Press Snoop: Schumi back on bad day for engines.

Michael Schumacher is back on track after last week's disastrous Monaco race, winning the Grand Prix of Europe at the Nurburgring in front of a wildly cheering, highly partisan German crowd.

Polesitter Schumacher had a comfortable 17.9secs margin of victory over Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who started seventh. It was a subdued victory celebration for the fourth 1-2 Ferrari finish this season due to this week's death of Fiat head Umberto Agnelli. The mechanics wore black arm bands and there was no champagne on the podium.

Third was Jenson Button, who gained some valuable - and needed - constructor points for BAR. Fourth and fifth were the hotly-contesting Renault team-mates Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso. Rounding out the points getters were Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber and Juan Montoya, who finished one lap down.

This was the 76th F1 victory for the German in 200 starts and he also turned all of the fastest race laps on the 3.199 mile road circuit in the Eifel Mountains. It was nice for the German crowd to have something to cheer for after the DNF of Ralf Schumacher, who crashed, and both Mercedes drivers, who blew their German engines. It was especially bitter for both McLaren drivers, as Raikkonen had a good start, was running well and led once, and Coulthard, after starting last due to his engine change, was up to ninth place by the second lap.

"It's a family show, so I better not tell you what I was thinking, but it's very frustrating," said Coulthard.

Team principal Ron Dennis said that there 'would be no finger pointing at Mercedes' as 'the entire team lost'.

"We are more competitive than at the last grand prix but, to finish first, you first have to finish," he said, quoting a well-known motorsport phrase, "It's painful to take these setbacks, but all my colleagues at Mercedes and McLaren understand what we have to do."

Takuma Sato also blew an engine...again.

Fifteen cars finished the race, with seven of them on the lead lap. There were five different leaders, but four of them led only briefly during pit-stops - Barrichello, Sato, Alonso and Raikkonen, who blew up shortly afterwards.

Giorgio Pantano got a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding, while Jaguar's Christian Klien remains under a stewards' investigation for ignoring the blue flag.

The first lap of the race was exciting, with Montoya hitting team-mate Ralf Schumacher not once, but twice. Schumacher, in turn, took out an unfortunate Cristiano da Matta - just what he didn't need when he's trying to hold onto his ride for next season.

Gianmaria Bruni lost his qualifying time for his jump of the green light during his out lap in qualifying, relegating him to last place on the grid. He was immediately preceded by Fisichella and Coulthard. They both changed engines and didn't even make a try in qualifying. It was the worst-ever F1 start for Coulthard.

After the race the flag marshals waved all their flags in the European tradition. Recently, in Monterrey, the flag marshals did their traditional Monkey Dance - don't ask me why it's so called - in which they only wave flags with colours of the Mexican flag - red, white and green. In Mexico, as it is in the United States, flag marshals don't wave yellow flags because those are needed to warn the drivers of upcoming track conditions.

The next F1 race is the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on 13 June.