Atlas F1 News Editor
If the European Grand Prix looked set to be a continuation of the Canadian one, with the two Schumacher brothers battling it out for the win, a thin white line made all the difference between the two. The Nurburgring proved an easy win for the elder of the two German siblings, and added yet another controversy to Michael's list. Pablo Elizalde reviews the events of the weekend at Germany
For most of the race, the battle of the Schumachers looked set to continue where it left off in Canada, with Michael edging away from Ralf in the initial part of the race, only for the Williams driver to come back when his Michelin tyres began to work at their best, putting his elder brother under pressure and even forcing him to make a small mistake which nearly cost him the lead.
As Michael said after the race, we will never know who would have won had Ralf not been penalised, but the overall feeling around the Nurburgring paddock was that, despite rules being rules, the younger German deserved better than a distant fourth place, after the strict penalty spoiled the only interesting talking point of a race that saw little, if any, racing action on track.
As has been the case throughout the first half of the 2001 season, everything seems to be going Michael Schumacher's way while his rivals have suffered all sorts of misfortunes that have enabled the triple World Champion to move closer and closer to his fourth crown. That, added to Ferrari's reliability, looks enough to secure him the title well before this season is over, especially because the German, like everyone else around, is no longer certain who exactly is his main Championship rival.
Ralf's teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya, demonstrated at the Nurburgring that he can be a serious challenger when he is calmed. Montoya didn't seem to be able to follow Ralf's or Michael's pace during the race, perhaps being extra cautious this time around, but either way the Colombian already sent a warning of what to expect from him by setting the fastest lap of the race. Finishing second again will no doubt take a lot of pressure off his shoulders, and having raced at most of the upcoming circuits, the flamboyant Colombian looks set to further surprise his critics.
No matter how many times they vow to keep on working to continue fighting for the title this season, the McLaren team seem to have lost their way after a repeat of their poor performance in Canada, and being clearly outperformed by Mercedes's rival BMW at their home Grand Prix must have been a hard pill to swallow. Both David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen were nowhere in qualifying or in the race, and in the Finn's case, the question marks about his motivation are increasing race by race.
Coulthard continued doing what he has done all season: scoring points in the hope that one day he will be able to benefit and close the gap to Championship rival Michael Schumacher, something that is beginning to look unlikely, seeing the difference in performance between Ferrari and McLaren. With eight races remaining in the season and judging by the Woking team's pace, the 24-point gap between Schumacher and Coulthard seems much bigger than it really is.
Qualifying
Continuing with his approach of not showing his real potential until the final moments of Saturday practice, the elder Schumacher was far from the McLaren drivers on Friday, just to show his actual pace in the hour-long qualifying session. However, after having to sit out the second practice day due to an oil leak, the Ferrari driver seemed set to have a hard time to beat the opposition for the vital top spot at the Nurburgring, where overtaking is virtually impossible.
"After losing half the morning with a problem, we were not sure what to expect in qualifying, as I did not have time to run new tyres in the morning," said Schumacher. "It turned out that the car was well set-up for qualifying." To be sure, the track temperature on Saturday - around 27° Celsius - helped Schumacher's cause, as Ralf's Michelin tyres are known to work better as the heat increases.
Coulthard and Hakkinen got things rolling 20 minutes into the session, both the McLaren drivers already complaining about the poor balance of their MP4-16s. The Scot immediately placed himself in provisional pole, with a 1:16.073 lap, while Hakkinen went second quickest, more than four tenths slower than his teammate. Only four minutes later Ralf jumped onto the track and already sent a warning to his rivals, lapping more than seven tenths quicker than Coulthard in his first attempt.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who had finished right behind Ralf in the last practice session on Saturday, confirmed the Williams form by setting the second fastest time, only for Schumacher Senior to come out and beat his time, but still more than a tenth of a second behind his brother.
