San Marino GP: Ralf triumphs for Williams!

The victory, the first for Williams since Jacques Villeneuve's at the Nurburgring in 1997, also made the Schumachers the first brothers in F1 history to have both won a Grand Prix.

After a great getaway, with only the hint of a wheel on the grass as he went down the inside of both McLarens, the German led from the first corner to the chequered flag, breaking the McLaren-Mercedes/Ferrari dominance of the top step of the podium that has lasted since Heinz-Harald Frentzen won the Italian Grand Prix in September 1999.

Pole-sitter David Coulthard tucked into second behind the Williams and pushed hard in the opening laps, but the Williams package proved decisively stronger on the day. Both drivers pitted twice, but the BMW-powered machine was like a train and it was never in doubt that Ralf would triumph for the first time.

"Luckily David gave me the space at the start," said Ralf, "but it was a clean start. I couldn't believe I was in the lead, but I had to push a little bit when I thought he was beginning to gain on me."

"I moved a little before the start, so I had to check myself a little," recalled Coulthard. "I thought I was going to be swamped then, but Mika must have been slow away, so I wasn't.

"I was interested to know how quick he'd be in the race itself and I found out..."

After the first round of pit stops, with the gap hovering around the 10s mark, Ralf was in total control and was able to ease off in the closing laps, post-second stop, to take the chequered flag 4.3s ahead of the McLaren.

"It felt like a pretty long race," smiled the German. "The Michelin's a great tyre, but I think we've already seen that."

Team boss Sir Frank Williams added: "I feel very good about this - everybody in the team deserves this. Ralf triumphed magnificently. He's a winner and he'll make his mark across the rest of the year."

Coulthard's second moved the Scot into the joint lead of the drivers' standings, on 26 points, after Michael Schumacher finished an ultimately disappointing weekend with a retirement. The world champion's Ferrari was off the ultimate pace, then suffered a front left puncture as the result of an unspecified mechanical problem.

"It wasn't a great weekend all in all," said Schumacher Sr. "The start wasn't great, then I had a gear problem and then the mechanical problem that caused the puncture. Ross [Brawn, technical director] told me to stop and I was pretty glad to actually, because the brakes seemed damaged."

Rubens Barrichello, who had passed Schumacher when the gearbox problem intervened, saved some face for Italy with third for Ferrari on its home tarmac. But he was never truly a factor after the team banked on harder compound Bridgestones and a different pit stop strategy to get them in among the frontrunners.

"It was difficult to overtake here and I lost a lot of time behind Mika Hakkinen," he said, "but it's good to come from so far back [sixth on the grid] and still finish on the podium."

An out-of-sorts Mika Hakkinen was fourth for McLaren, ahead of the Jordan-Hondas of Jarno Trulli and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, but the top two aside, nobody else was really in the frame at Imola.

Ralf's team mate Juan Pablo Montoya looked set for a healthy points finish, but ultimately succumbed to a clutch problem, while Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen showed himself capable of running with the works Ferraris before throwing his car off at Tosa.

Nick Heidfeld finished seventh for Sauber, ahead of Olivier Panis in the sole-surviving BAR-Honda after Jacques Villeneuve's engine detonated after half distance.

Both Jaguars also ran into mechanical problems, with Eddie Irvine suffering a smoky exit and Luciano Burti finishing two laps off the pace. And the Benetton-Renaults? Well, 12th for Button and a retirement for Giancarlo Fisichella, who was classified a lowly 16th, one spot ahead of Villeneuve.

So, the status quo is broken, but F1's newest winner still remains equivocal over his chances of taking on the big two teams for the duration of the season.

"We have been pretty strong for the whole of the season so far," he said, "but now we've got the good luck too. We have a great package, so we'll keep working and just doing our best."

The next race, the Spanish Grand Prix, takes place in Barcelona on April 29. It's the first race where traction control is allowed back legally and although Williams-BMW has already given the status quo a huge shake-up, one wonders what other surprises are in store in an increasingly open season of F1.

For full race results, click here.