| | Associated Press
MONZA, Italy -- A tearful Michael Schumacher found little
reason to celebrate after his victory in Sunday's Italian Grand
Prix.
Schumacher's win was tempered by the death of a track worker.
|  | | Michael Schumacher closed within two points of Mika Hakkinen in the F-1 points race by winning Sunday's tragic Italian Grand Prix. |
Paolo Ghislimberti, 33, a track crew member, was killed by
flying debris from a first-lap chain collision.
Schumacher, who broke into tears after the awards ceremony,
would not say why he was crying and could not stop sobbing.
"Sometimes there are questions which must not be made or
answered," Schumacher said. "I would just say I'm happy and
exhausted.
"This means a lot to me. What happened in the race has only a
secondary importance .... I'm very sad to hear about the death."
Schumacher's Ferrari finished 3.81 seconds ahead of his McLaren
rival Mika Hakkinen. The victory as Schumacher's third in five
years in the Formula One race and his sixth this season.
The crash that killed Ghislimberti came on the second curve on
the course. The crash sent seven cars off the track and left 15
drivers in the race.
The victory revived Schumacher's Formula One title hopes and
touched off wild celebrations by the capacity crowd, unaware of the
worker's death.
Schumacher, who started from the pole, lost command only briefly
when he pitted to refuel and change tires.
Hakkinen, who at one point trailed the leader by 12 seconds,
charged back in the closing laps.
"He had a little bit faster car, just enough," said Hakkinen,
the two-time defending series champion. "In the final laps,
Michael had no reason to push any more."
With three races left, Hakkinen has 80 points, two more than
Schumacher.
"Two points are not a lot, but I'm still in front. ... I was
lucky to finish the race," Hakkinen said.
Third-place finisher Ralf Schumacher was nearly a minute behind
his brother. Jos Verstappen was fourth, and Alexander Wurz was
fifth.
Michael Schumacher tied Ayrton Senna for second place on the
career list of Grand Prix victories on Ferrari's home track. Alain
Prost leads with 51.
An Italian magistrate opened an investigation into the crash and
questioned some of the drivers involved. The International Auto
Racing Federation requested a full report.
| |
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