Coulthard would be the first of the top drivers to come out for his second attempt, the Scot - like most of his colleagues - suffering from bad understeer, a quality that is part and parcel of the German track. The McLaren was able to improve on his previous time by some two tenths of a second and moved up to third, ahead of Montoya. By then, it was becoming obvious that the McLarens were not going to challenge for pole at Mercedes's home track.
But it wasn't much longer before the German star got down to business with 20 minutes remaining in the session, and with his usual sharp precision and a fastest lap of 1:14.960 - the only time under 1:15 all weekend - the Championship leader elevated himself to the top spot.
The struggling McLarens were the first ones to come out of the pits to complete their third attempt, with Coulthard improving his time but not his position, staying in fourth. Hakkinen looked to try something radical on his car in order to move closer to the front, but it didn't work out and the Finn was not able to improve, staying in sixth spot, still incapable of getting the best out of his Bridgestone tyres.
Ralf could not improve either on his third run, but Rubens Barrichello - who had been going faster as the session progressed despite suffering problems with his car's power steering - did improve, placing himself in front of the two McLarens, in fourth.
The last minute rush began with Montoya jumping onto the track for his final run, the Colombian staying in third spot after a slow lap. Coulthard was next up on track, followed by virtually the entire field. Ironically, the Scot would pave the road for his Championship rival Schumacher to relax in the final moments of the session, after Coulthard spun off the track going into the final corner and caused the yellow flags to come out and thus stopped any of the top runners from improving. Any, except his teammate Hakkinen.
Coulthard was downbeat after staying in fifth place: "The combination of Michael Schumacher, the car, and the tyres are extracting a lot out of the qualifying set-up. I am not happy. It's not good. We have to be able to capitalise when we are strong and we haven't."
"I do not expect to see a repeat of Canada tomorrow, as our tyres are very good and consistent here," said Schumacher. "I think we have the better tyre for the weekend, but we will have to see what happens. We developed the car well in the morning and during qualifying we made a further set-up change in between the runs and that made me quicker."
Ralf had to settle for second place behind his brother once more, the young German hoping for higher temperatures that would allow his Michelin tyres to perform better in the race. The same applied for Montoya, who ended in third spot ahead of Barrichello and both the McLarens.
The Race
At the start of the race, the Williams launch control system, which seems to have a slight edge over their rivals', allowed Ralf to get away faster than Michael, who made good use of the "one move" rule by chopping in front of his brother, forcing him to lift off the throttle in order to avoid contact. As usual in this situation, opinions varied from driver to driver on the ethical qualities of such a move, but the Ferrari driver got away with it, something that according to BMW insiders made Ralf furious.
"I saw Ralf on the inside and obviously I was not sure of the strategy they were on so I had to make sure I would be first in the first corner, otherwise I would be in trouble," the elder Schumacher explained after the race. "I used the maximum that the rules allow you, to move over once, and tighten up the line. I think that's the way you have to work unfortunately."
Unlike other years, the infamous Castrol S at the end of the straight did not see any incidents, except for Tarso Marques cutting across it, and all the drivers were able to make it past without problems. The only significant change in the order was Rubens Barrichello dropping back to seventh after a dismal start.
Up in front, the Schumacher brothers quickly began to edge away from Juan Pablo Montoya, who was followed by David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen and Jarno Trulli in the Jordan. By lap 7, Michael was leading Ralf with a 2.5 second advantage, benefitting from Michelin's lack of performance in the initial laps of their run. Coulthard, on a one-stop strategy, was already more than ten seconds behind the leader.
Within five laps, Ralf was only 1.7 seconds behind Michael, and even Montoya was now lapping quicker than the race leader. However, as in Canada, Ralf was stuck behind his brother, and he almost took the lead on lap 17 when Michael made an uncommon error and ran wide going into turn 5. Ralf tried the inside line, but Michael was quick to close the door, the World Champion not happy with the balance of his car on his first set of Bridgestones.
