At the lights David Coulthard pressurised Rubens Barrichello for second place, but the Ferrari drivers led the pack out of the first bend snd then disappeared into the distance.

Coulthard retired after seven laps with a throttle fault, leaving McLaren honour to be upheld by Kimi Raikkonen who closed the season as he had opened it in Australia by taking the final podium slot. Kimi Rakkonen however only inherited third place in the closing stages when Ralf Schumacher, here competing in his 100th Grand Prix, suffered engine failure while in a secure third place.

Juan Pablo Montoya ran a quiet race to finish a distant fourth, ahead of local hero Takuma Sato who claimed his first ever points by taking fifth place in his Jordan-Honda, cheered all the way by the Japanese crowd. Jenson Button claimed the final point in his last race for Renault.

Schumacher's 11th victory of the season was a record, and in a season of records, he claimed more in Japan: the first driver ever to finish every race of the season on the podium and his 144 points total the highest ever, by a considerable margin. To put this in perspective, out of a maximum of 170 points possible, he only dropped 26 points all season.