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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Schumacher and Ferrari rule Monaco ![]() Leader of the pack: Michael Schumacher had a brilliant start ![]() Germany's Michael Schumacher has won the Monaco Grand Prix with teammate Eddie Irvine second for a Ferrari one-two. Reigning world champion Mika Hakkinen was third in a McLaren and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen fourth. Schumacher now leads the championship on 26 points with Irvine second on 18 and Hakkinen third on 13 points.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth for Benetton and his teammate Alexander Wurz of Austria sixth. "Driving for Ferrari is special and winning races for Ferrari is super special," said Schumacher. "It is great, but at the moment it does not mean a lot because it was more important just to win the race for this year's championship. "When I retire it will be a nice statistic to look back on." Hill misery Schumacher stole first place from Hakkinen at the start. His blistering start undid all Hakkinen's hard work in taking pole on Saturday as he was forced into second place. Schumacher built a steady lead of nearly five seconds by the end of lap seven of the 78-lap race. Former champion Damon Hill's Monte Carlo misery was completed when he tried to overtake former Jordan team-mate Ralf Schumacher at the chicane after leaving the tunnel for the third time.
Schumacher set his 11th fastest lap of the race on the 31st lap to increase his lead to 17.7 seconds. But the lead suddenly increased to 28 seconds as the race reached the mid-way point as Hakkinen got stuck in traffic allowing Irvine to get within half-a-second before he pitted on lap 37. Incredible lead Coulthard was also suddenly struggling with a technical problem which cost him 21 seconds in just two laps before he came into the pits to retire and suffer another blow to his championship hopes. Schumacher made his stop at the end of lap 41 with an incredible lead of 47 seconds so he had no problem coming back out with Hakkinen still well back. Hakkinen made his stop nine laps later allowing Irvine into second place. Ferrari now lead McLaren in the constructors' championship by 24 points with four races of the 16-race season gone. Final result:
1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1hr 49mins 31.812sec Not classified (did not finish):
10. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 54 laps completed Fastest lap: Hakkinen 1:22.259 (147.354 kph) World drivers' championship after four rounds:
1. Michael Schumacher (Germany) 26 points Constructors' championship
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