Both BAR's Takuma Sato and Minardi's Gianmaria Bruni would start the race from the pitlane. It was decided that after Sato's spin in qualifying it would be better to use the advantage of starting from the pitlane for the seventy lap race.

With Ralf on pole the cars would complete their formation lap and the race start would see Ralf lead Button, Alonso, Michael and Juan Pablo into Turn one. Coulthard would be involved in an accident with the Jaguar's of Webber and Klein. Sato and Massa were also involved. Michael was in fifth. Behind Michael came Raikkonen, Barrichello and Toyota's Cristiano da Matta.

Renault's Jarno Trulli would have problem at the start and these would force his retirement. He would pull off at the pit lane exit. It was reported that he had a gearbox problem. Webber would pit with a punctured tyre. Lap three and Ralf would lead Button by 1.8 seconds. Ralf would set the fastest lap, a 1m:14.779. By lap five Ralf's lead over Button had grown to 2.5 seconds.

Alonso was right behind Button, with Juan Pablo, Michael, Barrichello, Raikkonen, and Da Matta all running close together. Lap eight would see Barrichello would pass Raikkonen on the straight just before the pitlane and move into sixth. Rubens would set a new fastest lap with a 1m:14.624. Lap nine and Webber would pit and get out of his car, joining Trulli in retirement. Lap ten and Ralf was 3.7 seconds ahead of Button. Team-mate Juan Pablo was 5.6  seconds behind Ralf. Lap eleven and Coulthard would stop from twelfth, 8.3 seconds. He would be joined by Raikkonen the following lap, 7.8 seconds. Button, 7.0 seconds, and Juan Pablo, 8.5 seconds, would pit on lap thirteen. Michael would set a new fastest lap with a 1m:14.010 running in third.

Next it would be Ralf's turn to stop, 7.3 seconds, leaving Alonso in the lead. Ralf would return to the track ahead of Button. But neither of the Ferrari's had stopped yet. Alonso would pit on lap seventeen leaving Michael in the lead. Da Matta also stopped from sixth. So we had a Ferrari one-two but not for long as on the following lap Rubens would pit.

Ralf was now back up to second with Button third. Michael would join Rubens in the pits, 10.3 seconds, returning in third. Kimi Raikkonen was being investigated by the race stewards for an incident where he was to have crossed the white line exiting the pits. On lap twenty Kimi would take his penalty.

With the majority of the first pit stops complete Ralf was leading Button by 3.8 seconds. Behind Button came Michael, Juan Pablo, Barrichello, Alonso, Panis and Fisichella. Panis would finally pit while Nick Heidfeld would hit the refueler during his pit stop. Nick tried to leave his pit too soon. Sato was way down in thirteenth. Lap twenty four and Button was reducing the gap to Ralf. It was down to 3.0 seconds. But Ralf would respond to Jenson. Lap twenty six and Fisichella would make his first stop, 9.4 seconds. Team-mate Felipe Massa would make his first pit stop from eighth position.

Both the Sauber's were on two stop strategies. Michael was losing time to Button. He was also having Juan Pablo close to be only a tenth behind him in fourth. Juan Pablo would start to challenge Michael but on lap thirty Juan Pablo would pit again. he would be joined by Raikkonen. Juan Pablo would return in sixth.

The next lap and Button would also pit. At the front Ralf was leading Michael by twelve seconds and Rubens close behind Michael. Lap thirty three and it would be Ralf's turn for his second stop, 6.2 seconds, returning in third behind the Ferrari's. Coulthard would also stop. With the half distance point reached Ralf would be 3.2 seconds behind Michael. Juan Pablo was running in sixth. Alonso, Michael and Barrichello had yet to make their second pit stops. Rubens was running close behind Michael. Lap forty and both Ferrari's had yet to stop.

Lap forty three and Sato would spin at the hairpin while trying to pass Panis before his pit stop. Sato would pit. Lap forty four and Rubens would pit joined by Panis. Rubens would come out behind Montoya. Alonso would go off at the Senna hairpin with a failure forcing him into retirement. At the front Michael would set a time of 1m:13.893, nearly a full second faster than anybody else. His lead back to second placed Ralf was 6.1 seconds. But on lap forty seven
Michael would stop, 8.5 seconds, returning ahead of Button.

Lap forty eight and Ralf would pit from the lead for his final stop, 9.3 seconds. He would come out ahead of Rubens. The next lap and both Button and Juan Pablo would make their final stops. As a result Ralf would move into second. Lap fifty and smoke would be seen from Sato's BAR. He would retire again. With nineteen laps left Ralf was 5.9 seconds behind his brother. As
the lap continued to count down Michael was still leading Ralf. Lap fifty five and his lead had grown to 7.1 seconds. Raikkonen, Fisichella, and Da Matta were sixth, seventh, and eighth. It was starting to look good for Michael as his lead grew to 7.7 seconds.

Juan Pablo was running close behind Button in fifth. Lap sixty one and Raikkonen would pit rejoining the race with a new steering wheel and in seventh. Juan Pablo was just 0.8 seconds behind Button while he would set his best lap time of the race. With six laps left to run there was no way that Ralf could close the gap to the Ferrari, second place would be the best he could achieve today.

In the closing laps Massa would crash into the tyre barriers, with a possible left front brake failure. With three laps left to run Michael still led from Ralf and Rubens, with Rubens setting the fastest lap of the race a 1m:13.622. As they completed their final lap it would be Michael who would win the Canadian GP from Ralf and Rubens. Even though Ralf did not win it was still an excellent result for the BMW WilliamsF1 team.

P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Gaps/Laps Stops

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h28'24"803 2
2. 4 R. SCHUMACHER WilliamsF1 BMW M + 0'01"000 3
3. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B + 0'05"100 2
4. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M + 0'20"400 3
5. 3 MONTOYA WilliamsF1 BMW M + 0'21"200 3
6. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s) 3
7. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1 lap(s) 5
8. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1 lap(s) 2
9. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1 lap(s) 3
10. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1 lap(s) 2
11. 39 GLOCK Jordan Ford B 2 lap(s) 2
12. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 2 lap(s) 2
13. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 3 lap(s) 4
14. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 4 lap(s) 2
15. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 8 lap(s) 3
16. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 22 lap(s) 2
17. 8 ALONSO Renault M 26 lap(s) 1
18. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 40 lap(s) 2
19. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 64 lap(s) 2
20. 7 TRULLI Renault M 70 lap(s) 0