At the start Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Tarso Marques both stall. The start is aborted and Frentzen is sent to the back of the grid for the race. At the start of the second parade lap pole man Juan Pablo Montoya is unable to get away and so has to join the field at the back.

* Lap 1: The race begins with Ralf Schumacher taking the lead from his brother Michael. Rubens Barrichello is third with a fast-starting Giancarlo Fisichella up to fourth. Jacques Villeneuve is fifth with Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard behind him and Jenson Button is up to eighth from 15th on the grid. On the run up the hill to Les Combes Michael Schumacher pulls out and passes his brother to take the lead. Both McLarens are also able to overtake Villeneuve. At the end of the lap Michael Schumacher is 2.1 seconds ahead of Ralf, who is under pressure from Barrichello. At the back of the field Montoya moves up to 17th.

* Lap 2: Michael Schumacher increases his lead to 3.4 seconds. The order remains the same down at the front but Jean Alesi moves up to 10th by passing Pedro de la Rosa and Olivier Panis. Also making progress is Montoya, who passes Jos Verstappen for 16th.

* Lap 3: Fisichella is overtaken by both Hakkinen and Coulthard. Further back Villeneuve is passed by Kimi Raikkonen for seventh place. In the midfield Jarno Trulli passes Eddie Irvine for 14th place. At the tail of the field Fernando Alonso retires with a mechanical problem.

* Lap 4: Schumacher's lead grows to 6.3 seconds. Alesi overtakes Button for ninth place while Olivier Panis drops from 12th to 14tth, being passed by Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli. Behind them Eddie Irvine is under attack from Luciano Burti. The two collide at the fast left-hander before Blanchimont and both go very heavily into the barriers. Irvine is quickly out of his car but Burti remains in his car, the Prost half buried beneath the tyre barriers. A Safety Car is sent out. At the back of the field Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Tarso Marques both pit. When it becomes clear that it is a very serious accident the race is red-flagged. Kimi Raikkonen stops at the scene with a transmission failure.

According to the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations (Article 158. Case B) the first part of the race is declared null and void with the grid being established by the finishing order in the first four laps. Burti is taken to the circuit medical centre and after an initial medical inspection is flown by helicopter to the University Hospital in Liege conscious and in a stable condition but suffering from a serious concussion.

The Williams team is caught out by the start of the final parade lap and Ralf Schumacher's car is left sitting on the grid on its jacks. He has to start at the back of the grid as a result.

* Lap 1: Fisichella makes a sensational start from sixth slot on the grid to challenge Michael Schumacher for the lead. Barrichello is third with Button making also making a great start to run fourth. Coulthard is briefly ahead of Hakkinen but the Finn pulls ahead at the exit of La Source. There is a lot of bumping at the back of the field with Montoya colliding with de la Rosa. On the run up the hill Button is overtaken by Hakkinen and Coulthard. At Les Combes Coulthard passes his team mate while behind them the two BARs get into a muddle and both go off but still manage to keep going. Nick Heidfeld is also involved and stops in the course of the lap. Montoya also goes out with a mechanical problem. De la Rosa goes into the pits and retires.

* Lap 2: Schumacher pulls quickly away from Fisichella who is under attack from Barrichello and the two McLarens. Button is under threat from the two Jordans with Trulli just ahead of Alesi. They are chased by Villeneuve and Verstappen.

* Lap 3: Schumacher's lead is up to five seconds. Trulli overtakes Button to grab sixth.

* Lap 4: Alesi overtakes Button to move up to seventh place.

* Lap 6: Schumacher's lead is up to 14 seconds while Fisichella battles with Barrichello for second place. The pit stops begin with Trulli stopping. He drops from sixth to 12th. Villeneuve overtakes Button to take eighth place.

* Lap 7: Fifth-placed Hakkinen and sixth-placed Alesi both pit. Further back Panis goes into the pits. When he rejoins he crosses the white line and is later given a 10-second stop-go penalty.

* Lap 8: Jos Verstappen stops from 10th place and drops to the back of the field.

* Lap 9: The pit stops continue with Barrichello, Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher pitting. Further back Enrique Bernoldi and Marques also stop.

* Lap 10: Fisichella goes into the lead as Michael Schumacher stops. Coulthard also calls into the pits along with Button, who is back up to fourth place.

* Lap 11: Fisichella stops and Schumacher goes back into the lead. The order behind him is Fisichella second ahead of Coulthard, Hakkinen, Barrichello, Trulli and Alesi. Villeneuve is eighth Frentzen (on a one-stop strategy) is ninth and Button 10th, fighting off Ralf Schumacher.

* Lap 12: Panis comes in for his 10-second stop-go penalty.

