German Grand Prince

But behind him the race was filled with thrilling overtaking moves which saw Briton Jenson Button get the better of Spaniard Fernando Alonso to claim second place and return to the podium for Bar-Honda.

Button, who started from 13th after being penalised for an engine change on Friday, was forced to hold the right hand side of his race helmet late in the race after developing a problem with his new headgear.

But he was given the breathing space he needed when Alonso dropped back into the clutches of Scot David Coulthard and had to fend him off to hold onto third for Renault.

Coulthard secured his best result of the season with fourth for McLaren on home soil for engine supplier Mercedes after his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had crashed out earlier in the race.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished fifth in the lead Williams and his Brazilian team-mate Antonio Pizzonia, replacing the injured Ralf Schumacher, claimed two points for seventh on his debut for the team.

Australian Mark Webber put in an impressive performance to secure a welcome sixth place for Jaguar while Japan8217;s Takuma Sato helped bar to their third double points finish of the season with eighth place.

Schumacher won at a canter but it was not all plain sailing for his Ferrari team and they will have to wait at least one more race to celebrate victory in the Constructors8217; championship.

The Italian team needed 13 points more than Renault to secure the title but Schumacher8217;s team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished 12th after a first lap collision put him to the back of the field and he stopped on the final lap with a puncture.

The first start was aborted when Frenchman Olivier Panis stalled his Toyota in his ninth place grid slot.

He failed to get away on the second installation lap and started from the pitlane.

Schumacher had a clean start while second-placed Montoya was bogged down and dropped to seventh place as Alonso shot up from fifth to second. Barrichello got caught in the pack and clashed with Coulthard after locking up his wheels under braking at the hairpin. He lost his front wing in the collision and dropped to last after pitting for a new nose.

At the front, Schumacher sped away while McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen got the better of Alonso on the second lap and moved up to second with Trulli fourth in the second Renault and Coulthard fifth. Schumacher had built a lead of 3.3 secs by the time he pitted for his first stop, of 9.8 seconds, at the end of lap 10.