The Austrian Grand Prix is a race that the BMW WilliamsF1 team had a very good chance of winning, that was until Juan Pablo's BMW engine would fail while he was in the lead. Ralf would go onto finish sixth at least making it that the team score some points from the race.

Renault's Fernando Alonso would start the race from the pit lane. He was joined by Jaguar's Mark Webber. Alonso was in the teams spare car.

All the cars were to get off the grid but as the cars were about to take the start a yellow flag was shown for a car in the mid-field and the start was aborted. The flag was Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta who had a problem and would now have to start at the back of the grid. There was a five minute count down for a new start. But again we were to see da Matta have problems forcing another start.

One must question why they stopped the start when the last car on the grid has a problem, they could have pushed him off the grid after the start. Anyway another start was required, but for Sauber's Heinz Harald Frentzen his race would when he stalled his car but was able to restart it only to stop in his pit and get out of his car.

At the third attempt the were all able to get away, with a contact between Pizzonia and Trulli. Michael was leading the race with Montoya second. But on lap two the safety car would come out due to Minardi's Jos Verstappen stopping his car and it could not be moved.

Toyota's Olivier Panis would pit and takes more fuel, joined by Minardi's Justin Wilson. The race would be restarted on lap four with Michael leading, followed by Juan Pablo, Raikkonen, and Barrichello. Ralf was in ninth, seven seconds behind.

Alonso who started from the pit lane start had moved up to 15th while Webber was right behind him in 16th. Panis would retire on lap six while by lap seven Michael would pull out a lead on Juan Pablo of just under three seconds. In fifth and sixth were Heidfeld and Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia, who was putting in an impressive drive. Ralf was battling with Jenson Button. After twelve of sixty nine laps Michael Schumacher was 6.77 seconds ahead of Montoya. But the rain which had been threatening started to fall. On lap thirteen Heidfeld would pit, he would not put rain tyres as it was not raining heavily enough.

On lap fourteen Pizzonia and Firman would pit. The next lap would see Ralf, Fisichella, and Webber in the pits. Ralf would continue with slicks. Out on the track Trulli would spin but he was able to get back on the track. Webber had stopped at his pit as a result of a penalty.

At the front Juan Pablo would start to close in on Michael. By lap twenty it was down to 3.1 seconds with fifty one laps remaining. Button and Villeneuve were fifth and sixth. Da Matta had pitted the previous lap. Juan Pablo would come in for his first pit-stop, 8.8 seconds, which meant that he was on a two stop race strategy. He would be joined by David Coulthard. Juan Pablo would return in sixth.

Lap twenty one and Barrichello's would pit, but he would have problem with the refuelling rig and would lose around 10 seconds. The next lap and Michael would stop but there was fire on his car. A small fire would start as fuel spilt onto the car. The team would get the fire out and Michael would return to the track. Lap twenty four and Juan Pablo was the new leader of the race. The following lap would see Michael right behind Raikkonen, in third place while in the pits the Ferrari mechanics were still trying to repair the refuelling system.

Button was fourth followed by Barrichello and Alonso. Ralf was in seventh. In his pit stop Michael was only able to get 5 seconds worth of fuel on-board because of his problem, making it very likely that he will have to make an extra stop. By lap thirty Juan Pablo would build up a 4.1 second lead on Michael.

But on lap thirty one Juan Pablo's engine would fail with smoke coming from it. Michael would overtake Raikkonen and move into the lead. Juan Pablo would retire in the pits. Juan Pablo would say: "I lost oil pressure. It's not the first time I have bad luck and it's probably not the last. the race was going well."

Lap thirty two and BAR's Jenson Button was in third place, but Barrichello was right behind him and would overtake him. Alonso was now catching the BAR driver for fourth place but on lap thirty seven he would pit. Ralf was now in sixth. Michael had built up a seven second lead over Raikkonen and was spending most of his time overtaking back markers. After forty laps the order was Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen, Barrichello, Button, and Ralf Schumacher.

Lap forty one and Michael would pit, with it been a longer stop, 12.6 seconds, because more fuel was needed as a result of his earlier problems. On lap forty two Firman would make his second pit stop. He was joined by Ralf who would drop to seventh. Alonso would retire on lap forty four at the first corner. Alonso would say: "I spun because the rear tyres blocked because of the engine problems. A good race, maybe the best one for me. I was feeling confident fighting for the points in fifth, sixth place."

After forty six laps Raikkonen was leading ahead of the two Ferraris, Rubens and Michael, and Button. Raikkonen would go to the pits with an 11 second lead, with his stop at 8.8 seconds for the tyre change. Button would make his final stop on lap forty eight, followed by Raikkonen the following lap. Next would be Barrichello, joined by Coulthard. Michael would be back in the lead of the race.

on his stop Villeneuve would stall in the pits. He was in the chase for some points and the former world champion would throw up his hands in disgust. He would go back out after the team changed his steering wheel. By lap fifty three Michael appeared to be in control of the situation. He was 9.174 seconds ahead of Raikkonen with Barrichello far behind in third. Ralf was running fifth.

On lap fifty seven Ralf would miss a corner, goes into the gravel, losing time position as David Coulthard would pass him. Ralf was now in sixth. As the race neared its conclusion the gap between Michael and Raikkonen would be fairly stable, just under 10 seconds. But Rubens would still be attacking the Finn looking to secure a one-two finish for Ferrari. Fisichella would retire on lap sixty two.

With seven laps remaining Raikkonen would be trying to hold off Barrichello who's closed to be within 0.7 seconds. As the laps counted down the top eight were Michael leading Raikkonen, Barrichello, Button, Coulthard, Ralf, Webber, and Trulli. The fight between Rubens and Kimi would continue with Barrichello trying to overtake Raikkonen on the outside but he can't. If Kimi retains his second spot it would enable him to retain his world championship lead.

On the final lap and the difference was 0.6 seconds in the fight for second. Michael was going to win the Austrian GP. But Kimi would hold on as Michael would take the victory. Michael won from Raikkonen, Barrichello, a superb fourth place for Button, Coulthard, Ralf, Webber and Trulli would complete the top eight.

At the end of the race Raikkonen would say: "The car was quite good but still disappointed to finish in second. When it started to rain, the Michelins worked better than the Bridgestone's but it wasn't enough."

Michael commented on his fire by saying: "The mechanics felt I was a little too cool and wanted to warm me up. They did a great job. I had no doubt that they would contain the problem."

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

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h24'04"888 213.003 Km/h 2
2. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M + 0'03"362 212.862 Km/h 2
3. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B + 0'03"951 212.837 Km/h 2
4. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B + 0'42"243 211.235 Km/h 2
5. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M + 0'59"740 210.511 Km/h 2
6. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1 lap(s) 2
7. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap(s) 3
8. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1 lap(s) 2
9. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap(s) 2
10. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1 lap(s) 2
11. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1 lap(s) 2
12. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1 lap(s) 2
13. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 2 lap(s) 3
14. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 9 lap(s) 2
15. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 23 lap(s) 3
16. 8 ALONSO Renault M 25 lap(s) 1
17. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 37 lap(s) 2
18. 20 PANIS Toyota M 63 lap(s) 1
19. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 69 lap(s) 0
20. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 69 lap(s) 0