Schumacher takes the lead

Ferrari'S Michael Schumacher moved to the top of the world championship standings for the first time this season after scoring his sixth win in the Canadian Grand Prix and the 68th of his career.

The German went ahead of brother Ralf, of Williams, after the first pit-stops and held off the challenge of the younger Schumacher to take the chequered flag and move three points clear in the title race.

Ralf Schumacher picked up the second place from team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, whose hopes of victory were dashed by a spin on lap two, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso fourth for Renault.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello came home fifth with McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen, who lost the title lead to Schumacher, sixth after starting from the pit-lane. Mark Webber scored another two points for Jaguar with seventh place and Toyota's Olivier Panis collected his first points of the season in eighth.

Minardi driver Jos Verstappen and Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia were the only others to finish the race as half of the field was forced into retirement.

These included home favourite Jacques Villeneuve with the BAR-Honda driver's miserable luck in the Canadian race continuing on the 25th anniversary of his father's victory in the event as he suffered brake problems.

Raikkonen started from the pit-lane following his failure to set a time in qualifying and his McLaren team immediately filled his car with fuel.

Ralph Firman, due to begin on the back row of the grid, also started from the pit-lane as his Jordan team made changes to his car.

Montoya went wide at the opening corner to retain his second place with Michael Schumacher putting him under pressure. Pizzonia lost his front wing on the opening lap and was forced to pit, and Barrichello stopped the following lap with his front wing also loose.

Montoya spun at the final corner when running second and the Williams driver dropped to fifth before gaining a place by overtaking Webber.

Sauber's Heinz-Harald Frentzen stopped at the side of the track on the 10th lap, while Trulli pitted after his tyre shredded and the Italian then spun at the hairpin.

Montoya gained another place passing Alonso and David Coulthard and weaved his way through the field up to sixth after overtaking Cristiano Da Matta.

Leaders Ralf and Michael Schumacher both made pit-stops within two laps of each other and the Ferrari driver, second to pit, came out marginally in front on his brother.

Alonso, who had not pitted, was left in front of the race as the Schumacher brothers continued to run nose-to-tail with Michael assuming the lead when the Spaniard stopped on lap 26.

The Renault driver emerged from the pits in fourth place behind Montoya, who had already pitted, with Raikkonen fifth at the time having started from the pit-lane.

Montoya was 13 seconds adrift of the two Schumacher's at the half-way point, but Raikkonen's hopes suffered a blow when he suffered a puncture and lost his tyre at the pit-lane entrance.

Barrichello, who was running immediately behind Raikkonen, narrowly avoided a collision with the tyre which flew off the Finn's McLaren.

The Brazilian Ferrari driver then lost a bargeboard from his car, which Da Matta ran over, following his second pit-stop.

Ralf made his second stop and changed only the back tyres for the second time, but he lost time behind backmarkers and brother Michael held onto his lead after making his final stop.

Nick Heidfeld's engine blew on his Sauber on the pit-straight and Coulthard then saw his eventful race end due to gearbox problems with his McLaren, as he drove into the garage.

Alonso was once again left in front, although he had a second stop to make, but it was Montoya who was making the biggest moves as he closed to within five seconds of team-mate Ralf Schumacher.

BAR-Honda's Jenson Button, on his return to action following his crash in the Monaco Grand Prix, retired on lap 54, after losing his gears to leave just 12 drivers still running.

Montoya continued to close in the lead pair and Alonso also joined him in the frame with the quartet seperated by less than two seconds.

The results (Canadian Grand Prix, 4.36-kilometre, 2.709-mile, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve) : 1. Michael Schumacher, Germany, Ferrari, 70 laps, 1 hour, 31 minutes, 13.591 seconds; 2. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Williams-BMW, 70, 0.7 seconds behind; 3. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, Williams-BMW, 70, 1.3; 4. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 70, 4.4; 5. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Ferrari, 70, 1:04.2; 6. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, McLaren-Mercedes, 70, 1:10.5; 7. Mark Webber, Australia, Jaguar-Cosworth, 69; 8. Olivier Panis, France, Toyota, 69; 9. Jos Verstappen, Netherlands, Minardi-Cosworth, 68; 10. Antonio Pizzonia, Brazil, Jaguar-Cosworth, 64; 11. Cristiano da Matta, Brazil, Toyota, 64.

Drivers' standings (after eight of 16 races): 1. Michael Schumacher, Germany, Ferrari, 54 points; 2. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, McLaren-Mercedes, 51; 3. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 34; 4. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Williams-BMW, 33; 5. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, Williams-BMW, 31; Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Ferrari, 31; 7. David Coulthard, Britain, McLaren-Mercedes, 25; 8. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Renault, 13; 9. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Jordan-Ford, 10; 10. Jenson Button, Britain, BAR-Honda, 8; 11. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Germany, Sauber-Petronas, 7; 12. Mark Webber, Australia, Jaguar 6; 13. Cristiano Da Matta, Brazil, Toyota, 3; Jacques Villeneuve, Canada, BAR-Honda, 3; 15. Olivier Panis, France, Toyota, 1; Nick Heidfeld, Germany, Sauber-Petronas, 1; Ralph Firman, Ireland, Jordan-Ford, 1.

Constructors' standings: 1. Ferrari, 85 points; 2. McLaren Mercedes, 76; 3. Williams-BMW, 64; 4. Renault, 47; 5. Jordan-Ford, 11; BAR-Honda, 11; 7. Sauber-Petronas, 8; 8. Jaguar, 6; 9. Toyota, 4.