field after hitting the rear of his team mate Kimi Raikkonen's car at the start.

The Scot pitted at the end of the first lap for a new nose cone and finished seventh.

"After the start of the first chicane I ran into the back of Kimi as he slowed to avoid a car in front of him and I wasn't quick enough to react," said Coulthard.

While he worked his way back up through the field, Raikkonen ran in fourth place until his Mercedes engine blew on lap 30.

Brazilian Felipe Massa fell foul of the stewards after colliding with Jaguar's Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa in an accident that put both out of the race.

The Sauber driver will now start 10 places back on the grid for the penultimate U.S. round of the championship.

Only 13 cars finished, with Malaysian Alex Yoong bringing up the rear for Minardi on his return from a two-race rest. Arrows did not compete for the third race in a row.