Qualifying for the British Grand Prix - ironically where a new system should have been introduced until the team bosses backtracked on their decision - highlighted the need for a change more than ever before, with the first session becoming a farce as the drivers tried to see who could go slower.

With the chances of rain in the last part of final qualifying increasing, most of the teams decided it was not worth taking the risk and so told their drivers to slow right down. The fans who had paid a lot of money to see the most sophisticated racing cars on the planet were left to witness fake spins and staged go-slows which left a lot of people very angry.

"I think what we saw in the first session was a total disgrace to Formula One and a lot of team principals and team owners need to really think whether they've got the interest of Formula One at heart when we've got a fantastic crowd in here today and perform like that," said Toyota's Mike Gascoyne.

It came as no surprise to see Bernie Ecclestone on Saturday afternoon campaigning once more in the hope of convincing all team bosses to agree on the need for change as soon as possible.

The Grid

1. Kimi Raikkonen
First Qualifying: 1:21.639; Second Qualifying: 1:18.233

With the lessons learned from the French Grand Prix, where McLaren introduced their heavily revised car, the Woking team arrived in Silverstone with high hopes that were soon realised when Raikkonen topped the times on Friday. The Finn's performance was no fluke, and he continued to show his improved pace in Saturday's practice. Although the first two splits of his flying lap suggested he did not have a chance of fighting for pole, his speed in the final sector saw some jaws dropping as he recovered to place himself ahead of the Ferraris in the timesheets.

2. Rubens Barrichello
First Qualifying: 1:24.817; Second Qualifying: 1:18.305

From the outset, the British Grand Prix seemed like Barrichello's big chance to emerge, if only temporarily, from the enormous shadow of his Ferrari teammate. Silverstone has always seen the best of the Brazilian, pole setter and winner last year. For some time he looked set for his second consecutive pole, but his problems in the last sector of his flying lap, where his car was sliding too much, hindered his chances and gave Raikkonen the opportunity to steal the limelight. At least Barrichello managed to outqualify Schumacher for the second time this season.

3. Jenson Button
First Qualifying: 1:18.872; Second Qualifying: 1:18.580

Qualifying proved to be a tense and long wait for the Briton who, unlike most of his rivals, had decided to go flat out in pre-qualifying, topping the times and having to wait for over an hour as the threat of rain intensified. In the end the rain held off, but running last did not seem to prove an advantage for Button, who only looked quick enough for pole in the first two splits. The BAR driver admitted he was not totally pleased with the handling of his car, but third place was still good enough to have a good shot in the race.

4. Michael Schumacher
First Qualifying: 1:30.293; Second Qualifying: 1:18.710

Judging by his race strategy in the last couple of races, you have to wonder if Schumacher cares much about missing pole, or the front row of the grid for that matter. The German had won the last four races despite missing out on the top spot, and with only one pole to his name at Silverstone, the end result came as no surprise. The Ferrari, however, was carrying a considerably heavier fuel load than its rivals, who would pit one more time than Schumacher.

5. Jarno Trulli
First Qualifying: 1:21.496; Second Qualifying: 1:18.715

Aiming to bounce back from his much talked about error at the French Grand Prix just a week earlier, Trulli surely would have wanted a more competitive weekend, but his Renault was just no match for the more powerful cars of his rivals. The Italian was pretty happy with his R24 for most of the weekend and put on a solid performance in qualifying, outpacing his teammate once again. Fifth place was not ideal, but with Renault's starts his chances were looking good.

6. David Coulthard
First Qualifying: 1:23.521; Second Qualifying: 1:19.148

Seeing what his teammate Raikkonen managed over the entire weekend, Coulthard's showing was far from impressive at the track where he had won twice before. The Scot never got close to the Finn, and finishing nearly a second behind in qualifying was definitely not what he had hoped for at his home Grand Prix. Coulthard struggled more than Raikkonen with the strong wind gusts and made an error at Becketts that hampered him even more.

7. Juan Pablo Montoya
First Qualifying: 1:34.386; Second Qualifying: 1:19.378

With no testing since the French Grand Prix, Williams continued to have problems to extract the maximum from their revised aerodynamic package. Although things looked slightly better than in France, especially in practice, qualifying would be problematic for Montoya, who complained his car did not handle as it had in the free sessions. The Colombian also had problems coping with the wind, which made the FW26 very unstable at some parts of the circuit.

