By Andrew Benson Motorsport editor at Imola

Schumacher raced despite the death of his mother 1 M Schumacher (Ferrari) 2 K Raikkonen (McLaren) 3 R Barrichello (Ferrari) Full race results Photos from Imola

Michael Schumacher has paid tribute to his mother Elisabeth, who died hours before he won the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday.

Schumacher and his brother Ralf decided to race at Imola despite flying back to Cologne overnight to be at her bedside.

The five-time world champion said in a statement that he would not have been able to achieve what he has without her support when he first started in racing.

"My mother loved to be at the kart track when we were in karts in Kerpen (the Schumachers' home town in Germany) and loved to see us racing," he said.

"My mother and father always supported us and they made it possible to do what we do now.

"She would have wanted me to do this race today, I'm sure."

Schumacher also paid tribute to his Ferrari team for their support over the weekend.

"Everybody in the team, and I mean everybody - the president, the technicians, the engineers, the mechanics and the cook - has given me the feeling over this terrible day today about how much they back me.

"It did me good."