1996 Spanish Grand Prix
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Pit stop
Diniz is in - but it appears that Barrichello has decided to stay out for a bit longer...
Schumacher is now coming up to put a lap on former F3 rival Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
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Jordan's mechanics look like they're ready to bring Barrichello in for his stop. Ligier are also out to bring Diniz in.
Barrichello, currently running in second, is enjoying the rather damp climate in Spain
Alesi makes the undercut work! He overhauls Villeneuve - finally! - to take a net second place. Barrichello is yet to stop.
Pit stop
That's Villeneuve in - and Barrichello had absolutely carved into the Williams driver's advantage. Great driving from the Jordan driver.
Williams' pitcrew is readying up to collect Villeneuve - who is still running in second place, and is coming up to lap Diniz.
All of those stops have put Barrichello up to third place.
Verstappen was quite close to Frentzen earlier on, but Frentzen has crept out well ahead of the Dutch driver.
Pit stop
Berger is now in from third place, for fresh fuel and tyres. Frentzen and Verstappen also follow suit.
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Alesi did indeed it - and it was a lengthy 11.9s stop. He'll be one-stopping then, reappearing in seventh place on the road.
Pit stop
And that's Benetton readying up for a stop, that'll be for Alesi then.
Back on the road, Alesi is STILL tracking Villeneuve, but making no inroads into the '95 Indy 500 winner at all.
As comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner released England's Euro '96 song - Three Lions - only yesterday, it's particularly ironic that Hill, Herbert and Brundle have thrown it away, yes they've blown it away.
But we know they can play.
But we know they can play.
Schumacher has re-lapped Hakkinen, and will shortly be on the back of Verstappen too at this rate.
There's Hill on the pit wall, checking in on how Villeneuve is getting on. He's had a bit of a nightmare, and will be hoping his team-mate won't eat into his title lead too much...
Alesi has been stuck behind Villeneuve for a very long time - he doesn't seem quite as eager to pass the Canadian driver as Schumacher was at the start of the race.
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The order after 25 laps: 1. Schumacher, 2. Villeneuve, 3. Alesi, 4. Berger, 5. Barrichello, 6. Frentzen, 7. Verstappen, 8. Hakkinen, 9. Diniz
Schumacher's pitstop was very quick - you won't get much quicker than a 7.2s
A very quick stop there - a 7.2s stop for Schumacher. So he'll probably be two-stopping, we think.
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And the Ferrari crew gets ready, presumably to accept Schumacher for new tyres and a fresh glug of fuel. He's 37s clear of Villeneuve, so he'll definitely get out in the lead - and he could probably go to the end if there's enough fuel.
By our reckoning, Verstappen is next to be lapped - formerly Schumacher's team-mate at Benetton two years ago.
Hakkinen is, as we predicted, about to get put a lap down. Schumacher clears the Finnish driver at Turn 5 - his favourite corner today.
Crash
There's a spin for Herbert! He goes off the road at Turn 2 - and that's the race over for the Sauber driver.
Schumacher is continuing to put the field to the sword - he's lapped everyone up lower than ninth place. McLaren's Mika Hakkinen is the next driver expecting to be lapped.
The battle for sixth - Frentzen leads Verstappen in the current hunt for points.
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Brundle's out! He stops at the exit of the pitlane - and the gold Jordan's afternoon has been tarnished by the weather.
Look at the gap! Schumacher is 20s clear of Villeneuve - 20!
More spins than a CD in your portable player today - Salo is next to rotate in the rain. He manages to return to the road - albeit rather Salo-ly.
And Diniz is off! The Ligier driver manages to keep the car going and extricates himself from the clutches of Turn 5.
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Verstappen spins! He does a complete 360-degree spin to save that - I doubt you'll ever see that again! Great save from the Dutchman.
Villeneuve's laps are currently in the 1m49s - compared to Schumacher's 1m45s. Those are some very big gaps...
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Schumacher's pitboard shows that the two-time champion is 10 seconds clear of Villeneuve - if he can see it, of course. Alesi is all over the Canadian now.
There's Verstappen in seventh, ahead of Herbert - the Arrows driver is having a very good day out there.
Stopwatch
And Schumacher winds the pace down to a 1m45.517s. In this weather, that's very quick indeed.
In the lower reaches of the points, Jordan's Rubens Barrichello is currently fifth, a few seconds clear of Sauber's Heinz-Harald Frentzen - two very talented individuals who will no doubt be champions themselves one day.
Stopwatch
Schumacher also posts a 1m46.543s - with a clear track, he seems unstoppable.
Schumacher lets Villeneuve drift wide, and does a carbon-copy of his move on Alesi. Lovely stuff.
Here's the Schumacher move; he does exactly what he did to Alesi a few laps ago and took advantage of Villeneuve drifting wide at Turn 5.
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And that's Schumacher in the lead! A punch to the gut for the Williams team in a matter of seconds; Schumacher passes Villeneuve to slot into first place.
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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