Herbert triumphs in European GP

The British driver inherited the lead on lap 49 after Ralf Schumacher suffered a puncture to rob his Williams of certain victory.

Jarno Trulli (Prost) pipped Herbert's team-mate Rubens Barrichello to finish second.

Herbert said, 'I am just gobsmacked with this result .This is the payback for all the bad luck I have had this year.

'All the other drivers risked grooved tyres and I stayed on wets and it paid off in the end.

'I was coming in and I saw a black cloud and I said 'wets' on the radio and luckily it was the right call. There was one shower that kept them going to the end.'

The first start was aborted because Alex Zanardi lined up a row further back than he should have, causing other cars behind him to do the same.

The second start was marred by a horrific accident involving Pedro Diniz and Alex Wurz.

Diniz's Sauber flipped onto its roof, but the Brazilian escaped serious injury.

Mika Hakkinen finished fifth after fighting his way up the field after dropping back following McLaren's decision to opt for rain tyres early on in the race.

Eddie Irvine was seventh, after losing time when his Ferrari mechanics were caught unaware and did not prepare his right rear tyre during his first pit-stop.

David Coulthard crashed out on lap 38, shortly after the rain started, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen retired five laps earlier with acceleration trouble.

Reflecting on his best-ever Grand Prix finish, Jarno Trulli said, 'I am very pleased with this result - the best of my career - and I had an exciting fight with Rubens for second place towards the end but I had local knowledge that helped me beat him.'

Meanwhile, third placed Rubens Barrichello said afterwards, 'I wanted to give Jackie [Stewart] this first win for the team but I am very happy for Johnny.

'We both took a gamble and it worked out for him. I nearly went on wets too but I was staring at a clear sky and couldn't believe it would rain.'