Rubens Barrichello won an action-packed British Grand Prix, fighting back from early race dramas, to record a stunning and emotional race win at Silverstone. The Brazilian started from pole but was swallowed up at the start by Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen, Barrichello later blaming the Renault driver for dawdling on the formation lap and causing his tyres to cool as he waited for the green light.

He lost further time when a protester dashed onto the race track and caused the safety car to be deployed. However Ferrari's number two fought back brilliantly to climb up to third behind the race leading Toyota of Christiano Da Matta and Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren, and although he was unable to capitalise on a series of fastest laps during his final pitstop, on lap 39 he muscled past the Finn at 150mph going into Bridge and stormed away to his first British Grand Prix victory.

The earlier safety car period, the second of the afternoon, one had previous been required on lap 6 to collect debris after David Coulthard's head protecter flew off, saw Michael Schumacher out manoevered as the field dashed for the pits. The German rejoined way back in thirteenth position and struggled for lap after lap to pass Jaques Villeneuve's obstinate BAR-Honda. However, with title rival Raikkonen making a late error to allow Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams-BMW into second, a tenacious drive to an eventual fourth place limited the Ferrari driver's title disadvantage to a solitary point.

On the podium it was an emotional and delighted Rubens Barrichello, while Michael Schumacher was reasonably pleased to keep his championship lead to seven points. 

Behind the top five came David Coulthard, the Scot having repeatedly fought back after dramas, the early race leader Jarno Trulli and Toyota's sensational mid-race leader Christiano Da Matta, while the final point was claimed by Jenson Button who twice battled up from the rear of the grid in the most action-packed and dramatic Grand Prix of the year.

FERRARI

Fifth win of the season, the first with Rubens Barrichello. It is Ferrari's thirteenth British Grand Prix victory, the second in a row. The Scuderia has now won a total of 164 Grands Prix from 681starts. It was the sixth win of Rubens' F1 career. 

Jean Todt: 

"It was a thrilling race! After a man ran onto the track on lap eleven, which forced us to bring both cars in to the pits together on the following lap, we found ourselves with Rubens eighth and Michael fifteenth. Both our drivers drove brilliantly and thanks to a great performance level from our engine, chassis and Bridgestone tyre package, they staged an exceptional climb through the field. Rubens has been quick all weekend, with Friday qualifying his only difficult moment. I am very happy for him." 

"Thanks to his fourth place, Michael has limited the damage in the Drivers' classification and along with his team-mate's ten points the team has extended its lead in the Constructors.' This was a great result which shows how well Ferrari reacted, along with its technical partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell and how much work was done after a few difficult races. We know the road ahead is still very long and the season is very closely contested. We will do all we can to maintain our lead in both championships." 

Rubens Barrichello: 

"This is a fantastic feeling. I came in for a lot of criticism after Canada and France and I feel this performance answers my critics. The race was hard work but entertaining. I had a great car today, the result of all the work we have done and the Bridgestones were phenomenal. My engineers did a great job to give me such a good car so that I could attack and overtake. I lost two places at the start because I had to wait a long time for Trulli to come to the grid and my tyres lost temperature and had no grip. But I knew I would be okay once the tyres came to temperature." 

"My passing move on Kimi was very close and I almost lost my nose. It was an aggressive but fair fight. The team is now working in the right direction to make our car even better and the championship is always open. I always leave my emotions behind when I get into the race car, but it is impossible for me not to want to cry when I hear the Brazilian anthem on the podium. It makes me think of my family and my father who sold his car so I could start racing. Your last win is always your best and this once certainly ranks highly." 

Michael Schumacher: 

"It was an interesting and very busy race. To be honest, it was difficult to have an overview of what happened from the cockpit. Waiting in pit lane behind Rubens for the first pit stop meant we both lost a bit of time and we lost some more as the mechanics had to wait for a gap in the traffic to let Rubens out. But it was definitely the right decision to come in and wait rather than do another lap. Rubens drove a perfect race with some outstanding passing moves to fight his way through the field. He deserves the victory and I am happy for him. As for myself, fourth is not too bad considering what happened and in terms of the championship, my lead over Kimi has only been reduced by one point." 

Ross Brawn: 

"An exceptional race! Today showed that overtaking is currently possible in Formula 1. It was incredible. We had a slightly difficult double pit stop shortly after the start, from which we did not emerge in particularly good shape, especially with Michael. Both drivers kept a cool head and started moving up the order, with a great performance." 

"Rubens has been very competitive all weekend, as he was here in the test after the Canadian Grand Prix. We had a few difficulties in the last few races, but today, along with Bridgestone, we delivered a strong response. The rest of the season will be difficult, but we have shown what we can do and that we are capable of beating the opposition." 

Rubens Barrichello: 1st  1:28.37.554 60 laps  chassis 230 
Michael Schumacher 4th  + 25.648 60 laps  chassis 231