It was another warm day in Sao Paulo this afternoon as drivers prepared to take part in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Track temperature was at 30 degrees as cars took their places on the grid. The formation lap gets underway and the crowd cheered as the cars left their respective marks. Everyone gets away cleanly and they reform and await the start of the race. They're off and Michael Schumacher takes to the lead.

Juan Pablo Montoya attempts to get back past the German and they touch slightly and the front wing of the Williams disintegrates! Disaster for the Colombian as he also punctures his left front tyre. He enters the pits and 19 seconds later he returns to the circuit in 20th place. Giancarlo Fisichella and Allan McNish are also in the pits after being caught up in the debris on the opening lap.

Rubens Barrichello is carving his way through the field and on lap five he is right up behind the Williams of Ralf Schumacher and takes the place away from the German driver. The crowd is going wild for their homeboy who has worked his way up to second from eighth on the grid. Meanwhile the Renaults had a good start with Trulli up to fourth and Button fifth, David Coulthard rounds out the top six.

Giancarlo Fisichella pulls on to the grass and retires his Honda powered Jordan after smoke pours from the car. Meanwhile teammate Takuma Sato passes Olivier Panis for 16th spot, however the BAR driver takes the position right back. Eddie Irvine isn't having a lot of luck here today and is dropping back through the field, losing positions to Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Lap ten and Rubens Barrichello sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:16.183. Less than two tenths of a second separate the two leading Ferrari's while Ralf Schumacher is over nine seconds behind his brother. Jacques Villeneuve picks up another place as he gets past the second Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa, the Canadian now in 11th place and four seconds behind tenth placed Mika Salo. Rubens Barrichello flies past his teammate for the lead and the crowd cheers! However it is thought that the Brazilian is on a three stop strategy to Michael's two.

Takuma Sato is certainly trying hard today as he takes Eddie Irvine's 14th place. The Bridgestone runners appear to be doing very well here his afternoon. Enrique Bernoldi is in the pits, problems for the Arrows driver as he effectively retires from the race but there are more problems up front as Rubens Barrichello slows down! Michael Schumacher retakes the lead as his teammate crawls around the circuit trying to make it back to the pits. Very bad news for the Brazilian as he takes to the grass with hydraulic failure and retires from his home GP for the eighth time.

A lock for Schumacher but he keeps it together and keeps going. Ralf Schumacher in second takes three tenths of a second out of his brothers lead as Alex Yoong spins his Minardi. David Coulthard is up to fourth place as he hunts down the Renault of Jarno Trulli. Jenson Button is in fifth with Kimi Raikkonen close behind in sixth. Felipe Massa gets past Jacques Villeneuve, the Sauber driver now up to ninth. Rubens Barrichello walks back to the pits waving at the crowd as he tries to hide his disappointment.

Alex Yoong and Jacques Villeneuve come in for their first pit stop of the afternoon. Clean stop for Yoong, but minor gear problems for Jacques costing him valuable seconds. Coulthard attempts to pass Trulli but the Scot fails to get through. Olivier Panis is out of his BAR at the end of pitlane, his third DNF this season. Heinz-Harald Frentzen comes into the pits as well and the German joins the list of retirees here this afternoon.

Juan Pablo Montoya is working his way through the field and is up into ninth place, despite complaining of oversteer in his FW24. Teammate Ralf Schumacher is closing in on his brother, cutting the gap down to just over five seconds. Two tenths of a second separate Trulli and Coulthard however the Scot just can't get past the Renault no matter how hard he tries. Meanwhile the leader of this afternoon's race, Michael Schumacher, has lapped everyone up to tenth place.

Michael Schumacher is flying at the moment as he prepares for what looks like his first and only pit stop for the afternoon. He extends his lead over brother Ralf and sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:16.363. Kimi Raikkonen finally gets past Jenson Button for fifth place as Michael continues to put in fastest lap after fastest lap before finally entering pit lane, 12.6 seconds for the Ferrari driver and with 32 laps remaining, Ralf Schumacher goes into the lead.

Allan McNish is off on the grass after a spin and retires from the race. Juan Pablo Montoya comes in on lap 44 from 7th place for his first and only pit stop of the day, 9.6 for the Colombian driver. Felipe Massa spins his Sauber after a sight touch with one of the Minardi's and retires. Ralf Schumacher is in, 9.4 seconds and he rejoins in comes back out in second place. Trulli and Button also pit but the McLarens remain on track for a few extra laps. David Coulthard is the first in and 10.2 seconds later he rejoins and is out ahead of the Renaults and into third place. Kimi Raikkonen also clears Trulli and Button after his stop, the Finn now fourth.

Ralf is only two seconds behind his brother now and slowly inching closer. Juan Pablo Montoya is in seventh place after his fuel stop and is slowly homing in on sixth placed Jenson Button. Only 15 drivers remain in the race, only four of them running on Bridgestone rubber, Schumacher in first, Heidfeld in ninth, Jacques Villeneuve in twelfth and Takuma Sato in thirteenth.

Montoya is closing the gap even further to Jenson Button, the Colombian desperately trying to get into the final points scoring position. He sets the fastest lap of the race as he brings the gap down to under seven seconds. Ralf and Michael are less than a second apart as Jarno Trulli's bad luck continues and he retires a smoking Renault on lap 61.

Kimi Raikkonen is off in the gravel trap after losing the back end under braking. He brakes the rear suspension in the process and is out of the race with only three laps remaining. Juan Pablo Montoya is now in fifth place while the Toyota of Mika Salo moves in a points scoring finish.

Final lap and Michael Schumacher is still in the lead, just and it looks certain that the German will win here in Brazil. Ralf is close behind but just can't get past the Ferrari. The new F2002 crosses the line to win its first Grand Prix! Ralf is second, David Coulthard third, Jenson Button fourth, Juan Pablo Montoya fifth and Mika Salo in sixth!