* Lap 15: The race has settled down with Schumacher continuing to increase his lead. At the tail of the field Marques stops with a mechanical problem. He later rejoins several laps down.

* Lap 16: Frentzen pits and drops from ninth to 12th.

* Lap 17: Michael Schumacher loses concentration for a moment and runs wide at Stavelot.

* Lap 18: Barrichello hits a cone at the entry to the Bus Stop chicane and removes his front wing. The Brazilian has to do a full lap before pitting. This drops him back to ninth place. Button runs over the kerb at the entry to the chicane and his front wing comes off and he crashes into the barriers.

* Lap 19: The second pit stops begin with Trulli coming in first. He drops from fifth place to eighth.

* Lap 20: Alesi is running fifth when he stops for a second time. He drops to eighth.

* Lap 21: Villeneuve, taking his turn in fifth place, stops and falls back to ninth place. At the tail of the field Panis also stops but a refuelling problem loses him more time.

* Lap 22: Tenth-placed Verstappen has his second stop and loses a place to Frentzen.

* Lap 23: Fisichella and Hakkinen both stop but they retain their positions.

* Lap 24: Coulthard, briefly second, stops and falls behind Fisichella again.

* Lap 25: Michael Schumacher has his second stop but his lead is up to nearly 45 seconds and so he remains ahead. Ralf Schumacher also stops, having fought his way to fifth place. He drops back to ninth.

* Lap 28: Coulthard manages to get ahead of Fisichella at the top of the hill.

* Lap 29: Ralf Schumacher overtakes Villeneuve to move to eighth place.

* Lap 32: Trulli retires in a huge cloud of smoke with what appears to be an engine failure.

* Lap 36: Michael Schumacher wins his 52nd career victory to become the winner of the most Grands Prix in Formula 1 history. David Coulthard is second with Fisichella third, Hakkinen fourth, Barrichello fifth and Alesi sixth, the Frenchman just managing to hold off Ralf Schumacher.

MS: I was pushing flat out until the second pit and then I eased off. For whatever reason, I thought I had the chance to open up the gap for an extra pit and we didn't know whether they would do so I just wanted to have that safety margin because I was faster than Giancarlo and David couldn't get by I was able to open up such a lead. I once lost concentration going wide in turn 15, I was just playing with too many buttons at the same time and I ran wide and almost went into the barrier. It didn't need much to do that. When you are on the limit, that's what can happen.

David COULTHARD: No, no. Giancarlo was doing any amazing race, obviously his car was working better than it has done this season and he was quick in all the right areas: out of La Source and out of Stavelot, so it was very difficult to get close, and I knew that my opportunity might come at the pit stop and I thought I lost it when I caught one of the Minardis in Blanchimont, and I said to the team on the radio, "I think it's going to be close." Obviously he came out in front of me. Then thankfully with the backmarker at La Source, it just upset his rhythm a little bit and I got the run through Eau Rouge and I was able to outbrake him. Given the weekend I've had, I'm obviously very happy to have got second place, hoping that Luciano is 100 per cent and able to do the next race, and then we can all feel it's been a positive weekend.

DC: I was saying to Giancarlo that I've never been behind such a messy car. I was having to wipe my vizor every single straight, and I was out of rip-offs very quickly. I understand it just made it across the line, so I think it was spitting all its oil out as the race went on, so it's obviously a lot quicker, but a little bit close to the limit probably.

Giancarlo FISICHELLA: Obviously we had the new aerodynamics package here and the car was much more competitive, easier to drive, easier to get a good set-up, even much more grip normally. Even during the race there was a very good balance, especially after a few laps because at the beginning there was a lot of understeer but then there was a good balance. We just missed a few kph on the straight compared to people but maybe in Monza there is one more step and we are very optimistic for the next one.

GF: Yes, it was my choice. There was a problem starting with the new tyres, graining, and it was better to keep the same tyres. In fact I was still on the same set of tyres at the end of the race on the front, but new on the rear. It was the right choice. We did a very good job. I did two amazing starts, especially the second one from sixth position to second, and I'm happy. It's a great day, and I'd like to say thank you to the team.

MS: Yes, you can imagine. On the other hand, we still want to do well which is maybe going to be a little bit more difficult for us, looking at the characteristics of the circuit. From Hockenheim, we know Williams is very competitive there, so we have to work very hard and have to find out what we can do against this strong package of what they have, but we will certainly try, as we have tried here but anyway we have good reasons to celebrate down there.

MS: Yes, you have to be honest. I don't think the Benetton is normally not a car to run up front, so it was a bit of an unusual situation, even though they had good speed, obviously. But I guess David could have gone faster. Once he was past he went faster, so that was the extra bonus I had to disappear to quickly.

