It was the Englishman's first podium finish and long overdue reward for his determination to salvage a faltering career.Gerhard Berger, in a Ferrari, was third, Northern Ireland's Eddie Irvine, driving a Jordan-Peugeot, was fifth and Olivier Panis, in a Ligier-Mugen, sixth.Williams's dejection was compounded by a broken gearbox which forced out David Coulthard 10 laps from the end. A car which had seemed the pick of the field was no longer able to stay in touch with Schumacher's suddenly improved Benetton.The German controlled proceedings from the moment his clean start assured him the advantage of his pole position. His pace catapulted him on to a plane of his own and Williams must have slumped in disbelief when they realised he had elected to make two, rather than three, pit stops. Worse still for the defeated camp, Schumacher warned of further progress still to come.Schumacher, now a point ahead of Hill, said: "This is a good sign that Benetton are coming back. A big compliment to the team for sorting out the handling problems. We've got a consistent car and I would say we should be able to get even better because major changes are coming to the car."Ominous words for Williams and Ferrari. Herbert will not fool himself he can challenge Schumacher for the championship, but his bolstered self- belief should provide the team's No 1 driver with the support he has long sought.Hill's earlier attack was checked by Jean Alesi's Ferrari, though even at that stage the writing was on the wall.

"There was no way I could have stayed with Michael," Hill conceded.Alesi's engine blow-out and Berger's inability to keep in touch left Hill with an apparently comfortable second place until that final lap. He lost sixth gear, which was not a catastrophe, but then his throttle gave way and it was as much as he could do to reach the line."I'm gutted," he said. "I lost the championship for the want of a couple of points last year and those three points could have been important. Still, Michael will have his bad luck over the course of a season as well."Herbert went by the struggling Williams and his emotions slipped into overdrive. Sacked by Benetton in 1989, close to quitting last year at Lotus, he returned to his original team via Ligier, conscious he had to deliver."This is the highest point of my career," he said. "Since I was a little kid I have wanted to do this and today's result has made all my efforts worthwhile It's done wonders for my confidence It's the breakthrough I have been waiting for. The pressure was on me to show I could still do it and now there's no reason why I can't do this again, or even better."Martin Brundle, in his first race of the season, was ninth in a Ligier and Nigel Mansell retired his McLaren-Mercedes after crossing a gravel track.

"The car was virtually undriveable and I didn't want to stay out there to have an accident," he said.DETAILS FROM BARCELONASPANISH GRAND PRIX(65 laps, 191 miles)1 M Schumacher (Ger) Benetton-Renault 1hr 34min 20.507sec (ave speed 121.392mph)2 J Herbert (GB) Benetton-Renault +51.988sec3 G Berger (Aut) Ferrari +1min 5.237sec4 D Hill (GB) Williams-Renault +2:01.7495 E Irvine (GB) Jordan-Peugeot +1 lap6 O Panis (Fr) Ligier-Mugen Honda +17 R Barrichello (Bra) Jordan-Peugeot +18 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber-Ford +19 M Brundle (GB) Ligier-Mugen Honda +110 M Salo (Fin) Tyrrell-Yamaha +111 G Morbidelli (It) Footwork-Hart +2 laps12 J Verstappen (Neth) Simtek-Ford +213 K Wendlinger (Aut) Sauber-Ford +214 P Martini (It) Minardi-Ford +315 D Schiattarella (It) Simtek-Ford +4.Did not finish: 16 U Katayama (Japan) Tyrrell-Yamaha 56 laps completed; 17 D Coulthard (GB) Williams-Renault 54; 18 M Hkkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 53; 19 T Inohue (Japan) Footwork-Hart 43; 20 B Gachot (Bel) Lotus Pacific- Ford 43; 21 R Moreno (Bra) Forti-Ford 39; 22 J Alesi (Fr) Ferrari 25; 23 L Badoer (It) Minardi-Ford 21; 24 N Mansell (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 18; 25 P Diniz (Bra) Forti-Ford 17; 26 A Montermini (It) Lotus Pacific-Ford 0.World drivers' championship(after four rounds)1 Schumacher 24pts; 2 Hill 23; 3 Alesi 14; 4 Berger 13; 5= Coulthard, Herbert 9; 7 Hkkinen 5; 8 Frentzen 3; 9 Irvine 2; 10 Panis, M Blundell (GB) 1.Constructors' championship1 Ferrari 27; 2 Williams 26; 3 Benetton 23; 4 McLaren 6; 5 Sauber 3; 6 Jordan 2; 7 Ligier 1.. GWYN DOLPHIN reports from Silverstone Rickard Rydell, of Sweden, regained the lead of the British Touring Car Championship following his victory in the seventh round of the series here yesterday. However, the Volvo driver had to be content with second place in the eighth round behind the New Zealander Paul Radisich in a Ford.Although Rydell qualified on pole position for both of the races, Radisich led the first event for 22 of the 25 laps Rydell sat on his tail looking for a gap to squeeze by. "He was really putting the pressure on me and eventually I just couldn't hold him back," Radisich said.In the second race, Radisich quickly pulled clear of his rival and established a substantial lead. Although Rydell closed the gap, he overtaxed his tyres and had to settle for second which assured him of the championship lead. "I tried hard to push him like I had in the first race, but he had pulled out too much of a gap.