With Ralf unable to move ahead of his brother, Montoya quickly began to close on the the siblings, the Colombian flying around the German track, setting one fastest lap after another. Coulthard, meanwhile, could not keep up with the Williams and was now more than 20 seconds off the lead, with Hakkinen another 10 behind his Scot teammate, the Finn struggling badly with his first set of tyres. "I flatspotted my right front tyre before the chicane and experienced strong vibrations until my pitstop," said Hakkinen later.
By lap 27, Montoya's gap to the leaders was less than five seconds, the rookie setting what would be the fastest lap of the race - 1:18.354. It was one lap later when both the Schumachers came into the pits for the first time. The Ferrari crew did a better job and Michael retained the lead with a slightly bigger gap than before their stop. Montoya stopped one lap later.
Michael rejoined the race in the lead, while Ralf was unable to maintain his second place and came back out right behind Coulthard. But that was not the worst news for Ralf, who, when exiting the pitlane, put two wheels over the line separating the pit exit from the main straight, something that, as Frank Williams suggested afterwards, must have been noticed and reported by a rival team. "I was concentrating more on the traffic than on the line," said Ralf after the race.
Montoya came into the pits a lap later, rejoining behind his teammate, who was again unable to follow his brother despite having passed Coulthard for second place. Michael's lead was over four seconds on lap 33, with Coulthard and Montoya further back battling for third spot, the Colombian making a mistake and having to cut across the chicane.
"Rules are rules and you have to respect them," said Gerhard Berger after the race. "Ralf did make a mistake." Probably very few people, if any, remember a driver being penalised for such infringement, but a rule was indeed broken and there was nothing Williams could do about it.
After serving his penalty, Ralf rejoined the race in fourth place, very far behind Coulthard, who had made his only stop the previous lap. Ralf's penalty left Michael with a ten-second advantage over Montoya, but the German was now in control of the situation and he took things easy until he had to make his second stop, now at the same time as the Colombian. Both came in on lap 50, and Schumacher retained a clear lead over Montoya, who was probably thinking more about finishing the race than beating his rival.
Ralf made his second scheduled stop on lap 52, rejoining again behind Coulthard, who was now out of reach. Barrichello, who had moved up to fifth thanks to his one-stop strategy, was running behind Ralf, but the Brazilian made a mistake with eight laps to go and went off the track, although he did a good job to keep the car running and maintaining his position.
The final laps of the race went by quietly, with Montoya running faster than Schumacher but with the German clearly in control, scoring an easy fifth win of the season and his second consecutive win at the Nurburgring. The championship leader was pleased with his win, but felt sorry for his brother. "I am certainly delighted," Schumacher said. "Nothing can happen better than winning your home Grand Prix. We have had a superb weekend. It was obviously a hard decision for Ralf to get this stop-and-go penalty for, as I heard, just half a car passing the white line. It's quite a strong decision which destroyed his race."
A distant third was all Coulthard could achieve, the Scot seeing Schumacher moving further away in the Championship. A furious and frustrated Ralf finished fourth. "The whole race makes me furious," said Ralf, who finished ahead of Barrichello and Hakkinen. "First I was the fastest at the start, then there was that pitlane disaster, without which I could have won the race."
With only one week before the French Grand Prix, Ralf's anger will still be burning inside him. and he will certainly be looking for revenge. Hence, judging by Williams's current form, it is rather clear who will be the man to watch at Magny Cours.
During the recognition laps, Michael Schumacher's Ferrari stops (T-car) out on the circuit. The World Champion commandeers a BMW motor scooter and, waving to the crowd, rides back to the pits to take over his car. At the start of the parade lap Tarso Marques is slow away but as he is last on the grid it does not matter as he is starting last anyway.
Lap 7: Michael Schumacher has managed to build a small lead but the order is unchanged. At the tail of the field Marques retires.
Lap 10: In the midfield Luciano Burti has a small off but is still able to hold on to 20th place.