MS: I didn't know if he was on a one stop while I was on a two stop but if he was on a two stop, then clearly we were going very fast. We indicated that in the warm-up already this morning, that our package was very competitive. I don't know why but obviously I went in the T-car but I felt much more comfortable in the T-car and that was going really perfectly. I went in the race car and couldn't do the same performance, for whatever reason. You know when everything fits together then you can do these kind of things and today everything fitted together. I was lucky getting the start and having Fisico between me and the rest for the later part of the race.

MS: Yes, that was the only moment. Obviously I slid wide because I mixed the apex a little bit. I was tuning the car from the inside and just mixed the apex a bit and ran wide. I didn't expect a problem but then when I was sitting on the kerb I lost control of the steering for a while and I was a bit scared going into the wall, but luckily I got out of it.

MS: We have all these buttons to use them, so I use them.

MS: Honestly we said yesterday, because Ross's wife phoned up and said 'listen, tonight England, tomorrow Germany.' That's the way it should go and that's the way it went so I'm pretty happy with that, a bit disappointed as to what happened yesterday but I think if you imagine it is 26 years ago England last beat Germany in Germany, you can live with that.

MS: Yes, I was told by Jean about the situation so we knew at the time he was conscious and things didn't look too bad. Obviously we weren't aware of the true picture and we were made aware just before that things seemed alright and he's bruised and doesn't feel very well, but in the circumstances he's in good shape.

MS: You know, at this kind of speed, that naturally happens. You have these tyres as a cushion. I don't know whether the tyre caused any problems to Luciano except getting him out which took maybe a little bit longer, but that's something we need to analyse but honestly, I think the drivers, the FIA and everybody have done a good job there because remember, one or two years ago, we had a big kink in the barrier there where the barrier come back and if it had still been there, he would have had a really big one, that would have been massive, because this was still sideways and apparently the way it came back, he would have had a frontal impact at this speed. On the other hand, you still learn that you have to improve. Saying that, the way it happened is a bit unusual but you will never find total safety unfortunately.

DC: I'm quite happy with the result but it doesn't look quite as good as it sounds because obviously a lot of cars dropped out. I think three cars went out before the start proper but I still had a little bit of fun. Spa is a track where if you have a bad qualifying you can overtake, because of the fast corner through Eau Rouge and if one person has a small lift there it gives you momentum and I was able to overtake both Jenson and Giancarlo - although they were both going at quite a pace. They must have taken a big step forward since the start of the season... that's a pity! Second place in these circumstances, absolutely the best I could hope for so I'm pretty happy considering the way my weekend started and the way qualifying went and again the guys have given me a reliable car.

DC: That was from the back of the Renault, I've never seen so much oil all over my car since I raced at Le Mans and that was a 24 hour race! It was quite incredible - must have a big old oil tank. You get oil on your visor, you have to wipe it and it can be a bit of a distraction if you have to wipe it but it's just part of racing. It was a new helmet, so that's destroyed.

GF: It was the same power as normal but we have a new aerodynamic package, which is much better, the car is much easier to drive, there is much more grip even to find a good setup. Already on Friday we understood the settings to be competitive for the weekend and then we took a chance to do a different thing to do the race with the same set of front tyres. That was the right choice. Just after each pit stop there was a little too much on the steering but after a few laps there was a good balance. I did two fantastic starts - the first from eighth to fourth and the second from sixth to second and maybe that opened possibilities. After the second start it was right to go for the position.

GF: There was Bernoldi in front of us and I lost a little bit downforce and David was overtaking me in the hairpin - it was very close but then he overtook me on the straight. There was no possibility to keep the second position but third is great today.

GF: It was very exciting even in the race to be in second position, even the team was happy on the radio and many times I heard 'push, push, don't be lazy!' So I was pushing, doing my best and there was David pushing me so it wasn't so easy.

MS: That's Flavio!

MS: You feel disappointed obviously for him, that's the immediate feeling. I didn't really get any notice when we left the grid, then I saw his car in the mirrors jacked up, I was thinking 'what's wrong' and I went on the radio but I knew it was too late for him.

MS: It's natural like in the past he was further back and I was in front you might exchange a little bit more but in the moment as we are doing now, the competition we have, we don't talk about these things. Neither I want to tell him my strategy nor he wants to tell me so we don't even waste the time trying to talk about it. We talk about lots of other things.

GF: No launch control, we have been many races since Silverstone I think.

DC: At the second start he got pushed wide out of La Source and I passed him into Eau Rouge, then was behind Jenson, who I got past at the end of the straight.

GF: After four years it's not easy to leave, I have a very good feeling with the guys, the engineers, and I'm a little bit disappointed. Even because the Benetton team is starting to be quick. But the problem was just one year contract, and with Jordan was three years so I had to think about my future. I hope it's the right choice and we'll see next year.