8. Takuma Sato
First Qualifying: 1:28.910; Second Qualifying: 1:19.688

The Japanese driver had a very subdued weekend on a track where he was expected to shine, especially after a couple of races in which he had been very close or ahead of teammate Button. At Silverstone, however, Sato never looked like a match for the Briton and was not happy with the performance of his car. Qualifying saw him finishing over a second behind Button, certainly not a result to write home about.

9. Mark Webber
First Qualifying: 1:35.853; Second Qualifying: 1:20.004

Webber, now the most wanted man following the announcement from Ralf that he is going to Toyota, made Jaguar look reasonably good for most of the weekend. The Cosworth-powered car was strong despite Webber carrying more fuel than most of his rivals, the Australian opting for a two-stop strategy. He complained of oversteer during part of his flying lap, but ninth place was a good reward for his efforts.

10. Felipe Massa
First Qualifying: 1:19.317; Second Qualifying: 1:20.202

For Silverstone, Sauber introduced a new rear bodywork which seemed to work miracles in the handling of the car, with both Massa and Fisichella delighted with the performance. Massa still seemed to have problems getting the best out of the tyres over a single lap, and so the team decided to go for a two-stopper that would highlight their strong race pace. The Brazilian's flying lap, however, was hampered when Panis, who had completed his lap moments before, showed up in the middle of the racing line. Without that, Massa could have been higher.

11. Marc Gene
First Qualifying: 1:34.981; Second Qualifying: 1:20.335

Having not seized his first opportunity in France, Gene knew he had to perform in England if he wanted to have a shot at keeping Ralf's seat at least until the German returns, let alone if he wanted to be considered for the position next season. With that in mind, it's safe to say the Spaniard underperformed when it mattered. He looked good in practice, going quicker than Montoya, but his flying lap was a mess, his car proving very hard to drive.

12. Cristiano da Matta
First Qualifying: 1:22.507; Second Qualifying: 1:20.545

The nature of the Silverstone circuit was never going to benefit the Toyota, which performs better in low-downforce tracks. With his mind set on the revised car that the team will introduce in Germany, da Matta performed as expected and settled for a place in the middle of the grid. During his flying lap, he had some understeering problems on the slower parts of the track, but was still satisfied with what he achieved.

13. Christian Klien
First Qualifying: 1:38.648; Second Qualifying: 1:21.559

Webber did no favours to Klien's reputation at Silverstone, the Australian highlighting the difference he can make with the struggling Jaguar. In practice Klien stayed in touch and even outpaced his teammate, but qualifying was a different matter, the Austrian overdriving during most of his flying lap. The end result was that Klien finished over 1.5 seconds behind Webber.

14. Giorgio Pantano
First Qualifying: 1:21.350; Second Qualifying: 1:22.458

Again the Jordans were the buffer between the Minardis and the rest of the field, and never looked close enough to challenge at least the Jaguars despite Silverstone being one of the few circuits where they have tested this year. Pantano at least managed to outqualify his teammate Heidfeld despite making an error at Abbey during his flying lap.

15. Nick Heidfeld
First Qualifying: No Time; Second Qualifying: 1:22.677

Apart from finishing ahead of the Minardis, it seemed the best Heidfeld could have hoped for in qualifying was to outpace his Jordan teammate. This time, however, the German failed to do it. Heidfeld opted not to set a time in the first session, hoping that it would rain later on in the second, but it was not to be. He complained of graining on his tyres towards the end of his flying lap, which cost him some time.

16. Fernando Alonso
First Qualifying: 1:21.293; Second Qualifying: 1:18.811

Alonso's weekend did not begin very well with a lack of pace on Friday, and only got worse on Saturday when his Renault engine blew up in the morning's practice. With that in mind he pushed really hard on his flying lap, something which proved tricky considering the strong wind. The Spaniard was just a tad slower than teammate Trulli, but in the end that mattered little following the penalty for replacing the engine.

17. Olivier Panis
First Qualifying: 1:19.697; Second Qualifying: 1:20.335

Like da Matta, Panis was not expecting much of the TF104 at Silverstone, a maximum downforce circuit which would not favour the Japanese car. Panis performed solidly and was quicker than da Matta in qualifying, but a silly error relegated him to the back of the grid. The Frenchman was still on track when Massa was on his flying lap and without noticing he held up the Sauber driver. The end result was his time being deleted by the stewards.

