The temperature had risen to 14 degrees for the start of this afternoon's San Marino Grand Prix as the drivers positioned their cars on the grid ready for the start of the parade lap. McLaren driver David Coulthard, in his first pole position of the year, waited anxiously at the front of the grid for the lights to go out and the action to begin, but it's the Williams of Ralf Schumacher that makes the best start and the German leads the San Marino Grand Prix!

David Coulthard bogged down and was slow leaving the line, putting him back into second as Jarno Trulli gets ahead of Mika Hakkinen. Michael Schumacher has been knocked back to fifth and Olivier Panis comes through from his eighth placed start to take sixth from Barrichello. However, the BAR driver is soon overtaken by the second Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen gets ahead of Jacques Villeneuve for ninth place.

By lap three, Ralf has pulled out over a second on David Coulthard, who is still in second and the Scot is 2.1 seconds ahead of the third placed Jordan belonging to Jarno Trulli. Juan Pablo Montoya is streaming through the field and just like Brazil, the Colombian passes the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher for fifth place. Olivier Panis also gets past the Ferrari, putting the BAR back into sixth as the reigning world champion drops back to seventh place.

Michael seems to be going backwards instead of forwards as his teammate Rubens Barrichello also passes, knocking Schumacher back to eighth place. There's a battle toward the front of the pack as Mika Hakkinen closes in on third placed Trulli. The Finn is close and looking for a way around the Italian driver. Fernando Alonso goes off into the grass, breaking his front suspension as he hits the tyre wall. Rubens Barrichello continues his charge and tries to find his way around Olivier Panis for sixth place, however he is hampered by the waving yellow flags due to Alonso's accident.

Jos Verstappen's Orange Arrows grinds to a halt, a continuation of the Dutchman's bad luck with the A22 this weekend. Barrichello makes it past Panis, however the Frenchman shuts the door on Michael Schumacher, preventing the second Ferrari from coming through as well. But, he fails to keep the German behind him for long and Michael sails past the BAR for seventh place. Meanwhile at the front of the field, David Coulthard slowly starts to close the gap to Ralf Schumacher as both men pull out a lead over third placed Jarno Trulli, the Jordan driver now 12 seconds behind the leader on lap 12.

Coulthard is on a charge, setting the fastest lap of the race so far. He has brought the gap down to just under 1.7 seconds, however Ralf responds to the Scot's charge and he sets an even faster lap of 1:27.202. Olivier Panis is dropping back, the Frenchman now over 5 seconds behind Michael Schumacher, who in turn is over 20 seconds behind his younger brother, who laps the Minardi of Tarso Marques, after just 15 laps. Meanwhile, his Williams teammate is just over a second behind the fourth placed McLaren of Mika Hakkinen.

David Coulthard continues to post the fastest time in the first sector, however Ralf counteracts with the fastest time in the second. The Williams is now just over two and a half seconds in front of the McLaren and although there is over 20 seconds back to third, there is only another fours seconds back to the seventh placed Ferrari of Michael Schumacher. Kimi Raikkonen has been running close behind Olivier Panis, however the Finn is forced to vacate ninth place when his Sauber suffers mechanical failure and goes into the wall after veering off the straight.

Lap 21 and Ralf Schumacher sets a new fastest lap time of 1:26.394 and extends his lead over Coulthard to three and a half seconds. Jenson Button has already been into the pits, however for the second time in three laps, the Benetton driver enters pit lane. Giancarlo Fisichella comes in for his first stop, as does the Prost of Jean Alesi. As Ralf Schumacher continues to charge around the circuit, the BAR of Olivier Panis slows down, losing several positions. Left front puncture for Michael Schumacher! The German cruises around to the pits, losing several positions along the way. He takes on a full fuel load while there, in a stop that lasted for 12.8 seconds as Jarno Trulli also pits from third, 9 seconds for the Jordan driver.

Michael Schumacher returns to the circuit in last place, however the Ferrari driver re-enters the pits and retires from the San Marino Grand Prix with suspected brake problems. It's now all on Rubens Barrichello's shoulders to fly the home flag for the Italian marque, the Brazilian now in fifth place. Jarno Trulli is back in eighth place after his stop, eight tenths of a second behind his teammate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen who is the next man to veer off the circuit and into the pits for his first stop.

Lap 28 and Juan Pablo Montoya is in for his first stop as does the BAR of Olivier Panis with David Coulthard in on the next lap. Montoya gets past Jarno Trulli for sixth place while David Coulthard comes back out in second. Ralf pits and so does Mika Hakkinen. Ralf retains the lead with an eight second advantage over Coulthard with Rubens Barrichello now in third followed by Mika Hakkinen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jarno Trulli.

Lap 31 and Gaston Mazzacane is forced to retire with smoke billowing out of his Prost Acer and soon after the BAR of Jacques Villeneuve suffers a similar fate. The Canadian driver bangs the steering wheel in frustration as he race comes to an end. Meanwhile, Barrichello comes in for his first stop, the Ferrari driver in a rush to exit the pits and almost collects the Benetton of Giancarlo Fisichella who retire in the pits due to mechanical problems. Barrichello, who was over 20 seconds ahead of Hakkinen before his stop, retains third place almost three seconds ahead of the Finn.

Lap 37 and fifteen drivers remain as Ralf Schumacher continues to dominate the San Marino Grand Prix. He now has a lead of over 12 seconds on David Coulthard as he comes up to lap the ninth placed Jaguar of Eddie Irvine. Due to the traffic Ralf now finds himself in, David Coulthard close the gap to the lead by almost two seconds and bringing it down to less than ten seconds. Jenson Button comes in for his third pit stop of the day.

Twenty-two laps remain as Ralf Schumacher continues to dominate and Eddie Irvine is forced to retire on the side of the track with mechanical failure. Heinz-Harald Frentzen comes in for his second stop with David Coulthard in on the same lap. Ralf comes in on the following lap, followed by Nick Heidfeld and Mika Hakkinen. Ralf exits the pits in 10.6 seconds ahead of David Coulthard as Rubens Barrichello also comes in for his second stop.

Montoya is in for his stop, but it's disaster for the Colombian as the fuel hose gets stuck! He stalls and the Williams mechanics get him restarted, but he has lost a lot of valuable ground, his first points finish slipping away with every passing second. A minute later he is back on track, however he is only cruising around the circuit and comes back into the pits to retire from his first San Marino Grand Prix. The top six on lap 50 are Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello, Mika Hakkinen, Jarno Trulli and Heinz- Harald Frentzen.

Twelve laps to go and Ralf comes up behind the 6th placed Jordan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and prepares to put a lap on the German. He does so with ease as the Prost of Jean Alesi passes the sole remaining Jaguar of Luciano Burti for ninth place. At this stage it appears as if Ralf is on track to take his first ever GP victory and Michelin's first win of the 2001 season! Tarso Marques is the next to retire with smoke pouring from the back of his Minardi and Marshals push the car off the circuit, leaving just 12 runners remaining.

David Coulthard begins a fresh charge, the Scot cutting the gap to the front running Williams down to just 7.9 seconds with just five laps remaining. Another seven tenths on the next lap and five-tenths on the next as the Williams puts another lap on Luciano Burti. Hakkinen closes in on Barrichello, but the positions are set. Ralf Schumacher crosses the line to take his first ever Formula One victory and the first for Williams since 1997! Congratulations Ralf!

The top six from this afternoon's San Marino Grand Prix were Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello, Mika Hakkinen, Jarno Trulli and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.