Cooler weather was the order of the afternoon as drivers took to the grid in preparation of today's sixth round of the 2002 championship here at the A1-Ring. Track temperature was down a few degrees and the humidity was rising in readiness for the possibility of rain in the latter stages of the race. Bridgestone have been very dominant here in the cooler conditions, something the Michelin runners, namely Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya will be actually aware of as the formation lap gets underway.

All drivers leave the grid safely, surely a relief for poleman Rubens Barrichello who was left motionless at the start of the Spanish GP two weeks ago. The Brazilian leads them back around to await the signal and it's go in Austria!

Michael Schumacher gets in front of his brother and Rubens Barrichello holds onto the lead but a bit further back Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve touch and Frentzen is forced to go through the gravel. Nick Heidfeld also shoots past both Williams men and is up into third place, leaving Ralf Schumacher in fourth and Juan Pablo Montoya in fifth. Coulthard up into seventh as Massa drops back after going off at the start. He is now behind the Renault of Jenson Button pushing to get back past the Englishman.

Pedro de la Rosa is touring and the Spaniard retires his Jaguar. Ralf and Juan get back past Heidfeld but the two leading Ferrari's are already pulling off into the distance. David Coulthard passes his teammate but Raikkonen is all over his gearbox trying to regain the position. Problems for Enrique Bernoldi, the Arrows man in the pits for a new front wing, however he doesn't leave his pitbox and becomes the second retirement from the Austrian GP.

It looks as if we are going to witness another Ferrari domination here this afternoon as both drivers pull out a massive lead of over seven seconds after just four laps. More disaster for Kimi Raikkonen as the young Finn's Mercedes engine blows, forcing him to retire from the event, his fourth retirement for the season, his third in succession. Rubens Barrichello is over a second ahead of Michael Schumacher, but the German responds and gains back four tenths of a second on lap six. Mika Salo is now up into seventh place due to the retirement of Raikkonen's McLaren and Villeneuve is storming through the field, passing Jarno Trulli for 12th place, the BAR driver qualified down in 17th.

Problems for Massa as he tours slowly around the A1-Ring with suspension problems and into the pits and retirement, that's number four after only eight laps. Villeneuve gets past Allan McNish for tenth place and now has Giancarlo Fisichella in his sights, his Honda powered rival only three tenths of a second up the road. He makes the move and takes ninth away from the Jordan driver, brilliant drive here from the 1997 champion this afternoon.

Lap ten and third placed man Ralf Schumacher is 17 seconds behind leader Rubens Barrichello and five seconds ahead of teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Ferrari seemingly have this race in the bag, but the question is, will Barrichello be the winner? Villeneuve is now pressuring Jenson Button for eighth place, he is surely on a two stop strategy this afternoon. Rubens Barrichello sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:10.142, he comes up to lap Alex Yoong and now has a commanding two second lead on Michael Schumacher.

Jacques Villeneuve makes the move on Button and begins to pressure seventh placed Mika Salo. Frentzen spins his Arrows on the finish straight and is facing the wrong way! He has no other option but to sit in his A23 and allow the two Ferrari's to put a lap on him. Villeneuve up to seventh after getting past the Toyota and the Ferrari duo have now lapped everyone up to 13th place that currently belongs to the BAR of Olivier Panis. However, all the traffic has allowed Michael Schumacher to close the gap to his leading teammate.

It looks as if Williams are out of contention this afternoon with Ralf 31 seconds off the lead and Montoya 43, unless Ferrari are two stopping. Alex Yoong has an off and almost collects Ralf Schumacher as he retakes the circuit while Barrichello sets yet another fastest lap, 1:09.869. Olivier Panis has a technical problem on the finish straight and his car is stranded in the middle of the circuit with flames coming out the back of 004! The BAR driver is okay but the safety car is out and Barrichello, followed by Schumacher, comes into the pits. This means that Michael will have to wait while Barrichello takes on service, but it will be a lot quicker for the German than staying out for another lap.

Several drivers opt to come in including Villeneuve and Sato, but Ralf stays out on track and goes up into second place with Michael now in third. It looked like Coulthard was coming in but the Scot also opts to stay out, despite McLaren mechanics waiting for his arrival, meanwhile Villeneuve is under investigation, but it is unclear why at this stage.

