AUTO RACING Schumachers have different days



Ralf was injured while Michael won the U.S. Grand Prix race.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- One Schumacher went to the hospital and the other, as usual, went to Victory Lane.
When Ralf Schumacher left the track in an ambulance, that was older brother Michael's only real concern -- even while racing to victory Sunday in the U.S. Grand Prix.
"When I saw a BMW parked there, I said, 'No, please, please not something bad,' " Michael Schumacher said.
"They were telling me everything was not too bad, everything was all right, but I've heard this in the past and things have turned out differently."
Ralf Schumacher spun coming out of the final turn on the 10th lap and went backward into the outside wall. He had to be removed from the car, was taken by ambulance to the infield hospital and later transferred to Methodist Hospital downtown. He complained of back pain and was held overnight for observation.
Passed pole starter
Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, had passed pole starter and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello four laps earlier. The German star stayed in front until his pit stop on the 42nd of the 73 laps, came out of the pits in fifth, moved up to fourth on lap 44, to third on lap 46, second on lap 50 and back into the lead for good on his next trip around the 2.605-mile road course.
The victory was his second straight at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and third in the past five years. The six-time world champion has eight wins in nine races this season.
Barrichello was 2.950 seconds behind, giving Ferrari its third 1-2 finish at Indy. Takuma Sato was third and Jarno Trulli, the only other driver to win this season, was fourth.
"Ralf is OK, and that is the most important thing," Michael Schumacher said. "I was very concerned when I saw him in the car for so long. ... I could see how hard he must have hit the wall."
Made his move
Schumacher made his move on Barrichello just as the safety crew left the track after an earlier accident that took out four other cars and left another beyond repair. Coming out of the final turn on lap 5, Schumacher got a quick jump, pulled next to Barrichello at the restart and accelerated past him along the front straightaway.
"Here, the safety car switches off in the last sector and you don't have much time to prepare yourself and get yourself right [before the start]," Schumacher said. "I was slipstreaming Rubens and was able to pass."
In his five races in Indianapolis, Schumacher has three poles, three wins and two seconds. He would have had another victory, in 2002, had he not deliberately slowed on the final lap and let Barrichello pass him as a payback for a similar move by Barrichello earlier in the season before Schumacher clinched the F1 championship.
"My car was excellent, but when the safety car came in, my tire pressures were too low and I got wheelspin at the final corner, which is why Michael was able to get past," Barrichello said. "I also lost some positions in my first pit stop, but I was pushing really hard."
In addition to Ralf Schumacher, the others eliminated in crashes were Christian Klien, Felipe Massa, Giorgia Pantano and Gianmaria Bruni. Cristiano da Matta, also caught up in the first-lap collision, had damage to his car and kept falling farther behind the leaders until he, too, went out of the race.