Report: Schumacher wins yet again

Schumacher inherited the lead with 19 laps of the race remaining after Montoya pitted for a late 'splash and dash' fuel stop. The Colombian rejoined just over eight seconds behind the world champion, but he took 1.2s out of Schumacher's lead on his first flying lap. However, any chance of a grandstand finish went up in smoke as the Williams coasted across the line at the start of lap 57.

From the start of the race Montoya had looked a likely winner. He made a great start to lead into the first corner, although he could do nothing to prevent Rubens Barrichello's two-stopping Ferrari from sprinting past him on the drag into the first corner at the start of lap two. Barrichello, who passed his team-mate into the first corner at the start, eked out a lead but Montoya matched his pace to within a few tenths.

However, when the officials decided that a Safety Car period was needed to remove Jacques Villeneuve's stricken BAR from a seemingly innocuous position on the exit of Turn 12, Montoya darted into the pits for an out of sync pitstop. Only 15 laps had been completed at the time and it transpired that he would have to make a further stop before the end of the race.

Montoya rejoined in fifth spot, behind Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, who had been duelling since the start of the race. When the Safety Car pulled off on lap 18, Raikkonen was caught unawares, allowing the Ferrari's to pull out a gap of over a second and leaving the Finn to stave off the attentions of the two Williams. Coming into the final chicane at the end of that lap, both Raikkonen and Ralf out-braked themselves, and as they struggled to get back on the power a grateful Montoya took full advantage and dived into third place.

That became second when Barrichello made the first of his two stops on lap 30. The Brazilian dropped to and the lead he lost under the Safety Car would ultimately deny him a second place finish.

At the head of the field Michael was extending his lead at a healthy rate as the fuel load lightened. Montoya was over a second a lap slower, but was just close enough to inherit the lead when Schumacher made his one and only stop on lap 38. The Ferrari mechanics took care to clean out debris that had built up in the car's sidepods, making his stop a less than spritely 11.6s.

Once in the lead, Montoya was able to pull away as Schumacher battled to get the best from his new tyres and a heavier car. The gap had increased to over 10 seconds by the time of Montoya's final pitstop. It was not enough to retain the lead, but he was still close enough to make a fight of it. His efforts would be in vain tough, as a tell-tale plume of white smoke from the rear of the FW24 signalled his second retirement in as many races.

A miserable day Williams was capped by a series of pitstops dramas for Ralf Schumacher. The German spent all of the first half a the race tucked up behind Raikkonen's car, unable to find a way by the McLaren. A quick pitstop seemed his best chance of gaining ground, but when the mechanics had trouble with his refuelling rig and were forced to switch to the back up, time was ticking away. To add to his woes, Ralf was called back into the pits a lap later as the team had to top the car up with yet more fuel.

He eventually returned to the race in eighth, which became seventh after Montoya's retirement. A late race battle with Jarno Trulli for sixth came to nothing and Williams conceded yet more ground to Ferrari in the constructors' standings.

Williams loss was McLaren's gain. The Safety Car period played into the hands of the one-stoppers and David Coulthard stayed out longer than any other driver before pitting. This tactic enable the Scot to move ahead of his team-mate during the stops, and a series of quick laps after he rejoined gave him a further position when Barrichello pitted for the second time. The former British F3 adversaries put up a good fight for what would ultimately be second place, with both drivers taking to the run-off at the final chicane as they left their braking to the very last minute. It was the closest the Ferrari came to taking the place and Coulthard is now just one point off second place in the championship.

For the third race in a row Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth for Jordan after a solid performance at a track where he always excels. Trulli added to the points he picked up at Monaco with sixth. Takuma Sato kept it away from the walls to finish 10th.

The championship returns to Europe for the European GP at Nurburgring in two weeks' time. It's a track where Michael Schumacher has always gone well, and another win for the German would make his fifth world championship a near certainty.