Motor racing-Schumacher and controversy meet again in Monaco

MONACO, May 27 (Reuters) For all his greatness and status as Formula One's most successful driver, Michael Schumacher is no stranger to controversy.

The outcry that followed today's Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, when Schumacher took pole after his Ferrari stalled at the penultimate corner to deny rivals any hope of going faster, came as no real surprise.

To many, this was the Schumacher of old, stretching fair play to its limit and maybe beyond.

''Was it really a mistake?'' asked McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya. ''I'm not so sure.'' ''I don't believe that he really had any problems,'' added Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, whose world champion Fernando Alonso might have taken pole with a clear line round the slow Rascasse corner, was harshly critical of Schumacher and likened the German's explanation to a fairy tale.

''Given that we are not Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, I think that what he did was unsporting,'' he said.

The seven times world champion, summoned by stewards afterwards, denied any suggestion of unsporting behaviour and said he had simply made an error.

''Whatever you do in certain moments, your enemies believe one thing and the people who support you believe another,'' he said. ''Some people may not believe it, but unfortunately that's the world we live in.'' FERRARI FARCE Schumacher's world has suffered such controversy many times before, as one would expect of an extremely committed driver who entered the sport in 1991 and has won a record 86 races.

Since he switched to Ferrari in 1996, and was for many seasons in a class of his own, the grumbling has grown.

Schumacher won his first world championship with Benetton in 1994 amid massive uproar after colliding with Briton Damon Hill in Adelaide.

''There are two things that set Michael apart from the rest of the drivers in Formula One - his sheer talent and his attitude,'' 1996 champion Hill wrote in a subsequent book.

''I am full of admiration for the former, but the latter leaves me cold.'' In 1997, Schumacher was accused of ''Wild West'' behaviour after trying to ram his Ferrari to the title in a season-ending showdown with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve at the European Grand Prix in Jerez.

With a one-point lead going into the race, Schumacher knew he would take the title if Villeneuve failed to finish.

He claimed that he had not deliberately tried to shunt Villeneuve off but the governing body saw it differently, stripping him of his season's points and excluding the Ferrari driver from the final classification.

That outcry was matched at the Austrian GP in 2002 when Brazilian Rubens Barrichello led from the start but was ordered to let team mate Schumacher past on the last lap. The booing echoed around the world.

Even his brother Ralf has not been protected from Schumacher's sheer determination to win.

In the 2001 European Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring, Schumacher veered across the track at the start, forcing Ralf to back off or risk being forced into the wall.

REUTERS CH KP2317