Michael Schumacher out-thought his rivals to take his ninth win from 10 races this season in the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours.

Ferrari's world champion ran second for much of the race behind pole position man Fernando Alonso's Renault but opted to make four pit stops to the three conventional wisdom dictated.

Schumacher used his lighter fuel load to lap considerably faster than any of his rivals and by the time he needed his extra stop, he was safely clear of Alonso, who finished 8.3 seconds behind in second.

Sunday's result leaves Schumacher with a 22-point lead over team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the title race, with Jenson Button the top non-Ferrari driver 42 points off the top.

Barrichello robbed Renault's Jarno Trulli of third at the penultimate corner of the last lap, with Button fifth for BAR.

McLaren's new car heralded a solid result, with David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen sixth and seventh respectively. Juan Pablo Montoya took the last point for Williams with eighth.

At the start Alonso made his customary rapid getaway and left Schumacher trailing into the first corner.

The pair traded fastest laps but Alonso just had the edge and he benefited from Schumacher's strategy, which saw the world champion pit early, after just 11 laps.

The Spaniard was able to stay out a further three laps and put that time to good use by stretching his advantage over Schumacher.

Behind the leading pair, Trulli and Button were scrapping it out for third place as Takuma Sato's chances of a second consecutive podium went up in smoke.

The Japanese driver suffered his sixth engine failure in 10 races and was forced to park his BAR on the grass.

Montoya also suffered a blow as he chased just his third podium of the season, spinning out of a battle for fifth with Coulthard after an error at the last chicane.

As the second round of pit stops approached, Schumacher upped the pressure on Alonso, using his experience to good effect amongst the backmarkers.

Alonso was left with empty mirrors when Schumacher pitted for a second time on lap 29.

This time Schumacher made his strategy work thanks to a string of fastest laps which meant he held a three-second lead over Alonso after the Spaniard's second stop.

Once Schumacher hit the front he never looked back and had built up a five-second advantage by the time he made his third and final stop on lap 42.

Schumacher's renowned ability to gain time around pit visits was on show once again and that slender cushion became 11.5 seconds after the third set of stops, with the German again pitting earlier than Alonso.

Behind the leading pair, Trulli and Button were fighting a tactical battle for third.

Button looked capable of coming out on top but a slow getaway from his final stop not only allowed Trulli to hold position, it put Barrichello on the Englishman's tail.

The Brazilian made the first meaningful overtaking move of the race to dump Button down to fifth.

Schumacher needed more fuel on lap 58 but his blistering pace throughout the race allowed him to hit the track again still with a comfortable lead.

Alonso was never able to threaten and Schumacher cruised to his 79th grand prix win.