The race was packed with dramas from start to finish as changing weather conditions threw many of the teams into disarray. Following home Michael Schumacher was team mate Rubens Barrichello, who had charged up from the back of the grid to give Ferrari their fourth 1-2 finish of the season.

From the lights Michael Schumacher challenged pole man Juan Pablo Montoya, the pair locked together as the rain started to fall. They were tussling over the lead together until Schumacher got the better of the Williams driver after they had stopped for intermediate tyres and with the Bridgestone's working much more effectively, when Montoya ran wide of lap 16 at the Abbey chicane, the Ferrari driver was through.

With Ross Brawn calling the tyre and pit strategy exactly right, Schumacher was never again threatened and cruised to a comfortable victory. Meanwhile team mate Rubens Barrichello had stalled on the parade lap and after starting from the rear of the grid, he shot through the field making maximum use of the Bridgestone intermediates, cruising past Montoya into second place on lap 19.

Montoya however did not give up, keeping the Ferrari in his sights until after their final pitstop he was able to jump Barrichello on the Ferrari driver's slow out lap and regain second place. It did not last long, two laps later Barrichello, using his car's superior traction was through, Montoya dropping back to eventually run in 15 seconds behind Barrichello.

Further back BAR scored their first points of the season. Taking advantage of the superior Bridestone intermediate compound, Jaques Villeneuve came home fourth ahead of team mate Oliver Panis, who fended off a large charge by Nick Heidfeld, the Sauber driver having to settle for the final point.

McLaren had a dreadful afternoon, the ineffective Michelin wet tyres, a pitstop when the team were not ready for him blamed on radio problems, and several spins saw David Coulthard wind up back in 10th place, while team mate Kimi Raikkonen suffered an engine failure after running as high as third early on.

Rubens Barrichello was happy with a front row position after a difficult session. His first flying lap was ruined when Jenson Button's Renault engine detonated in front of him and his second run had to be aborted when his seatbelts came loose.

Ralf Schumacher lined up fourth ahead of the Mclaren pair. Kimi Raikkonen, using the spare car after suffering engine problems, got ahead of his more experienced team mate David Coulthard in the closing seconds of the session. Best of the rest was Jarno Trulli's Renault with Jaques Villeneuve giving BAR some optimism by lining up 9th on the grid.

Alex Yoong missed out on the 107% cut by 0.2 seconds and the stewards deemed he should not start, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen lined up 16th for the financially troubled Arrows team, a last gasp reprieve seeing them take part in qualifying, the team having had to sit out free practice after Cosworth held back their engines.