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World champion Michael Schumacher equalled his best start to a Formula One season at Imola today with his fourth consecutive victory of the ...

World champion Michael Schumacher equalled his best start to a Formula One season at Imola today with his fourth consecutive victory of the year and a record sixth win in the San Marino Grand Prix.

German Schumacher started second behind Jenson Button after missing pole for the first time this season but he took the lead in the first pit stops and never looked back to continue his perfect record with another dominant drive. Briton Button, who scored his first Formula One podium just two races before in Malaysia, achieved his best ever result with second after a lonely race while Juan Pablo Montoya was third.

But on a day when the sport remembered Brazilian great Ayrton Senna, ten years after his death here in 1994, it was his successor, Schumacher, who displayed his supreme talent to take his points tally to 40 with a sublime victory. Renault duo Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli claimed fourth and fifth after holding off a late push from Schumacher8217;s sixth-placed team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

German Ralf Schumacher, in the second Williams, finished seventh and Kimi Raikkonen, of McLaren, was promoted to the final points-scoring place when the engine in Takuma Sato8217;s Bar-Honda blew up just six laps from the end. Button made a perfect start while Schumacher dropped into the clutches of Montoya, who attempted to get around the Ferrari at the Tosa corner but was forced wide onto the grass. Montoya then forced Ralf Schumacher onto the grass on the other side of the track as he tried to protect third place. Coulthard, meanwhile, had a disastrous start when he hit a Renault and ploughed off the track before returning to the pits.

Montoya hits out at stewards and Schumacher

	nbsp;	Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya hit out at Formula One8217;s stewards here today and claimed San Marino Grand Prix winner and the world champion Michael Schumacher should be punished for pushing him off at the start of the race. Williams-BMW driver Montoya, who was punished for a similar clash with Schumacher8217;s team-mate Rubens Barrichello in last year8217;s United States Grand Prix, was furious that the stewards failed to question the move. 8220;Michael had a poor start, he was slow, I went to pass him and he closed the door twice then came straight at me and hit me and put me on the grass,8221; said Montoya. 8220;He hit me on the side but there was no damage.8221; 8212; AFP	nbsp;

At the end of the first lap Button had a 2.7-second lead but Schumacher soon closed as the leading duo strode off into the distance more than seven seconds ahead of Montoya. Italian Giorgio Pantano became the first retirement of the race when the debutant parked his Jordan on the seventh lap. Montoya started the first round of pit stops at the end of lap eight. Button pitted to hand Schumacher the lead at the end of lap nine and was stationary for 9.7 seconds in a long stop. Schumacher then put in two record lap times and retained the lead after a stop 2.1 seconds quicker than bar on lap 11.