Montoya the only Michelin runner in the top seven.

World championship leader Michael Schumacher moved closer to a record-equalling fifth Formula One title by scoring his seventh victory of the season at Silverstone yesterday [Sunday].

The German put on a faultless display in the rain affected 60-lap race and overtook pole position winner Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW-Michelin) shortly after both drivers had pitted for wet tyres following a sudden shower.

Montoya had kept Schumacher at bay until that point, but once the Ferrari star moved ahead he was never seriously challenged again. It was his 60th grand prix victory but only his second in Britain.

Montoya went on to fight hard for second place with Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello, but finally had to cede to the Brazilian with 12 laps remaining. Barrichello had to fight with more than just the Colombian before trailing his team-mate across the lead: he was forced to start at the back of the field after stalling before the final formation lap.

Montoya went on to end a run of bad luck by finishing third. A variety of technical problems had prevented him completing any race since the Austrian GP in May.

BAR-Honda drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis finished fourth and fifth to give the team its first points of the season. Nick Heidfeld finished sixth for Sauber.

Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW-Michelin) eighth was the highest-placed of the remaining Michelin drivers, although the German would definitely have scored points had he not been forced to make an extra pit stop because of a refuelling problem.

David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes-Michelin) 10th, lost time early in the race by pressing on with dry weather tyres just before the rain started in earnest; later, he came back in for more dry tyres just before the rain began to fall heavily again. Pedro de la Rosa (Jaguar-Michelin 11th) was the only other Michelin-equipped car to take the chequered flag; Jenson Button (Renault-Michelin) 12th, was classified as a finisher, although he pulled off with a technical problem six laps from the end.

Of the other Michelin partners, Kimi R?ikk?nen (McLaren-Mercedes-Michelin) ran as high as third in the early stages before mistimed tyre stops dropped him down the order. A technical problem later forced him to retire. Jarno Trulli (Renault-Michelin) pulled off with a car problem, Eddie Irvine (Jaguar-Michelin) crashed, Mika Salo (Toyota-Michelin) retired with a broken driveshaft, Mark Webber (Minardi-Asiatech-Michelin) spun into a gravel trap and Allan McNish (Toyota-Michelin) failed to start what would have been his first home grand prix after his engine died at the start.