Lap 27 and the safety car returns to pitlane and we are racing once again! The massive lead built up by Ferrari is gone and the battle is now on between the Schumacher brothers. Ralf's Williams is lighter than his brothers Ferrari, but on worn Michelin rubber. Huge accident between Nick Heidfeld and Takuma Sato at Remus corner!! Heidfeld locked up, went across the gravel, sideways across the track, hitting the side of Sato's Jordan. Medical crews rush to the scene. Heidfeld is being carried from his car and is clearly shocked but is thankfully uninjured, however Sato is still in the car and appears injured. The safety car is back out and several drivers take to pitlane for service.

Sid Watkins talks to the Jordan driver as crews try to free him from his stricken Jordan. He is finally freed and car and driver are removed from the scene. Sato waved from the car earlier, letting everyone know he was conscious, but a very worried Eddie Jordan watches the monitors and awaits news of his drivers condition. Blankets block the Jordan driver from view as he is carried to the waiting ambulance. A very shaken and worried Nick Heidfeld looks on from the tyre barrier.

38 laps remain and the race is about to get back underway. Everyone bar the two Williams' have been into the pits at least once, Jacques Villeneuve and Eddie Irvine have both been in twice, but one of Villeneuve's was for the incident with Frentzen at the start. 15 drivers remain with Barrichello leading Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Lap 36 and dark clouds roll in as the safety car returns to pitlane once again, however the rain is expected to hold off until after the race. A clean restart as Barrichello instantly starts to pull away. Michael will need to get past his brother, who has yet to pit, if he hopes to catch his teammate. Villeneuve passes Fisichella for sixth place down the straight as Eddie Irvine comes into pitlane and retires.

Villeneuve is really on a charge and takes fifth from David Coulthard. Meanwhile Peter Sauber is down at the medical center pacing and looking concerned. Eddie Jordan talks to Sid Watkins about the condition of his driver who, according to news filtering through, is concussed but otherwise okay. Alex Yoong retires with a technical problem, flames licking from the back of his Asiatech engine, bringing the field down to 13 with Frentzen the last driver on track. Mark Webber is handed a stop and go penalty for repeatedly ignoring the blue flags.

Jarno Trulli adds to the list of retirements as Coulthard is forced to give his sixth place up to Giancarlo Fisichella after running wide.

Lap 47 and Ralf Schumacher finally comes into the pits for his first stop and comes back out in fifth place. Michael is now back in second, but the reigning world champion is almost four seconds behind his teammate. Juan Pablo Montoya, the only driver yet to pit, is in third place 8.5 seconds behind Barrichello. The Colombian finally pits allowing Villeneuve into third place, but he doesn't change his Michelin tyres! He returns to the circuit in front of Ralf Schumacher in fourth place. Takuma Sato, who according to Jordan is fine, is taken away by helicopter.

Villeneuve in for his third stop, second for fuel and tyres, and returns in eighth place. Michael puts in the fastest lap of the race as he tries to hunt down his teammate. The Ferrari duo have forty seconds on the two Williams men, but they should have to come in for another stop yet. David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve are all fighting for sixth place and the final point with less than two seconds covering the three drivers as Ferrari mechanics come out in preparation for a stop, 6.2 seconds for Barrichello.

Michael Schumacher comes in on the next lap and he fails to get out in front of his teammate. Barrichello still leads with only nine laps remaining! The Brazilian looks like he is about to take his second career win, with only team orders or technical problems standing between him and the top step of the podium.

The laps tick down and Michael begins to close the gap, Barrichello starts his last lap, is it a formation finish or will Barrichello be forced to yield? He is forced to give way to his teammate and Michael wins his first ever Austrian Grand Prix. The crowd show their displeasure with the Italian team with boos as the cars go past. Barrichello is second, Montoya third, Ralf fourth, Giancarlo Fisichella fifth, the first points for Honda and Jordan! David Coulthard rounds out the top six. Jacques Villeneuve's Honda engine blows on the final lap. He was in eighth.

Top six from today's Austrian GP were: Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella and David Coulthard.