18. Gianmaria Bruni
First Qualifying: 1:22.529; Second Qualifying: 1:23.437

It was a black weekend for Minardi, and unfortunately not only in terms of performance, with the news that their sporting director John Walton passed away over the weekend. With an outdated engine and chassis, the struggling outfit were never going to get close to their rivals at Silverstone. Bruni's highlight of the weekend was his ninth place in pre-qualifying, but then again his rivals were slowing down on purpose.

19. Zsolt Baumgartner
First Qualifying: 1:23.116; Second Qualifying: 1:24.117

With over a second to the Jordans during most of the sessions, Baumgartner's only aim for the British Grand Prix was to stay in touch with his teammate Bruni. After struggling with problems with his car's anti-roll bar, qualifying proved tough for the Hungarian, who made a few mistakes during his flying lap and finished over half a second behind his Italian stablemate.

20. Giancarlo Fisichella
First Qualifying: No Time; Second Qualifying: No Time

Fisichella enjoyed a very strong weekend at Silverstone, and that despite blowing up his engine in Friday's practice. Without that, it would have been interesting to see what the Roman could have managed with what was, in his own words, the best Sauber he's driven all season long. However, Fisichella did not bother to set a time in order to save fuel and tyres and had to take the start from the back of the grid for the second time this season.

The Race

Although the sky was not completely overcast on Sunday, the forecast had predicted that there would be some light rain halfway through the race. In the end, however, and despite some very dark clouds covering the track, the threat would not materialise.

For a change the start was rather uneventful, with Raikkonen making a flyer to keep first place easily from Barrichello and Button, with Schumacher following in fourth ahead of Trulli and Coulthard. Montoya had kept seventh place until he ran wide at Copse and was overtaken by Sato.

Raikkonen completed a blistering opening lap, crossing the start/finish line over 3.5 seconds ahead of Barrichello. Another flying lap which opened the gap even more suggested Raikkonen had qualified with almost no fuel, but when the Finn stayed on track lap after lap it became obvious that it was real pace. Raikkonen's rhythm, however, settled down and Barrichello began to raise his pace, which stabilized the gap to the McLaren while opening a small one to Button and Schumacher.

On lap three, Montoya moved ahead of Sato when the Japanese driver made a mistake and went off the track. That was the only moment of action at the front, where the positions were stable for several laps. The back of the field was far more interesting, with both Alonso and Fisichella fighting their way back to the front. By lap eight, the Renault driver was in 13th place, with the Italian two places behind.

Alonso kicked off the first round of pitstops on that same lap, the Spaniard being followed by Barrichello on the next one. The Ferrari driver returned to the track in 10th position as most of the field dived into the pits for service. Raikkonen pitted just two laps after Barrichello and rejoined the race ahead of him and Button, who had also pitted on lap 11.

Schumacher, meanwhile, stayed out and, with no traffic ahead of him, began to fly around the track, setting five consecutive fastest laps, managing to open up a gap of more than 20 seconds to Raikkonen, who was stuck right behind Sato. When Schumacher finally pitted on lap 15, he was over 23 seconds ahead of his McLaren rival.

When the German rejoined the race, he had not only jumped ahead of Button and Barrichello, but had also passed Raikkonen for the lead. The move had even surprised Schumacher, who admitted after the race he was not expecting to be able to take the lead so early.

"I am amazed how the race went," Schumacher said afterwards. "I thought we had a very good strategy for the race but that it would pay off so early was not the plan, leading the race so early basically after my first pitstop coming out in front of Kimi."

For a few moments it looked as if Raikkonen was set to attack Schumacher, but when the German's tyres got up to working temperature the Finn was unable to keep up. By lap 20, the Ferrari driver was slightly over a second ahead of Raikkonen, with Button in third after having passed fourth-placed Barrichello in the pits. The Briton and the Brazilian, however, were already nearly 10 seconds behind the leader.

Fisichella, who continued with his impressive charge, was in fifth place, having not yet stopped. Montoya, Coulthard, and Trulli followed the Sauber driver to complete the top eight. The Italian finally made his first stop on lap 23, returning to the track in eighth place.

In front, Raikkonen took advantage of his low fuel load to put some more pressure on Schumacher who, on a two-stop strategy, had a much heavier car. The pressure didn't pay off, however, and Raikkonen headed for the pits for the second time on lap 28. Barrichello followed suit and this time the Brazilian benefitted from the pitstop to move ahead of Button, who had already stopped, and began to close the gap to Raikkonen.

For several laps after Raikkonen's pitstop, Schumacher was much faster than the Finn, who was unable to maintain the champion's pace. When the German driver pitted for the last time on lap 37, he was already over 25 seconds in front, which was enough for him to make his stop and emerge right in front of Raikkonen. Like in the previous stint, the McLaren driver took advantage of his lighter car to put Schumacher under pressure, but to no avail.

