Hockenheim: Schneider strikes

The rain began to fall as the cars lined up on the grid, with Schneider sweeping into an immediate lead ahead of team-mate Jean Alesi, who made a brilliant start from row two. Martin Tomczyk (Audi) held third for half a lap until Marcel Fassler (Mercedes) got past him.

The rain fell heavier, sending many scurrying to the pits as the Safety Car appeared. Those that didn't pit included Fassler and Christijan Albers (Mercedes), who would be able to count their later stops for wet rubber as a mandatory stop.

At the restart, Schneider led Alesi, Laurent Aiello (Audi) and Tomczyk. The race was static at the front until the track dried out and everyone dived into the pits for slicks. Aiello's car obviously handled better on dry tyres and he pushed Alesi in an entertaining battle, that included a wheel-banging session. Aiello got ahead, but promptly spun, although he would get ahead of Alesi for keeps later.

As the top three came in for third stops, Fassler - who had been flying through the midfield - didn't have to, thanks to his delayed earlier stop, and this effectively gave him second place ahead of Aiello. Despite Laurent's best efforts, he couldn't get past the Merc, but at least gave Audi a place on the podium.

Alesi took fourth ahead of Albers (who benefited like Fassler from a late first stop), while Peter Dumbreck led the Opel charge in sixth, ahead of Timo Scheider (Opel) and Mattias Ekstrom (Audi).