Lap 12: Ralf Schumacher begins to close the gap. At the tail of the field Burti pits and drops to the back of the field.
Lap 17: The gap comes down to under a second.
Lap 18: Michael makes a mistake in Turn 5 and slides wide. Ralf challenges for the lead but Michael manages to stay ahead.
Lap 21: The battle for the lead remains as before while thirteenth-placed Giancarlo Fisichella pits and drops to 20th place.
Lap 23: As Montoya closes slightly on the duelling Schumacher brothers. The order remains the same behind them although 15th placed Enrique Bernoldi pits and has a long stop in his Arrows. Jenson Button also stops.
Lap 24: Oliver Panis, running 17th, spins out of the race.
Lap 25: Sixteenth placed runner Fernando Alonso comes in for his first stop. He drops to 19th.
Lap 26: Jos Verstappen, running 13th in his Arrows, pits and has a slow pit stop. He rejoins 17th.
Lap 29: Montoya pits and so Michael Schumacher goes back into the lead. Juan Pablo rejoins fourth. Frentzen pits and drops from 11th to 14th.
Lap 30: Trulli pits from sixth place and drops back to 11th. Further back Irvine overtakes Raikkonen and moves up to ninth place. At the tail of the field Bernoldi pulls off and retires.
Lap 31: Ralf Schumacher overtakes Coulthard to take second place.
Lap 32: Barrichello overtakes Hakkinen to move to fifth. Ninth-placed Kimi Raikkonen pits and drops back to 14th.
Lap 33: Montoya has a moment and goes off but manages to rejoin without losing any places. Hakkinen stops and drops from sixth to 10th. Also stopping is eighth-placed Nick Heidfeld, who drops back to 14th.
Lap 37: Ralf Schumacher is given a 10-second stop-go penalty for crossing the white line. Sixth-placed Eddie Irvine stops and drops to 11th position.
Lap 38: Coulthard pits and drops from fourth to fifth.
Lap 39: Ralf Schumacher pits for his penalty and drops from second place to fourth.
Lap 42: Jean Alesi stops, dropping from 10th to 14th. Also stopping is Fisichella (for a second time). He drops from 15th to 17th.
Lap 43: Jacques Villeneuve, who has risen to sixth place, pits and drops back to 11th. Button stops for a second time and falls to the back of the field.
Lap 46: Verstappen stops for the second time and rejoins in 16th. Alonso also stops again and drops to the back of the field.
Lap 47: Alesi overtakes Heidfeld to move to 12th place.
Lap 49: Frentzen spins off. Burti stops for his second pit stop.
Lap 50: Schumacher and Montoya, separated by eight seconds, both pit and rejoin without losing their positions.
Lap 52: Ralf Schumacher comes in for his second stop and drops behind Coulthard.
Lap 54: Heidfeld pits and retires.
Lap 56: Burti overtakes Button to take 14th place.
Lap 59: Verstappen pulls off with a mechanical problem. Barrichello has a half spin but rejoins without losing fifth.
Lap 65: Alesi spins out of 11th position.
Lap 67: Michael Schumacher wins the race by 4.2 seconds from Montoya with Coulthard a distant third. Fourth place goes to Ralf Schumacher with Barrichello and Hakkinen completing the top six. Irvine is the only other un-lapped runner in seventh place.
There is usually a very thin line in Grand Prix racing, separating between the glory of victory and the bitterness of defeat, and at Sunday's European Grand Prix, that line was white and it separated the Nurburgring pitlane from the main straight. For Ralf Schumacher, crossing that line meant losing all chances to win a race which seemed set for a thrilling second part, while for his brother Michael it meant an easy drive home to score his fifth win of the season, the 49th of his career, and the 140th for his Ferrari team.
In race trim, the BMW-Williams-Michelin combination seems to be somewhat ahead of their Ferrari rivals, and only their slow pace on Michelin's first 'cold' laps seems to be stopping them from humiliating the opposition. It may well be too late for Ralf Schumacher to fight for the 2001 title, but if the team are able to keep their momentum going into next season, the younger Schumacher could easily follow his brother's footsteps to become the World Champion of 2002.
