The Grand Prix was won by the Williams-BMW of German Ralf Schumacher, who commented that it was "almost a perfect race".

The race was followed by a decision by the FIA to give stewards more powers over the punishments of drivers who are involved in incidents which are deemed "avoidable".

The Ferraris were fastest in the first session, although this time the closest non-Ferrari driver, which was Räikkönen, was under a second behind them.

Before the parade lap, the Arrows of Heinz-Harald Frentzen stalled on the grid for the second time in succession.

This left Barrichello in the lead with Schumacher's Ferrari, minus a front-wing, in second place and his brother Ralf in third.

The second lap saw a collision between the two Jordans of Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato, when the latter ran into the back of the former.

This left the Ferrari and the Williams to battle for the lead, albeit on different strategies, with Barrichello on two stops and Ralf on one-stop.

Montoya got past Button, despite the Brit's defensive driving and moved up into second behind his teammate.