Prior to the start of this afternoon's race, light rain began to fall, however it didn't last and the 62 lap San Marino Grand Prix got underway in dry conditions. Track temperature was registering 21 degrees as the 21 drivers took to the grid to await the beginning of the formation lap. All the cars are in place, engines revving and all unnecessary personnel have left grid as the lights signal the start of the warm up lap. No problems for anyone as they come back around to await the start of round four.

And they're off! Michael leads the way as brother Ralf takes second from Barrichello. Allan McNish is off onto the grass, the Toyota driver's day over before it had a chance to begin due to technical problems. "It was a little bit brief but there was no drive in the gearbox and we tried it again in the pits but there was nothing there," McNish explained.

The Renault drivers have another spectacular start and get past the seventh placed Sauber of Nick Heidfeld. Meanwhile the second Sauber of Felipe Massa slots in behind after getting past the 10th placed BAR of Jacques Villeneuve.

On only the second lap Michael Schumacher is pulling away fast, the Ferrari driver already almost two seconds in front of the second placed Williams belonging to his younger brother. Meanwhile at the back of the field, Mark Webber, in 19th, has already pulled out a second on last placed man, Pedro de la Rosa. Michael continues to fly around the Imola circuit, setting fastest lap after fastest lap, while teammate Rubens Barrichello applies the pressure to Ralf. There is under a second between the two and although Ralf made a great start, it appears as if he is having problems holding onto the position.

Lap six and the Jordan of Takuma Sato comes into the pits, gearbox problems for the young rookie driver. After a very long stop he rejoins the track but is cruising slowly at the pack of the pack. He soon pulls off the track and retires from his first San Marino Grand Prix.

Lap 9 and Michael Schumacher now has a six second advantage over his brother who in turn has a 1.7 second lead on Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya, who sits in fourth, appears to be losing ground to the Ferrari and is sitting seven seconds back down the field. The biggest battle at this stage is between the two Renaults and the two Saubers in 7th 8th 9th and 10th places.

Things are stagnant at the front of the field with Michael Schumacher extending his lead with every lap. However Rubens Barrichello has Ralf in his sights once again and closes in on the Williams driver in an attempt to reclaim his second place. For some reason, Michael is using the spare Ferrari, the one Rubens qualified in yesterday while the Brazilian driver is actually in Michael's race car!

Lap 17 and Nick Heidfeld comes into the Sauber pits, the German driver stopped for a massive 17.9 seconds after a problem with the refueller, dropping him out of the four way battle for seventh place. Teammate Felipe Massa also comes in, however his stop is a lot quicker at 9.4 seconds, Heidfeld now all the way back in 16th place. However, his woes don't end there as he is forced to come back in for another stop to take on the fuel he missed out on the first time!

Lap 21 and Giancarlo Fisichella joins his teammate on the list of retirements, the Italian driver pulling his Jordan over onto the side of the circuit. His home race is over, disaster for Jordan!

"The problem was the hydraulic pressure," Fisichella explained. "Unfortunately the start was good but as I was trying to go up the inside Heinz-Harald Frentzen cut me off and I went onto the gravel."

Michael Schumacher comes up to put a lap on last placed man, Pedro de la Rosa, the Jaguar driver down in 17th place. The Ferrari gets past with ease then takes the Minardi of Mark Webber and begins to reel in Eddie Irvine, who is only a second ahead of Webber.

The Renault of Jarno Trulli comes in for his first stop followed by the Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi. No problems for either driver, but it is revealed that Nick Heidfeld exceeded the speed limit in pitlane on his second stop, more bad news for the Sauber driver as he is informed that the infringement has incurred a drive through penalty. Jenson Button is next in and comes out ahead of teammate Jarno Trulli.

Back up the front and Michael Schumacher is continuing to push, the reigning world champion's best lap time already over seven tenths faster than the track record set here last year by brother Ralf. Meanwhile Juan Pablo Montoya is picking up the pace a little, the Colombian driver recording the fastest first and third sector times.

Lap 27 and Heinz-Harald Frentzen retires his Arrows on the grass. Ralf Schumacher laps Eddie Irvine but Rubens Barrichello fails to get past the Jaguar right away. Irvine appeared to let Ralf past easily but refuse to yield to Barrichello. The Brazilian finally gets through and gives the Irishman a signal of displeasure at being held up. Mika Salo drives his Toyota into the garage and it's all over for the rookie team with both drivers now out of the race.

Lap 31 and McLaren Williams and Ferrari mechanics appear in pitlane. Kimi Raikkonen is the first to come in followed by race leader, Michael Schumacher. Brother Ralf is right behind and Rubens Barrichello goes into the lead of the San Marino Grand Prix. Pedro de la Rosa pits from last place but there appears to be a problem. He gets away really slowly and pulls over where pit lane blends with the circuit. Race over for the Jaguar driver.

Barrichello and Montoya pit leaving David Coulthard the sole driver on track yet to stop. Rubens has a brilliant stop and manages to leapfrog Ralf for position. David Coulthard finally pits and returns to the track in seventh place, losing his sixth place to the Renault of Jenson Button. 36 laps down and fifteen drivers remain, eleven of those are on the lead lap and a full minute covers the top six.

Felipe Massa comes in for a second stop and Rubens Barrichello sets a new lap record of 1:24.170 as he hunts down his teammate who is currently over 15 seconds in the lead. Nick Heidfeld pits for a fourth time as Jarno Trulli then Jenson Button come in for their second scheduled stops.

Lap 45 and Kimi Raikkonen appears to lose something from his McLaren! The Finn pulls straight into the McLaren garage and the team rush to ensure the car is kept away from prying eyes. According to the team his MP4-17 was pumping hot air onto the suspension and they brought him in more for precautionary measures than anything else. The Schumacher brothers come in for their second and final stops. Rubens Barrichello is in on the next lap and there is yet another retirement as Eddie Irvine pulls his Jaguar R3 over to the side of the circuit. Problems for Barrichello in the pits! There is a problem with his left rear tyre and he remains stationary for over 13 seconds, but thankfully he had a strong enough lead over Ralf Schumacher to retain his second place.

Montoya and Coulthard have their second stops, no problems for either driver as the field drops down to 12 runners with the BAR of Olivier Panis retiring from his fourth race this season. Jenson Button is back up into fifth place after Coulthard's stop, the Scotsman relegated to sixth place once again.

Ten laps remain as the Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi is off at Rivazza, and becomes beached in the gravel, dropping the field back to eleven. Yellow flags are waving as their appears to be debris on the circuit from Bernoldi's A23. Michael Schumacher comes up to lap the sixth placed McLaren of David Coulthard and the Scot moves over and lets the German through easily. The positions look set as the laps tick down. Felipe Massa makes a move on Jarno Trulli for eighth place and instantly pulls out a lead. Michael comes around to start his final lap, followed by his teammate. It's a Ferrari victory at Imola as Michael takes the chequered flag with Rubens finally finishing his first race of the year with a second place while Ralf takes third.

Top six from this afternoon's San Marino Grand prix were: Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jenson Button and David Coulthard.