Barrichello followed Raikkonen some four seconds behind while Button had already lost over eight seconds to the Brazilian. Fisichella, still to stop for the second time, was fifth again, with Montoya in sixth followed by Coulthard and Trulli.

With Raikkonen still to stop for the last time, the race looked effectively over. However, the event took an unexpected turn when Trulli lost control of his car right after Bridge, his car's rear suspension apparently failing, and crashed heavily. His car first spun several times and then rolled before coming to a stop on the gravel. The Italian was fine, but the track was full of dirt and the tyre barrier needed repairing, so the race director deployed the Safety Car.

Raikkonen, as well as most of the drivers on three stops, headed for the pits. Up in front, Schumacher could do nothing but watch how his advantage had vanished, with only Klien, da Matta and over a second separating him from Raikkonen.

The race was restarted with 14 laps remaining, and Raikkonen immediately passed the two cars in front, and set his sights on Schumacher. The Ferrari driver, however, made it clear that the Finn would not have a chance and set a pace Raikkonen could not match, quickly opening a healthy margin. The McLaren driver not only was unable to follow Schumacher, but was also coming under pressure from Barrichello, who had made a poor restart.

In the end, however, there was no more action, and Schumacher drove home to score his 80th Grand Prix ahead of Raikkonen and Barrichello. Button failed to live up to the hype and had to settle for fourth ahead of Montoya, Fisichella and Coulthard, with Webber taking the final point after a strong performance with the Jaguar.

With 10 wins in 11 races, Schumacher's statistics so far are mindblowing and easy to put into perspective: he has already scored more points than last year, he could be leading the Constructors' Championship alone, he is just one win away from equaling the record of most victories in a season, and so on and so forth.

There are almost countless statistics that symbolize Schumacher's supremacy in recent years and this season in particular, but with a big part of the Championship remaining the story is far from over.

Race Results

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine                Time        
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  1h24:42.700
 2.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  +     2.130
 3.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  +     3.114
 4.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)  +    10.683
 5.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)  +    12.173
 6.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)  +    12.888
 7.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  +    19.668
 8.  Webber        Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  +    23.701
 9.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  +    24.023
10.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  +    24.835
11.  Sato          BAR-Honda        (M)  +    33.736
12.  Gene          Williams-BMW     (M)  +    34.303
13.  da Matta      Toyota           (M)  +     1 lap
14.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  +     1 lap
15.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)  +    4 laps

Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:18.739

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver        Team                  On Lap
Pantano       Jordan-Ford      (B)    48
Trulli        Renault          (M)    40
Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)    30
Panis         Toyota           (M)    19


World Championship Standing, Round 11:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  M.Schumacher 100        1.  Ferrari          174
 2.  Barrichello   74        2.  Renault           79
 3.  Button        53        3.  BAR-Honda         67
 4.  Trulli        46        4.  Williams-BMW      41
 5.  Alonso        33        5.  McLaren-Mercedes  32
 6.  Montoya       29        6.  Sauber-Petronas   18
 7.  Raikkonen     18        7.  Toyota             8
 8.  Coulthard     14        8.  Jordan-Ford        5
 9.  Sato          14        9.  Jaguar-Cosworth    4
10.  Fisichella    13       10.  Minardi-Cosworth   1
11.  R.Schumacher  12       
12.  Massa          5       
13.  Panis          5       
14.  Webber         4       
15.  da Matta       3       
16.  Heidfeld       3       
17.  Glock          2       
18.  Baumgartner    1      

Fastest Race Laps

Pos  Driver        Team                  Lap  Time              
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  14   1:18.739        
 2.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)   8   1:19.296 + 0.557
 3.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)  10   1:19.488 + 0.749
 4.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  10   1:19.554 + 0.815
 5.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)  22   1:19.813 + 1.074
 6.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)  26   1:19.968 + 1.229
 7.  Gene          Williams-BMW     (M)  58   1:20.434 + 1.695
 8.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  39   1:20.442 + 1.703
 9.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  58   1:20.484 + 1.745
10.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  25   1:20.547 + 1.808
11.  Trulli        Renault          (M)  34   1:20.655 + 1.916
12.  Webber        Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  11   1:20.768 + 2.029
13.  da Matta      Toyota           (M)  35   1:20.768 + 2.029
14.  Sato          BAR-Honda        (M)  12   1:20.790 + 2.051
15.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  10   1:20.956 + 2.217
16.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  17   1:21.720 + 2.981
17.  Pantano       Jordan-Ford      (B)  13   1:22.146 + 3.407
18.  Panis         Toyota           (M)   4   1:23.131 + 4.392
19.  Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)  33   1:24.296 + 5.557
20.  Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)  12   1:24.317 + 5.578

