M. Schumacher victorious at F1 Austrian GP

SPIELBERG, Austria, May 18 (UPI) -- Michael Schumacher sped to victory in the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday despite his Ferrari catching fire during a refueling stop at the A1-Ring.

The German kept his cool after mechanics were forced to extinguish the fire when the fuel ignited in his gas tank. He went on to win in 1 hour, 24:04 seconds, averaging 127.018 miles per hour.

"Maybe the mechanics thought I was too cold and cool and needing warming up a little," laughed Schumacher, who atoned for last year when he was booed and jeered after being gifted the victory. "But we did our job under the circumstances and the car worked very well. We did some fast lap times after that to ensure the margin we needed for our strategy."

Schumacher, the pole sitter, finished 3.3 seconds ahead of McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Raikkonen of Finland in possibly the last race at Spielberg, which is not on the 2004 calendar. The five-time World Champion cut his deficit to Raikkonen to just two points in the Drivers' Standings after six of this season's 16 races.

Brazil's Rubens Barrichello, who was ordered to move over for his Ferrari teammate 12 months ago, finished third in a race reduced from 71 to 69 laps after the start was aborted twice when Toyota's Cristiano da Matta stalled. Barrichello lost time when his first stop cost him 20 seconds after a faulty fuel rig jammed.

"That was very frustrating because we lost time but things like that happen," he said. "I have had a cold and felt sweaty. But I am on the podium and the car felt very good."

Britain's Jenson Button equalled his career-best finish with fourth place for BAR-Honda while Scot David Coulthard came in fifth for McLaren.

Germany's Ralf Schumacher was sixth after seeing Williams-BMW teammate Juan Montoya's challenge end with a blown engine when he was leading. The Colombian looked as if he was on his way to giving Williams its first win of the season.

"I'm not angry, what happened was just racing," Montoya said. "I started losing water pressure and I knew the race was over. A shame, but at least we know we have the potential to win."

Jaguar's Mark Webber of Australia finished seventh despite starting from the pit lane and serving a stop-go penalty with Renault's Jarno Trulli picking up the final point in eighth place.

Ralph Firman finished 11th for Jordan-Ford with fellow English rookie Justin Wilson 13th, and last,- for Minardi.

Schumacher's triumph was his third straight victory and extended his career record to 67 in 182 races.

The 34-year-old kept his composure and hardly moved a muscle

when the flames burst from his gas tank after following a problem with the refueling rig on lap 23. A Ferrari mechanic quickly doused the flames while the two refuellers jumped away.

Schumacher had lost control of the race - which had begin in strange fashion with da Matta's Toyota stalling just as the red lights went out each time - after being delayed by the fire. But he was never threatened after sweeping past Raikkonen to regain the lead as plumes of smoke started emerging from Montoya's BMW engine.

Ironically, the Williams chassis had been criticized as the weakest link in the partnership with BMW.

Raikkonen was forced to fiercely defend the second spot in the closing stages from Barrichello as he retained the lead in the championship heading to Formula One's jewel in the crown, the Monaco Grand Prix, in two weeks time.

Button's fourth place continued his bright start with BAR while teammate Jacques Villeneuve of Canada missed out on a points finish after a problem during his second stop.