With Michael Schumacher on pole position for his home Grand Prix, joined by Juan Pablo Montoya the cars would take up their positions on the grid. But it would all come to nothing as Oliver Panis would stall his car forcing a restart. Panis would be moved to the back of the grid as a result of his problem. The race would now be sixty six laps.

Michael would lead the field away for the second time. For Panis he would again have problems with his car stuck on the grid, which would see him pushed off the grid. With the cars formed up on the grid the lights would go off and it would be Michael who would lead but JPM would make a terrible start seeing him down in seventh.

At the front it would be Schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen. Rubens would damage his front wing in a moment with Coulthard seeing him pit for a new nose, a 10.3 second stop. Lap two and Kimi would pass Alonso with JPM still in seventh. Coulthard was attacking Trulli for fourth. Michael would extend his lead to 2.1 seconds.

Mark Webber was in sixth from eleventh on the grid. Lap four would see JPM pass Webber for sixth, but he was already 8.3 seconds behind the leader. Kimi Raikkonen would set a fastest lap, a time of 1m:14.083. Lap five and Panis was in seventeenth after having started from the pitlane. The top eight was Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen, Alonso, Trulli, Coulthard, Montoya, Webber, and Pizzonia.

Michael would set a new fastest lap, a time of 1m:13.783. Lap seven and Kimi would be 3.2 seconds behind Michael. JPM was 10.3 seconds adrift. The chances of getting a good result have been severely affected. Team-mate Pizzonia was attacking Webber for seventh. The BAR's of Sato and Button were close behind the FW26.

As they started lap ten both Alonso and Pizzonia would pit. It was expected that it would be a three stop strategy for this race. The following lap and Michael would pit from the lead, 9.8 seconds, joined by Coulthard. Kimi would set a new fastest lap, a time of 1m:13.780. next lap and it would be Kimi's turn to stop been stationary for 8.9 seconds. he would return to the track right behind Michael. JPM would also make his first stop. JPM would pass Trulli for eighth while at the front it would be Button leading having yet made his first stop.

But the race would take a major turn when Raikkonen was to have a major accident when his rear wing left his car. He would spin and crash into the barrier sideways. He would throw his steering wheel away in disgust as he got out of the car. Thankfully he was uninjured.

Lap fifteen and Button would pit seeing Michael leading again. Michael would now be leading Alonso by 10.2 seconds. Coulthard was third one second behind the Spaniard with JPM fourth. Button was able to return to the track in fifth. By lap nineteen Michael had pulled his lead to now be 12.1 seconds. Heidfeld would make his first stop. Pizzonia would have a moment running wide and going over the gravel only to be able to return to the track. He was down in
eleventh.

The fight for sixth would see Trulli, Webber, Fisichella, and Sato all less than a second apart. Fisichella would pit on lap twenty two. For JPM he would have a moment that would see him take to the grass and let Button through into fourth. At the front, by lap twenty three, Michael would have extended his lead to now be 15.5 seconds. Michael would soon have a big enough gap for a pit stop. Sato was able to get past Webber for seventh after the Jaguar driver made a mistake. Pizzonia was closing into onto Webber.

Lap twenty five and Button had closed to be only 0.7 seconds behind Coulthard. The battle between Trulli and Sato would see Takuma get by followed by Webber. Pizzonia would also start to challenge Trulli, while the WilliamsF1 mechanics prepared for a stop. It would be JPM who would stop from fifth joined by Sato.

The next lap and it would be Michael's turn, 7.7 seconds. He would be joined by Coulthard, Trulli, and Pizzonia. The Renault driver would get a new nose seeing him stop for 14 seconds. The following lap and Alonso would pit from the lead joined by Webber. Alonso would return in third. Button was in the lead at the moment, but had yet to make his second stop. Team-mate Sato would take a trip off the circuit when he spun, but was bale to keep going in eighth. Button's lead was 5.2 seconds as he made his next stop. Button would get out ahead of Coulthard and just behind Alonso. He would quickly start to challenge the Renault.