Having topped the time-sheets in final practice at the Nurburgring, Ralf Schumacher looked set to score the first pole position of his Formula One career in qualifying. However, it was again his brother Michael who spoiled his hopes and grabbed his seventh pole out of nine Grands Prix.
That was further confirmed when Hakkinen went for his second run and could only jump up to third, almost half a second behind Ralf, who would also complete his second attempt, improving over his previous best by more than a tenth. Montoya would follow suit seconds later, making it a provisional all-Williams front row by lapping one thousandth of a second quicker than Michael Schumacher.
In contrast, a delighted Schumacher did not even complete his final lap to score the 39th pole of his career, and vowed to avoid a repeat of the Canadian Grand Prix and at the same time end the "Nurburgring pole jinx" - no driver had won from pole since the new version of the German track returned to the calendar in 1995.
Pos. Driver Team Times
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:14.960 218.805 km/h
2. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:15.226 + 0.266
3. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.490 + 0.530
4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.622 + 0.662
5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:15.717 + 0.757
6. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:15.776 + 0.816
7. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:16.138 + 1.178
8. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:16.376 + 1.416
9. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.402 + 1.442
10. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.438 + 1.478
11. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:16.439 + 1.479
12. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:16.588 + 1.628
13. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:16.872 + 1.912
14. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:17.251 + 2.291
15. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:17.378 + 2.418
16. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:17.627 + 2.667
17. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:18.113 + 3.153
18. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:18.151 + 3.191
19. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:18.262 + 3.302
20. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:18.626 + 3.666
21. Alonso Minardi European (M) 1:18.630 + 3.670
22. Marques Minardi European (M) 1:18.689 + 3.729
Ralf Schumacher's prayers were answered on Sunday before the start of the race, as temperatures at the Nurburgring raised substantially to reach more than 30° Celsius. However, Lady Luck was still on his brother's side, whose spare car suffered a mechanical failure and stopped on the circuit during one of the installation laps before the pit lane was closed. The German was forced to, ironically, use a BMW scooter to return to the pits and climb inside his race car, all in a rush before the pitlane closed.
The elder Schumacher continued to extended his lead to around 3.5 seconds over Ralf after ten laps, at which point it was the Michelins began working at their best and, as in Canada, the Williams driver quickly began to gain on the Ferrari, setting a couple of fastest laps, and even breaking the track record for the first time on lap 15 with a 1:18.771.
Hakkinen made his scheduled stop on lap 33, after being overtaken with incredible ease by Barrichello, who was moving up the field after his disastrous start. When the race, and the season, reached its halfway point, Michael Schumacher's lead was some six seconds over Ralf, but the younger German would see his chances of victory vanish on lap 37, when the race officials announced the 10-second stop-go penalty for the Williams driver.
Montoya repeated his Spanish Grand Prix result, finishing in a brilliant second place. "It is a relief to finish second and to finish again," Montoya said after the race. "We have given away quite a few points and so I thought it would be better if I just take it easy and get to the end."
