Schumacher wins British Grand Prix

Before this race, Schumacher had only won one British GP - and then in controversial circumstances as he took the chequered flag in the pits. This victory was altogether more satisfactory, however, although it did mirror the 1998 event in terms of unpredictable weather conditions which produced a mesmerising race.

The action started on the dummy grid, as Rubens Barrichello stalled away his front row starting spot in his Ferrari and was forced to start from the back of the grid. "I selected first gear for the formation lap and the engine just stopped," he said.

It was spitting with rain as poleman Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams) made a great start to head Schumacher brothers Michael and Ralf respectively, as Felipe Massa drove on to the grass trying to pass BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and spun his Sauber at the first corner.

Montoya opened up a 1.6sec lead in the opening laps, but Michael was soon on his case as the rain steadily increased in its intensity, playing into the hands of his Bridgestone tyres. Barrichello, meanwhile, was carving his way through the pack and was up to eighth after 10 laps.

A heavy rain shower sent everyone scurrying pitward on lap 13, except for McLaren's David Coulthard, who gambled on his dry weather tyres. But that didn't pay off, and he soon tumbled down the order.

Montoya held his lead after pitting for a shallow wet tyre, but his Michelin rubber was much less effective than Bridgestone's wares in these conditions, and his 5.5sec lead dwindled in a matter of minutes. Schumacher dived ahead when Montoya ran wide at Abbey, and raced away. Barrichello, who had moved up to third in the meantime, followed suit by sweeping past Montoya at Woodcote for second a few laps later.

"They were two seconds a lap quicker and I couldn't do anything," said Montoya. "I pushed really hard but it was impossible."

Although no-one was expecting the Ferraris to race each other, Barrichello got the gap to Schumacher down to less than 10secs at half distance, but lost a heap of time when he spun at Abbey on lap 31. That put him back in the clutches of Montoya when the track dried in the third quarter of the race, and the Colombian leapt ahead with a fantastic move at Priory on lap 41.

But Rubens fought back with an equally smart pass at Copse five laps later to restore the Ferrari one-two. "The battle with Montoya was quite fair and I enjoyed it," grinned Barrichello.

As Schumacher crossed the line to take the chequered flag for the seventh time this season, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn told him over the radio: "Well done, you've broken the jinx of Silverstone." Michael replied: "With the weather being so unpredictable, I want to thank you for your help, otherwise I might not have made the right decisions today."

Montoya's team-mate Ralf Schumacher suffered a dreadful day in the pits. He was passed early on by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, dropping down to fourth, but he lost time in his first stop when the team were not ready for him, and then lost even more ground when his refuelling rig failed to operate during his second stop. He eventually finished eighth.

Another to suffer a refuelling problem was Coulthard, but his race had already been ruined by a nightmarish sequence of events that started when he stayed out on dry tyres in the rain and dropped to 11th. He then stopped when the team weren't ready for him, although team boss Ron Dennis blamed this on outside sources: "The TV channel was open to our pit system, which made life difficult. It created the miscommunication when Kimi thought he should come in, and David too."

Coulthard's team-mate Raikkonen also made a phantom stop, but was lying 10th when his engine blew on the exit of Club corner.

British American Racing hadn't scored a point before Silverstone, but both Villeneuve and Olivier Panis finished in the top six thanks to measured drives and Bridgestone tyres. The similarly-shod Arrows of Heinz-Harald Frentzen would probably have finished ahead of them, however, but his engine blew just as he was about to grab sixth from Ralf Schumacher on lap 20.

Frentzen's loss, however, was BAR chief David Richards' gain: "There is always a bit of luck in motorsport, but that result was about team work, from the drivers to the pit crew to the man in the helicopter telling us what the weather was doing."

Nick Heidfeld grabbed the final point on offer for Sauber, although Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella ran him close in the final stages. With Ralf Schumacher finishing eighth, the Williams duo were the only Michelin runners in the top nine places.

Besides Coulthard, who spun at Bridge on his way to finishing two laps down in 10th, the rest of the Britpack also endured a miserable day. Eddie Irvine spun his Jaguar into the tyres at Stowe, while Allan McNish failed to get of the startline when he encountered a clutch problem: "The car started to creep, so I hit the brakes and it stalled the engine. I'm extremely disappointed."

Jenson Button leapt to seventh from 12th on the grid at the start, but lost time in the rain-affected segment of the race was running a lowly 12th when he retired with a handful of laps remaining: "The front left-hand wheel was moving around, so I came in. We decided not to risk it just to get to the finish."

Schumacher can wrap up his fifth World Championship at the next race, the French GP, if he finishes six points ahead of either Williams driver. Barrichello's runner-up spot moves him up to second in the championship, but he is not allowed, of course, to beat Michael in the title race.