Pitstop Times

Pos  Driver        Team                  Time      Lap
 1.  Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)  12.429   25
 2.  Trulli        Renault          (M)  20.997   32
 3.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  21.228   25
 4.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  21.489   28
 5.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  21.604   41
 6.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  21.710   28
 7.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)  21.908   29
 8.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)  21.968   27
 9.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)  21.972   11
10.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  22.130   41
11.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)  22.191   11
12.  Gene          Williams-BMW     (M)  22.243   25
13.  Gene          Williams-BMW     (M)  22.260    9
14.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  22.410   30
15.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  22.474   11
16.  Trulli        Renault          (M)  22.512   13
17.  Alonso        Renault          (M)  22.597    8
18.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)  22.754   41
19.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  22.884   41
20.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  23.013   41
21.  Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)  23.075   27
22.  Baumgartner   Minardi-Cosworth (B)  23.221   13
23.  Sato          BAR-Honda        (M)  23.314   15
24.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  23.380    9
25.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)  23.599   23
26.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  23.634   10
27.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  23.686   18
28.  Button        BAR-Honda        (M)  23.724   41
29.  Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)  23.853   11
30.  Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)  24.024   38
31.  Webber        Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  24.183   16
32.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  24.277   15
33.  Gene          Williams-BMW     (M)  24.352   41
34.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  24.540   15
35.  Klien         Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  24.542   36
36.  Webber        Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)  24.664   37
37.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  24.692   37
38.  da Matta      Toyota           (M)  24.836   15
39.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  24.940   16
40.  Panis         Toyota           (M)  25.011   16
41.  da Matta      Toyota           (M)  25.025   37
42.  Pantano       Jordan-Ford      (B)  25.120   36
43.  Sato          BAR-Honda        (M)  25.357   35
44.  Pantano       Jordan-Ford      (B)  25.495   14
45.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Ford      (B)  25.601   37
46.  Fisichella    Sauber-Petronas  (B)  26.554   41
47.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas  (B)  26.633   38
48.  Bruni         Minardi-Cosworth (B)  71.727   29

The British Grand Prix, Lap by Lap

Lap 1: The start of the race was a very orderly affair with the top six drivers all holding station. Behind them Takuma Sato goes a little wide at the first corner but maintains his position and in the course of the first lap he manages to get ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya to take seventh position. Rubens Barrichello is unable to keep up with Kimi Raikkonen and ends the first lap 3.5 seconds behind. He has Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher right behind him.

Lap 2: Raikkonen sets the fastest lap to extend his lead to 4.3secs while Barrichello continues to be under pressure from Button and Schumacher. Further back Fernando Alonso passes Giorgio Pantano for 13th place. Also on the move is Giancarlo Fisichella, who overtakes Nick Heidfeld for 16th place.

Lap 3: Barrichello sets the fastest lap of the race and the gap to Raikkonen stabilizes. Sato makes a mistake and runs over the grass and loses seventh place to Montoya.

Lap 4: The two leaders trade fastest laps and both pull away from Button and Schumacher. In the midfield Alonso passes Cristiano da Matta for 12th place.

Lap 5: The order at the front is the same, further down Christian Klien moves ahead of Pantano to run 14th.

Lap 6: Barrichello speeds up and sets the fastest lap, closing the gap slightly to Raikkonen. In the midfield Fisichella overtakes Pantano to move up to 15th.

Lap 8: The gap between Raikkonen and Barrichello is down to 3.5secs with Button coming under pressure in third from Schumacher. There is then a gap back to Jarno Trulli, who has David Coulthard and Juan Pablo Montoya behind him. There is a gap back to Sato, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa. The first pit stop comes from Fernando Alonso in 12th. He rejoins in 18th position.

Lap 9: Barrichello goes into the pits and Button moves into second position. Barrichello rejoins in 10th place. Marc Gene, who is running 11th, also stops and he falls back to 17th place.

Lap 10: Coulthard stops and drops from sixth to 14th.

