Beautiful weather continued here at the Hockenheim circuit for this afternoon's German Grand Prix, the track registering a warm 38 degrees as drivers made their way to their respective grid positions. Problems for Rubens Barrichello, the Brazilian driver encountering electronic problems on his race car and forced to switch to the spare, making it just seconds before pit lane closes. The general consensus is that two stops will be the most efficient way to complete the 67 laps here this afternoon, strategy set to play a very important role.

The formation lap gets underway and everyone makes their way around the track without problems, Michael Schumacher leading them back around for the start of the race. The lights go out and it's GO in Germany! Heinz-Harald Frentzen is stopped on the grid as Michael Schumacher takes to the lead. Brother Ralf remains second with Rubens third and Montoya fourth. Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar is off the circuit due to gearbox problems and Kimi Raikkonen is now ahead of Montoya in fourth place. Ralf Schumacher is fighting to stay ahead of Barrichello as his brother pulls out over two seconds in these opening laps!

Heinz-Harald Frentzen rejoins two laps down and Mark Webber passes Mika Salo of 18th place. Felipe Massa makes a move on Jenson Button then teammate Nick Heidfeld while Eddie Irvine spins his Jaguar, the Irishman keeping control of the R3 and continuing on. Jacques Villeneuve now gets past Button, the BAR driver pushing the Renault a little wide in the process and allowing Takuma Sato to slip past as well. Meanwhile up the front Michael Schumacher is running away with the race while the battle rages behind him.

Understeering problems for Button as he loses more and more positions, the young Englishman now down in 18th place behind Mika Salo. Eddie Irvine, who lost several positions due to his spin, also gets past Jenson who now only has Frentzen behind him, the Arrows two laps down. Meanwhile the second Renault of Jarno Trulli is sixth being pressured by David Coulthard.

Michael Schumacher goes wide as Montoya and Raikkonen are locked in a fierce battle for fourth, the duo wheel to wheel, almost touching on several occasions as they fight for position! What an incredible duel as Montoya finally takes the position at Sachs kurve! Irvine spins again and Coulthard finally takes sixth from Trulli. Problems for Giancarlo Fisichella, the Jordan driver starting from sixth but has dropped back through the field, the Bridgestone tyres on his EJ12 too soft for today's conditions.

Olivier Panis now makes a move on Trulli, Renault seem to be very off the pace here this afternoon and he loses position after position. Meanwhile the gap at the front begins to come down and with 15 laps completed, Ralf is four seconds behind his brother. Takuma Sato makes the move on Villeneuve for 11th place as Trulli pits for new Michelins. Lap record for Ralf Schumacher and he brings the gap down to 3.5 seconds. There is a little more than a second back to third placed Barrichello, but Montoya in fourth is a further 14 seconds behind the Brazilian.

Lap twenty and Felipe Massa pits. Rubens almost makes it past Ralf as the two drivers put a lap on the Renaults in 19th and 20th places. What a disastrous race for them so far and it is highly doubtful things will improve. Salo and Frentzen pit, but while the Toyota driver takes on service, the Arrows retires. Gearbox problems for Mark Webber while Allan McNish pits then suffers a blown Toyota engine. Jenson Button joins the list of retirements as the top runners begin the scheduled stops. Rubens Barrichello is in first, with Michael Schumacher in the next time around. Raikkonen has also taken on service but the two Williams drivers continue on, Ralf setting yet another lap record.

Lap 27 and it's a very important time for the BMW squad with Ralf pushing to close the gap to his brother, hoping to come out ahead after his first scheduled stop. In he comes and it's slightly faster than Michael's stop but he doesn't make up enough ground and is back behind the Ferrari. Lap 30 and Montoya pits from the lead, a quick stop for the Colombian. Problems for Jacques Villeneuve and he too retires, leaving just 15 runners, Eddie Irvine the last on track. Coulthard pits as well, the last one to do so.

A drive through penalty for Jarno Trulli for ignoring blue flags. Blown rear Michelin for Raikkonen and he is forced to make his way back to the pits, slowly. Jarno Trulli's disastrous weekend finally comes to an end on 38, the Renault in the gravel and out of the race. After getting into sixth place, the BAR of Olivier Panis is the next to retire, leaving just 13 runners, Raikkonen in 13th and last place.

Lap 45 and it looks as if it is going to be a Schumacher one two with Michael winning his home event for Ferrari for the first time. Problems for Barrichello on his second stop, Ferrari mechanics struggling with the fuel rig! 21 seconds later he rejoins the German track in fourth place. Michael in and out with no problems while brother Ralf only takes on fuel but no new Michelins. Once again Montoya leads, but now he has to stop and will drop back. Fuel and tyres for the Colombian and Enrique Bernoldi retires the second Arrows with engine failure. A minor off for Nick Heidfeld but he retains sixth place with teammate Felipe Massa closing in.

The last fifteen laps are now underway and things are very stable. Michael Schumacher looks certain to win here today, his ninth victory of the season and his 62nd win overall. 12 runners are left with Irvine now last. The Irishman pits after telling the Jaguar crew that his R3 doesn't have any brakes and he almost hits a mechanic when he comes into his pitbox to retire. Giancarlo Fisichella retires with a blown Honda engine, leaving just ten runners, of which four remain on the lead lap.

Kimi Raikkonen's weekend comes to a close after hitting the barrier it the final corner. Williams mechanics are in the garage, but why? Only a handful of laps remain and in comes Ralf Schumacher, his FW23 with pressure problems. He emerges in third place just ahead of Barrichello. Michael Schumacher begins the final lap and takes it nice and easy to cross the line and win in Germany!

Top six: Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard and Nick Heidfeld.