Lap thirty six and both Alonso and Button would be fighting hard for second place, while at the front Michael was walking away with the race. His lead was out to 14.4 seconds. The next lap it would be 15.6 seconds. By lap forty his lead was 16.6 seconds. Alonso and Button, in their own fight, were letting Michael get away.

Lap forty one and Button would have dropped back to now be 2.5 seconds behind Alonso. Pizzonia was down in ninth but challenging Fisichella for eighth. Team-mate JPM was in fifth behind Coulthard but with 11.7 seconds separating the pair JPM would not be able to challenge the McLaren. Da Matta would retire from the race with a rear left tyre puncture. Alonso would be pushing hard to pull away from Button. Lap forty five and Fisichella would stop allowing Pizzonia into eighth. Heidfeld would retire his Jordan in his garage.

Webber would make his third stop from sixth position. He would be joined by Trulli. At the front Michael's pace had dropped off with his lead coming down to be 13.9 seconds ahead of Alonso. Lap forty eight and Michael, Alonso, and Coulthard would all pit allowing Button back into the lead.

JPM was in fourth but he would stop the next lap, joined by Sato. The BAR and WilliamsF1 drivers nearly collided in the pitlane. Michael was 9.0 seconds behind Button, but the BAR driver would stop on lap fifty, a stop of 7.1 seconds. He would come out just behind Alonso. Coulthard and JPM were fourth and fifth. Pizzonia was in a point scoring eighth.

Alonso would run wide but Button could not make the most of this opportunity. But he would not give up finally passing Alonso in a great passing move going into Turn eight. Both cars were wheel to wheel but Jenson was able to get track position and hold onto second.

Lap fifty three and at the front Michael's lead was now 10.2 seconds. Michael was able to maintain his lead but by lap fifty six Button had been able to pull out a 8.5 second lead over Alonso. Coulthard was just 1.2 seconds behind the Renault so he may be able to close the gap and challenge for third. Pizzonia was attacking Sato for seventh. By lap fifty seven Coulthard was just 0.2 behind Alonso. Coulthard would try to go down the inside at the hairpin but was blocked by Alonso.

Lap ninety eight and Michael was 9.7 seconds in the lead, with Button a comfortable second. But things were far from comfortable for Alonso with Coulthard close behind. For Coulthard his hopes of a podium finish lessened when Alonso was able to speed up and pull away from the McLaren. Pizzonia was able to pass Sato for seventh with Webber in sixth. Button would also have to deal with what appeared to be a lose visor on his helmet.

JPM was now just 2.6 seconds behind Coulthard. With five laps left in the race the order was Schumacher leading Button, Alonso, Coulthard, Montoya, Webber, Pizzonia and Sato. For Ferrari the result would not see them come away with the Constructors title. With two laps to go the gap between JPM and Coulthard had grown out to be 3.4 seconds so it looked like JPM would have to settle with fifth. Team-mate Pizzonia was in seventh.

So with the last lap Michael would cross the line to win his eleventh race of the season. Button was second and Alonso third. The final points scoring positions were Coulthard, JPM, Webber, Pizzonia, and Sato.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Time

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h23:54.848
2. Alonso Renault (M) + 8.329
3. Alonso Renault (M) + 16.351
4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 19.231
5. Montoya WilliamsF1-BMW (M) + 23.055
6. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 41.108
7. Pizzonia WilliamsF1-BMW (M) + 41.956
8. Sato BAR-Honda (M) + 46.842
9. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1:07.102
10. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 1:08.578
11. Trulli Renault (M) + 1:10.580
12. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 1:13.520
13. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap
14. Panis Toyota (M) + 1 lap
15. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) + 3 laps
16. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 4 laps
17. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 4 laps

Fastest Lap: Raikkonen , 1:13.780

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver Team On Lap
Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 44
da Matta Toyota (M) 40
Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 15