Lap 11: Raikkonen, Button and Montoya all stop. Taking the lead, Michael Schumacher is able to reduce his lap times impressively. Raikkonen rejoins in fourth with Button seventh. At the tail of the field Gianmaria Bruni has his first pit stop.

Lap 12: Coulthard passes Pantano for 13th place.

Lap 13: Schumacher sets a second consecutive fastest lap to pull out his lead. Second-placed Trulli pits and falls back to 13th on the grid. At the back Zsolt Baumgartner does his first pit stop.

Lap 14: Schumacher sets another fastest lap and his lead over Raikkonen is up to 21secs. Sato, Webber and Massa have all still to stop and are running third, fourth and fifth. Button is sixth. Towards the tail of the field Pantano has his first pit stop. He falls behind Alonso, Gene and Panis.

Lap 15: After another very fast lap Schumacher goes into the pits and is able to rejoin just ahead of Raikkonen. Behind him Sato stops and drops from fourth to 14th. In the midfield da Matta and Klien both pit. It is becoming clear that there are several drivers who have decided to go for two-stop strategies.

Lap 16: Third-placed Webber and fourth-placed Massa stop. The Jaguar comes out of the pits in 10th but Massa’s stop is slower and he is 13th. Towards the back of the field Panis stops.

Lap 17: Panis pulls off and retires with a mechanical problem. At the tail of the field Baumgartner passes Bruni for 18th position. The order at the front has changed with Michael leading Raikkonen, Button, Barrichello, Fisichella (who is still to stop) and Montoya.

Lap 18: The gap at the front is stable. In the midfield Heidfeld has his first stop and drops from 11th to 16th. At the back Pantano has a spin but is able to rejoin.

Lap 23: The order remains unchanged but Schumacher comes under increasing pressure from Raikkonen, suggesting that Michael has a much bigger fuel load than Kimi and may be going for a two-stop strategy. Fisichella finally comes into the pits for the first time, having moved up from last on the grid to fifth place.

Lap 25: The second pit stops begin with Alonso and Gene stopping from 11th and 12th positions. They rejoin in 14th and 15th places. The Minardis begin their second stops as well with Bruni coming into the pits.

Lap 27: Fourth-placed Button heads for the pits, the first of the two-stop frontrunners to stop. He rejoins in sixth place. Further back Alonso passes Klien for 13th position.

Lap 28: Raikkonen and Barrichello stop again. Kimi comes out still in second place but Rubens is behind Montoya and Coulthard.

Lap 29: As Schumacher is left by himself out at front, third-placed Montoya heads for pit lane and falls back to eighth, in amongst the two-stop runners. At the tail of the field there are problems for Minardi with Bruni going back to the pits for a drive-through penalty (ignoring blue flags) and Baumgartner pulling off.

Lap 30: Schumacher is 23secs ahead of Raikkonen and the McLaren is just over five second ahead of Barrichello. Coulthard comes into the pits and falls from fourth to 10th. This promotes Button to fourth, Trulli to fifth and Fisichella sixth. It is clear that Schumacher is on a two-stop strategy.

Lap 32: Schumacher maintains the gap at the front, while Trulli goes into the pits and falls from fifth to 11th.

Lap 35: The order is the same but Barrichello is beginning to close up on Raikkonen. In the midfield Sato has his second stop. The other two-stoppers start coming in with Klien, Heidfeld and Pantano all stopping.

Lap 37: Schumacher pits and is so far ahead that he is able to come out in front of Raikkonen. Mark Webber also stops and falls from seventh place to 11th. Da Matta also stops

Lap 38: Seventh-placed Massa stops but rejoins behind Webber once again although both men are well-positioned to stay ahead of the three-stop runners in the final part of the race.

Lap 40: As Schumacher and Raikkonen run together at the front, it is clear that Kimi will have to stop again. At the exit of Bridge Corner Trulli spins and hits the tyre wall on the inside of the track, rear end first. The cars spins around and then rolls over when it hits the gravel trap. Trulli emerges unhurt but the Safety Car is sent out.

Lap 41: All the three-stop runners come into the pits, gaining an advantage over the men who are on two-stop strategies. The order as the field forms up behind the Safety Car is Schumacher, Da Matta and Klien (the pair a lap down), Raikkonen, Barrichello. Button, Montoya, Fisichella, Coulthard and Webber.

Lap 46: The race restarts but with all the pits stops now done there is little chance of any changes of order. Schumacher quickly show that he is fastest enough to leave Raikkonen behind. Barrichello is able to close on the McLaren but cannot challenge.

Lap 48: Pantano spins out of the race