Pre-race: Seventh-fastest qualifier Christian Klien fails to start the parade lap and is wheeled into the pits, where he retires.

* Lap 1: After qualifying on pole position for the second consecutive race, world championship leader Fernando Alonso beats Michael Schumacher (starting from the front row for the first time since Japan last October) off the line and pulls out a 0.3s lead. Jarno Trulli pitches for second but is abruptly repelled. Mark Webber vaults team-mate Nick Heidfeld as the Williams-BMWs settle into fourth and fifth. Ralf Schumacher grabs sixth from Kimi Räikkönen and Giancarlo Fisichella (who locks his fronts in pursuit of the Finn). Pedro de la Rosa loses out to Jenson Button but repasses before the end of the lap. Takuma Sato, Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello (who qualified 15th but started last after a pre-race engine change), Jacques Villeneuve, Narain Karthikeyan, David Coulthard, Tiago Monteiro, Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers complete the order. Albers makes an unscheduled stop.

* Lap 2: Michael Schumacher has a vain lunge at Alonso into Turn One. Sato passes de la Rosa and Button to take ninth. Barrichello moves up to 11th, at the expense of Massa and Button. Fisichella’s engine begins to smoke.

* Lap 3: Alonso extends his lead to 0.9s after lapping in 1m 33.559s, his best yet. Fisichella pits – but drives straight through and rejoins. Karthikeyan pulls off with a technical problem to retire.

* Lap 4: Fisichella pits again – and this time he stays there.

* Lap 5: Alonso leads by 1,0s, but Michael S is holding on. Trulli and the others are now a couple of seconds further adrift.

* Lap 6: Michael S goes fastest – 1m 32.932s – but his deficit remains 0.8s.

* Lap 7: Sato’s car begins to emit a trace of engine smoke – or possibly brake dust.

* Lap 8: Heidfeld runs slightly wide at Turn 10 and allows Ralf S to draw alongside, but he rebuffs the challenge and retains fifth place.

* Lap 9: Heidfeld errs again – and this time Ralf S makes his move stick.

* Lap 12: Michael S locks up and runs wide at the Turn 9/10 complex. He rejoins but continues slowly to the pits. Ferrari cites a hydraulic problem – Schumi’s first mechanically-enforced retirement since Germany 2001. Alonso leads Trulli by 3.0s.

* Lap 14: Stuck behind Sato since lap two, de la Rosa tries to pass but fails. Alonso ups his pace to 1m 32.417s.

* Lap 16: Sato is holding up a chain of cars – de la Rosa, Barrichello and Button – in seventh to 10th places.

* Lap 18: Alonso dips below the 1m 32s – 1m 31.994s. Ralf S makes the race’s first scheduled stop.

* Lap 19: Alonso laps in 1m 31.872s and is now 18.4s clear of third-placed Webber.

* Lap 20: Alonso pits and Trulli takes the helm – for now.

* Lap 21: Trulli and Webber pit. De la Rosa finally passes Sato at Turn One – but runs wide and drops to ninth, behind Barrichello and Button.

* Lap 22: Alonso resumes the lead. Massa pits.

* Lap 23: Heidfeld, de la Rosa and Albers pit.

* Lap 24: Ralf S loses time with a brief off-track excursion. Räikkönen and Button pit.

* Lap 25: Sato and Barrichello refuel.

* Lap 26: Heidfeld pulls off in a haze of engine smoke. Coulthard pits.

* Lap 27: With all leaders having stopped, Alonso heads Trulli, Webber, Räikkönen, Ralf S, Barrichello, Button, de la Rosa, Massa, Villeneuve, Coulthard and the lapped Monteiro, Friesacher and Albers. Sato goes off twice during the lap and retires at the end of it.

* Lap 33: De la Rosa slices by Button to take seventh.

* Lap 34: Webber spins at Turn 10 and drops to fifth, behind Räikkönen and Ralf S.

* Lap 35: De la Rosa is putting Barrichello under fierce pressure.

* Lap 36: Räikkönen loses time – but no positions – when he runs off Turn 13.

* Lap 37: The distant Alonso laps in 1m 31.840s.

* Lap 38: De la Rosa passes Barrichello at Turn One – but promptly runs wide again and has to do it all over again.

* Lap 39: Alonso laps in 1m 31.713s.

* Lap 41: Alonso and Ralf S pit. De la Rosa passes Barrichello – successfully this time.

* Lap 42: Trulli and Webber pit. Alonso resumes his lead.

* Lap 43: Räikkönen and Massa refuel. De la Rosa posts the race’s fastest lap – 1m 31.447s.

* Lap 44: De la Rosa pits. Button passes Barrichello.

* Lap 45: Coulthard pits.

* Lap 46: Button and Barrichello peel into the pits simultaneously. Button stalls. Although he eventually gets going again, the Englishman pulls off before the end of the pit lane.

* Lap 47: Alonso has a huge lead as the final stint settles down. Trulli, Räikkönen, Ralf S, Webber, the closing de la Rosa, Barrichello, Massa, Villeneuve, Coulthard, Monteiro, Friesacher and Albers complete the list of survivors.

* Lap 52: Massa passes Barrichello at Turn One to annexe seventh.

* Lap 54: Villeneuve goes off at Turn One but rejoins, now behind Coulthard.

* Laps 48-54: De la Rosa and Webber stage an epic duel for fifth.

* Lap 55: De la Rosa’s persistence pays off at Turn Four. He immediately drops Webber by more than two seconds. Villeneuve pits and retires.

* Lap 57: Alonso wins by 13.4s to extend his world championship lead. Trulli, Räikkönen, Ralf S, de la Rosa, Webber, Massa and Coulthard, who passed the struggling Barrichello in the closing stages, complete the top eight.