World champion Michael Schumacher celebrated his 200th Formula One weekend the only way he knows how when he drove to a dominant victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

The composed victory took the German driver's season-opening tally of wins to five and left him needing just one more victory, at the next race in Monaco, to beat Nigel Mansell's 1992 record season-opening performance.

"Our strategy worked very well and the main concern was where I would be after the first pit stop," said Schumacher.

"We had an exhaust problem that we found very early on, but we could not do much about and I just did what I could to preserve the car and get it home.

"It was a good race weekend for the team who were exceptional once again."

The result never looked in doubt as Schumacher recovered from losing the lead at the start to head home Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello to help secure the Italian team's third one-two of the season.

Barrichello tried to push his teammate by choosing a two-stop strategy compared to Schumacher's three, but admitted that Schumacher was simply too fast.

"I had a good race and a good strategy, but I knew I only had a chance if Michael was held up and I could get ahead of him at the first stop," said Barrichello.

"I had a good start and was happy with where I was running because I had a heavy fuel load."

Their rivals were left trailing in their wake and it was Jarno Trulli, and Renault, who were closest this time as they claimed the final podium place behind the Ferrari pair.

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