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h29:42.724
2. Montoya Williams BMW (M) + 4.217
3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) + 24.993
4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 33.345
5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 45.495
6. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) + 1:04.800
7. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 1:06.100
8. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1 Lap
9. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1 Lap
10. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1 Lap
11. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1 Lap
12. Burti Prost Acer (M) 2 Laps
13. Button Benetton Renault (M) 2 Laps
14. Alonso Minardi European (M) 2 Laps
15. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 3 Laps
Fastest Lap: J.Montoya, 1:18.354, lap 27
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 59
Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 55
Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 47
Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 45
Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 30
Panis BAR Honda (B) 24
Marques Minardi European (M) 8
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING, ROUND 8:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 68 1. Ferrari 94
2. Coulthard 44 2. McLaren 53
3 Barrichello 26 3. Williams 37
4. R.Schumacher 25 4. Sauber 15
5. Montoya 12 5. Jordan 13
6. Hakkinen 9 6. BAR 12
7. Heidfeld 8 7. Jaguar 5
8. Raikkonen 7 8. Prost 3
= Trulli 7 9. Benetton 1
= Villeneuve 7 = Arrows 1
11. Frentzen 6
12. Panis 5
13. Irvine 4
14. Alesi 3
15. Fisichella 1
= Verstappen 1
= de la Rosa 1
Pos Driver Team Lap Time
1. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 64 1:18.354
2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 63 1:18.498 + 0.144s
3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 66 1:18.537 + 0.183s
4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 64 1:18.612 + 0.258s
5. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 66 1:18.674 + 0.320s
6. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 66 1:18.883 + 0.529s
7. Burti Prost-Acer (M) 63 1:19.105 + 0.751s
8. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 66 1:19.273 + 0.919s
9. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 44 1:19.484 + 1.130s
10. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 65 1:19.737 + 1.383s
11. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 65 1:19.797 + 1.443s
12. Frentzen Jordan-Honda (B) 48 1:19.892 + 1.538s
13. Alesi Prost-Acer (M) 64 1:20.049 + 1.695s
14. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 63 1:20.069 + 1.715s
15. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 65 1:20.498 + 2.144s
16. Fisichella Benetton-Renault (M) 64 1:20.729 + 2.375s
17. Alonso Minardi-European (M) 63 1:20.937 + 2.583s
18. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 53 1:20.976 + 2.622s
19. Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech (B) 57 1:21.154 + 2.800s
20. Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech (B) 29 1:21.188 + 2.834s
21. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 24 1:21.314 + 2.960s
22. Marques Minardi-European (M) 8 1:23.778 + 5.424s
Pos Driver Team Time Lap
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 31.9 50
2. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 32.1 49
3. Fisichella Benetton-Renault (M) 32.2 21
4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 32.6 28
5. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 32.7 50
6. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 33.2 52
7. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 33.2 23
8. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 33.2 30
9. Alesi Prost-Acer (M) 33.4 42
10. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 33.4 44
11. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 33.6 43
12. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 33.6 29
13. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 33.7 43
14. Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech (B) 33.8 46
15. Fisichella Benetton-Renault (M) 33.8 42
16. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 33.9 28
17. Frentzen Jordan-Honda (B) 34.0 29
18. Alonso Minardi-European (M) 34.3 46
19. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 34.8 38
20. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 35.0 39
21. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 35.3 33
22. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 35.7 44
23. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 35.9 32
24. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 36.5 33
25. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 36.6 37
26. Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech (B) 36.8 26
27. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 38.6 12
28. Alonso Minardi-European (M) 40.8 25
29. Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech (B) 43.7 23
The European Grand Prix, Lap by Lap
Lap 1: At the start Ralf Schumacher is slightly faster off the line than his brother Michael and the Ferrari star moves across, edging Ralf towards the pitwall. In the first corner there are no major dramas except that Marques runs wide and bounces across the sandtrap. Michael Schumacher leads Ralf with Juan-Pablo Montoya third ahead of David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen. Jarno Trulli is sixth ahead of a slow-starting Rubens Barrichello. Eighth place belongs to Nick Heidfeld with his Sauber team mate Kimi Raikkonen behind him.
Lap 28: The two leaders both pit. Montoya takes the lead while Michael Schumacher emerges ahead of Ralf once again. As he exits the pits Ralf moves across too soon and crosses the white line. He finds himself behind David Coulthard's McLaren. Further back Eddie Irvine overtakes Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 10th place.
Lap 44: The last of the one-stop runners come into the pits: Barrichello drops from third to fifth and Pedro de la Rosa from seventh to ninth. Further back Jarno Trulli pulls off with a mechanical problem.
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