There are no problems before the race, so everyone is where they should be when the race begins.

* Lap 1: At the start Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello both get away well while Fernando Alonso jumps ahead of Jenson Button. At the first corner Barrichello lets Schumacher take the corner while Alonso slots into third as Montoya gets in a tangle and runs wide onto the grass. This drops the Colombian behind Button, Jarno Trulli, up from ninth on the grid, Ralf Schumacher. Mark Webber also loses out and ends the first lap in eighth place ahead of Takuma Sato, David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen. At the end of the lap Schumacher is a second clear of Barrichello.

* Lap 2: Schumacher increases his lead by a 10th while those behind him begin to sort themselves out. Montoya passes his team mate Ralf Schumacher to grab back sixth place. Further back down the order, Nick Heidfeld passes Giancarlo Fisichella to grab 14th position and Gianmaria Bruni passes Giorgio Pantano to take 16th.

* Lap 4: As the two Ferrari draw away, there is a battle for fifth place from the opposition, as Jarno Trulli tries to hold off the two Williams-BMWs. At the back Christian Klien moves ahead of Pantano to take 17th.

* Lap 4: Schumacher’s lead over Barrichello is nearly two seconds while the gap back to Alonso is already 2.8 seconds. At the back Klien passes Bruni for 16th.

* Lap 8: The gap between the Ferraris is the same but they two cars have pulled five seconds ahead of Alonso. There is a gap back of more than 15 seconds to Button, Trulli, Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and Webber. Behind the Australian Sato is busy holding off the two McLarens for ninth place. At the back Giancarlo Fisichella is the first man to stop, having found himself stuck behind Nick Heidfeld’s Jordan.

Lap 10: Montoya heads for pit lane to begin the major pit stops. Further back Kimi Raikkonen retires with a water pump failure, ending a very disappointing day for the McLaren team.

* Lap 11: Barrichello, Alonso and Button all head for pit lane while further back Bruni comes in for his first stop.

* Lap 12: The stops continue with Michael Schumacher, Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Sato and Cristiano da Matta all stopping. When Schumacher rejoins he is only 1.5 seconds ahead of Barrichello, having dropped around a second to Barrichello. Alonso is third six seconds behind Barrichello.

* Lap 13: Webber, running briefly in third place, comes into the pits for his first stop.

 * Lap 14: Coulthard and Massa both pit. Further down the order Heidfeld and Olivier Panis are also pit callers. It is not yet clear who is running to which strategies.

* Lap 16: Klien comes in for his first pit stop, suggesting that he is running to a two-stop strategy. Further back Zsolt Baumgartner retires with a mechanical problem while Sato has a big off but manages to hold on to his position.

* Lap 18: Michael Schumacher has some trouble with traffic and the gap to Barrichello drops to under a second but Alonso is still dropping back, the gap between Barrichello and the Renault driver now being up to eight seconds. Further back Pantano has his first stop, indicating that he is running to a two-stop strategy.

* Lap 19: Massa has a high speed spin but keeps going in 11th place.

* Lap 24: The order has not changed but Schumacher has built up his lead again to 2.9 seconds. Alonso comes in for his second stop and drops behind Button. Further back Montoya passes Trulli for sixth place. Down the field, Da Matta makes his second stop and drops from 13th to 15th.

* Lap 26: Third-placed Button pits but his stop is slightly longer than normal because of a fuel nozzle problem. Montoya also pits and falls from sixth place to eighth.

* Lap 27: The second stops continue with Webber pitting and falling from sixth place to 10th. Tenth-placed Sato also stops.

* Lap 28: The stops carry on with Ralf Schumacher and Trulli stopping. Ralf is able to get out ahead of Button to take fourth place. Trulli rejoins behind Button and Montoya. Further back there are scheduled stops from Heidfeld and Fisichella, who have been fighting for 12th place.

* Lap 29: Barrichello comes into the pits but when he rejoins in second place the car has a brake problem and he drops back quickly from Michael Schumacher.

* Lap 30: Schumacher stops and rejoins in the lead, more than five seconds clear of Barrichello. Further back Webber slows and pits having lost sixth and seventh gears.

* Lap 32: With all the second stops out of the way for those on three-stop strategies, the order is clear. Schumacher is pulling away from Barrichello but there is not much of a challenge from Alonso, who is over 20 seconds behind. He is followed by Ralf Schumacher, Button, Montoya, Trulli and Coulthard. Everyone else has been lapped.

* Lap 33: Fisichella forces his way past Heidfeld to grab 12th place after a long battle.

* Lap 36: Schumacher’s lead is up to nine seconds but Alonso is still dropping back from Barrichello. In the midfield the two-stop runners Coulthard and Massa both pit. Coulthard stays ninth. Masssa rejoins behind Sato in 10th.

* Lap 37: Two stoppers Klien, Pantano and Panis all stop.

* Lap 39: Montoya pushes his way past Button to grab fifth.

* Lap 40: The final pit stops begin with Alonso stopping. He rejoins well ahead of fourth-placed Ralf Schumacher.

* Lap 41: Trulli stops but he is still seventh when he rejoins.

* Lap 42: Sixth-placed Button stops and holds onto the place but emerges a lap behind the leader. Down at the back Da Matta has his third stop.

* Lap 44:  Barrichello and Montoya complete their final stops but there is no change of order. Heidfeld stops on the track on his first lap after his pit stop. At the same time Massa’s race ends with a mechanical problem. Fisichella completes his final pit stop in 10th place.

* Lap 45: The two Schumacher brothers both pit (as does Sato) but all retain their positions for the run to the flag.

* Lap 51: As Schumacher begins to back off, down at the back of the field Panis passes Pantano for 13th place.

* Lap 54: Button un-laps himself as Schumacher eases off further, allowing Barrichello to close the gap between them.

* Lap 58: Michael Schumacher wins his 71st Grand Prix victory – his fourth Australian GP victory – with Rubens Barrichello second and Fernando Alonso third. The remaining points go to Ralf Schumacher (4th), Juan Pablo Montoya (5th), Jenson Button (6th), Jarno Trulli (7th) and David Coulthard (8th). Takuma Sato is 9th and Giancarlo Fisichella 10th. Top rookie is Christian Klien in 11th place.