BULLETIN No 4

RACE FACTS AND INCIDENTS

Michael Schumacher goes to the grid in the spare car but otherwise there are no problems until the field sets off on the final parade lap. Rubens Barrichello is left behind because of a gearbox problem. The Ferrari team cannot start the car and it is pushed into the pitlane. The car never starts the race. Also missing are the two Minardis which have been withdrawn because of Mark Webber's rear wing failure in the warm-up session.

* Lap 1: At the start of the race Michael Schumacher goes into the lead from his brother Ralf. Juan-Pablo Montoya is third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who drives around the outside of Jenson Button at the first corner. Behind then David Coulthard is sixth with Jarno Trulli seventh and the two Saubers, Nick Heidfeld ahead of Felipe Massa. At the end of the first lap Michael has a lead of 1.5 seconds.

* Lap 2: Schumacher extends his lap to 2.2 seconds while the order is unchanged.

* Lap 3: As Schumacher continues to pull away from the field there is drama for local hero Pedro de la Rosa, who spins out of the race. Mika Salo pits and rejoins.

* Lap 4: At the start of the lap Kimi Raikkonen's rear wing broke off. The Finn manages to avoid an accident but drops back. He pits and retires. This moves Button to fourth place, Coulthard to fifth and Trulli to sixth.

* Lap 5: Michael Schumacher's lead is out to four seconds. At the back of the field Giancarlo Fisichella retires with a technical problem.

* Lap 11: Schumacher's lead is out to over 10 seconds. At the back of the field Takuma Sato goes off in the second Jordan and retires.

* Lap 23: Schumacher's dominant run has resulted in a lead of over 20 seconds when the first pit stops begin. The first frontrunner to stop is Trulli who drops from sixth to 11th. Also stopping is 12th placed Jacques Villeneuve and 13th placed Allan McNish.

* Lap 24: Ralf Schumacher and Button stop and fall out of the top six. Ralf rejoins in seventh place and Button in eighth. Also stopping are Olivier Panis, Enrique Bernoldi and Salo.

* Lap 25: Second placed Montoya comes into the pits and drops back to seventh.

* Lap 26: Schumacher pits but is able to rejoin while still ahead of the field. Coulthard has yet to stop and is second while fourth-placed Massa stops and falls back to eighth. At the same time Heinz-Harald Frentzen pits in his Arrows. He re-emerges ahead of Panis. Also stopping is Eddie Irvine in 10th place.

* Lap 27: Third-placed Heidfeld pits and drops back to seventh.

* Lap 29: Coulthard pits and drops back from second to fourth. At the same time Ralf Schumacher goes off and damages the front wing of the car and has to pit for repairs. He drops from third position to 13th.

* Lap 30: The order settles down with Michael Schumacher 23 seconds clear of Montoya. There is a smaller gap back to Button but he is under pressure from Coulthard. Behind them there is Trulli with Heidfeld seventh, Massa eighth, Panis ninth and Frentzen 10th. Then comes Enrique Bernoldi under pressure from Villeneuve. Behind them are McNish, Ralf Schumacher, Irvine and Salo.

* Lap 34: Coulthard overtakes Button at the first corner.

* Lap 36: Button is clearly in trouble and lets Trulli ahead

* Lap 37: Villeneuve overtakes Bernoldi for 10th place.

* Lap 38: Bernoldi pits and rejoins.

* Lap 40: Ralf Schumacher stops again and is given a new nose. Bernoldi rejoins but retires at the end of the following lap.

* Lap 41: Irvine disappears with a technical problem.

* Lap 42: The second pit stops begin with Button and Heidfeld the first to come in.

* Lap 43: Trulli and Panis also pit but the Frenchman retires as he accelerates out of the pitlane.

* Lap 44: Massa, Frentzen and McNish all pit.

* Lap 45: Montoya pits. The lollipop man signals the car to go before the refuelling is done. He realises the problem and tries to stop Montoya but his foot is run over by the Colombian. Montoya stops and the mechanics release the signaller's foot from beneath the front left tyre. Montoya then departs. He is still in second place. Villeneuve and Salo both pit as well but without drama.

* Lap 46: Coulthard pits.

* Lap 47: The leader pits and rejoins in the lead by more than 40 seconds. Behind him is Montoya with Coulthard, Trulli, Heidfeld, Button and Massa completing the top six. Frentzen is the last man unlapped in eighth place.

* Lap 56: Button has held off both Massa and Frentzen for nine laps but eventually pulls over and lets them overtake.

* Lap 57: Trulli's Renault begins to slow and he is overtaken for fourth place by Heidfeld.

* Lap 58: Villeneuve passes the struggling Button for eighth.

* Lap 61: Trulli falls behind Massa and Frentzen. Button drops behind McNish.

* Lap 62: Villeneuve passes Trulli and on the same lap Button pulls off and retires.

* Lap 63: Trulli pits and retires.

* Lap 65: Michael Schumacher completes a completely dominant victory - his 57th win. Montoya is second with Coulthard third, Heidfeld fourth, Massa fifth and Frentzen sixth, scoring the first point of the year for Arrows. After the chequered flag both Ralf Schumacher and Mika Salo stop with technical problems but this does not affect their finishing positions.