As the grid forms up Takuma Sato is in the pit lane, the team having decided to fill up the car before the start of the race. Minardi does the same with Gianmaria Bruni.
* Lap 1: At the start Jarno Trulli is quick off the line but almost immediately has a transmission failure and pulls to the left to get out of the way of the rest of the field. Ralf Schumacher gets into the first corner ahead of Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. In the midfield there is an incident as Christian Klien tips David Coulthard into a spin. The Jaguar then rides up over the wheel of the McLaren and is launched into Mark Webber’s Jaguar. Various other drivers have to take to the grass to avoid the incident, including the two men starting from the pits as the accident happens in their path. Webber drives slowly round to the pits with a puncture. At the start of the lap Ralf is 1.1sec ahead of Button with Alonso right behind him.
* Lap 2: Ralf pulls away to increase his lead to 1.8s but the battle behind remains the same except in the midfield where the delayed Coulthard passes several cars to get back to 13th place, battling with Sato who is making similar progress through the tail end of the field.
* Lap 3: Ralf’s lead is up to 2.3s but the queue of cars in the top 10 is unchanged. Giancarlo Fisichella passes Timo Glock to grab 11th place.
* Lap 5: Coulthard gets ahead of Glock to grab 12th place.
* Lap 7: Ralf’s lead is stabilized at 2.5s with Button still being hounded by Alonso. There is then a small gap back to Montoya who has Michael Schumacher behind him although the World Champion is not pushing too hard. Rubens Barrichello passes Raikkonen for sixth place. Further back Felipe Massa passes Klien for 15th. At the back Webber returns to the pits to retire.
* Lap 8: Barrichello sets the fastest lap of the race. Further back Massa passes Sato for 14th place.
* Lap 11: Ralf’s lead over Button is up to 3.9s. Further back the first pit stops begin with David Coulthard coming in, showing that the McLarens were running very light in qualifying.
* Lap 12: Raikkonen stops and falls from seventh position back to ninth.
* Lap 13: Button and Montoya both stop. This puts Alonso up to second with Michael Schumacher now free to go faster. Barrichello is fourth with Button rejoining in sixth behind Cristiano da Matta’s Toyota. Montoya is seventh.
* Lap 15: Ralf Schumacher pits and so Alonso goes into the lead with Michael Schumacher chasing and Barrichello third. Ralf rejoins in fourth ahead. Button passes da Matta for fifth place.
* Lap 17: Alonso pits and Michael Schumacher takes the lead with Barrichello second, Ralf third and Button fourth. Da Matta pits and drops from sixth to 11th. Further back Glock and Klien also pit. It is announced that Raikkonen is being given a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit.
* Lap 18: Michael sets the fastest lap of the race and Barrichello heads for the pits. He rejoins behind Ralf, Button and Montoya but ahead of Alonso. At the tail of the field Klien returns to the pits.
* Lap 19: Michael stops and Ralf goes back into the lead with Button second. Michael is third ahead of Montoya and Barrichello. Raikkonen goes into the pit lane for his drive-through and drops to 10th place.
* Lap 20: Ralf leads Button by four seconds and the BAR-Honda is 2.7s ahead of Michael. In the midfield Nick Heidfeld, running in eighth place, comes into the pit lane but the stop goes wrong and one of the Jordan mechanics is knocked over as Heidfeld tries to depart. Heidfeld is seriously delayed and drops back to 18th place but the mechanic has no serious injuries. Klien pits for a third time.
* Lap 21: Button begins to close on Ralf. Panis, who is running seventh, pits but falls back to 12th place.
* Lap 23: Sato, who is clearly on a two-stop strategy, comes into the pits. He is running in 10th but his stops put him back to 13th.
* Lap 25: The lead is down to three seconds. Seventh-placed Fisichella stops for the first time. He rejoins 10th. The two Saubers are on a two stop strategy.
* Lap 26: Eighth-placed Massa stops and drops back to 14th.
* Lap 27: At the back Zsolt Baumgartner has a big spin in his Minardi.
* Lap 28: Massa returns to the pits and loses another place, rejoining behind Heidfeld in 15th position.
* Lap 30: Montoya is the first runner to have his second pit stop. He is followed into the pits by seventh-placed Raikkonen. Montoya rejoins in seventh place and Raikkonen in eighth. Gianmaria Bruni at the back is given a drive-through penalty.
* Lap 31: Button comes into the pits handing second place to Michael Schumacher. The BAR rejoins in sixth position.
* Lap 32: Coulthard pits for the second time and rejoins in 12th place.
* Lap 33: Ralf Schumacher is 12secs ahead when he pits for the second time. He rejoins in third behind Michael and Barrichello but ahead of Alonso. The two Ferraris are nose-to-tail at the front with Rubens obviously being faster but being unable to overtake.
* Lap 40: It is clear that the Ferraris are going to stop only twice and there seems to be little hope that Ralf will be able to beat them. Barrichello is still harrying Schumacher but is likely to stop earlier. At the back Heidfeld has his second stop.
* Lap 42: As the Ferraris come through the backmarkers, Sato spins in front of them. The Japanese is lucky to avoid contact with the cars around him. He pits and rejoins without losing position in 12th. Panis has his second pit stop and drops from 10th to 11th. Glock also stops for his second stop.
* Lap 44: Barrichello stops. He falls behind Ralf and Button but they will need to stop again. Da Matta, who is running in eighth place, pits for the second time but does not lose a position.
* Lap 45: Raikkonen comes in for his third pit stop and falls behind Giancarlo Fisichella. The Sauber driver is now sixth.
* Lap 46: Sato passes Panis to take 10th place.
* Lap 47: Michael Schumacher pits and Ralf goes into the lead but it is clear that the Williams must stop again and that will leave the Ferrari ahead.
* Lap 48: Ralf pits the aim being to stay ahead of Barrichello. This is successful.
* Lap 49: Button, Montoya and Fisichella all stop for the last time. Ralf is second ahead of Barrichello, Button and Montoya. Fisichella is behind Raikkonen. Further back Sato suffers a smoky engine blow-up at the third corner.
* Lap 53: Coulthard has his third stop but remains ninth.
* Lap 55: Massa pits from 12th but retains the place.
* Lap 60: The order at the front is set with Michael eight seconds ahead of his brother. There is then a five second gap back to Barrichello. Behind them Button and Montoya are fighting for fourth. Sixth-placed Raikkonen goes into the pits for a steering wheel change, indicating a probable software problem. He loses sixth to Fisichella.
* Lap 63: Massa has a big accident at the hairpin when his suspension fails, going head-first into the tyres. Felipe is unhurt but later goes to hospital for an X-ray on his left elbow.
* Lap 65: Klien has a spin but he remains 13th.
* Lap 70: Michael Schumacher wins his 77th victory and becomes the first man in the history of the World Championship to win the same Grand Prix on seven different occasions. Ralf is second with Barrichello third. Button holds off Montoya to take fourth place. Everyone else is lapped. Fisichella picks up more points for Sauber in sixth while Raikkonen gets two points for McLaren and da Matta takes the final point for Toyota. Coulthard and Panis are ninth and 10th. The two Jordans are two laps down with Glock ahead of Heidfeld while Klien’s Jaguar is three laps down. The only other finisher is Baumgartner, four laps down.