Ralf Schumacher won the French Grand Prix yesterday, his second victory in a week and leading another 1-2 finish for Williams-BMW.

　　Juan Pablo Montoya was second, 13.8 seconds behind his teammate.

　　Michael Schumacher of Ferrari took third after languishing in fifth most of the race. He was helped when both McLaren cars ahead of him had problems. Kimi Raikkonen ended fourth and David Coulthard fifth.

　　It was the sixth career victory and second this season for Ralf. "I still don't believe it. Two wins in a row and finally from the pole," he said.

　　"If the two of us keep working like this we can keep winning but there are circuits where it will be quite tough for us," Ralf said.

　　Since June 1, the Williams team has won three of four races, with two 1-2 finishes to go along with a first and third and a second and third.

　　In the season standings, Michael Schumacher still has the lead over Raikkonen, 64-56. Ralf Schumacher now has 53 points. The champion, while acknowledging the current superiority of the Williams, said: "We feel confident the rest of the way."

　　It was a sharp contrast to last year when Michael Schumacher clinched the F1 title with the French win and six races to go.

　　Now with six races left, the point structure has changed to make it closer. The second place is worth eight points compared to six points a year ago with a victory still counting 10 points.

　　In yesterday's race, Michael Schumacher closed to 19.5 seconds at the end of the 70 laps of the 4.411-kilometer Nevers-Magny Cours circuit but it was never a race as the Williams moved away.

　　Mark Webber in a Jaguar was sixth and Rubens Barrichello in the other Ferrari was seventh with Olivier Panis driving his Toyota in eighth.

　　Barrichello spun while crossing the line for the first time and dropped to 20th and last. He spent the rest of the race picking off cars to move into seventh at the finish.

　　Ralf Schumacher had the pole position for the third time in four races and held the lead over Montoya with Raikkonen third and Michael Schuma-cher fourth at the end of the first lap.

　　The two Williams cars were 1-2 virtually all the way. Ralf was the last of the leaders to have his first pit stop and stayed in first after his at the end of 18 laps.

　　Michael Schumacher lost fourth to Coulthard and dropped farther behind first as Ralf began extending his lead over Montoya and the rest of the field.

　　Midway through the race, Ralf led by 8.1 seconds over Montoya with Raik-konen 16.8 seconds behind. Michael Schumacher was in fifth, almost 25 seconds back. After the second pit stops, the top five were the same but Michael had lost another five seconds.

　　The next race is the British Grand Prix on July 20.