Rubens Barrichello drove a flawless race from Pole Position this afternoon in Shanghai to take his second win of the season in dominant style. Barrichello led from start to finish to lead Jenson Button over the line by just a second with third place Kimi Raikkonen less than half a second further back in third position. Despite the close finish, it was a dominant display from Barrichello.

The Monza winner started the race from the Pole and withstood tremendous pressure from Kimi Raikkonen early in the race. However neither Raikkonen nor Button would ever lead Barrichello on track. For Kimi Raikkonen, third position will be a disappointment as the Finn shadowed Barrichello early in the race, only to lose out to Jenson Button who gained second position thanks to some smart thinking in the BAR Honda pit.

Stopping just twice competed to the three stop strategies of Barrichello and Raikkonen, Button withstood pressure from Raikkonen right up to the chequered flag. Raikkonen could have won this race, but some days, a little bad luck and a missed opportunity and the chance of the win is gone.

Fernando Alonso drove a lonely race for Renault to finish in fourth position. However, with Button taking second position and Takuma Sato also finishing in the points in sixth position, the team lose further ground to BAR in the fight for second in the constructors’ championship.

Juan Pablo Montoya salvaged a fifth position on a day when the Colombian was surprisingly uncompetitive. Montoya, like Alonso and Sato, opted for just two stop to finish 13 seconds behind Alonso.

Ralf Schumacher had a good race going in the sister BMW Williams, but has hit hard by David Coulthard’s McLaren mid-race. With damaged suspension, the younger Schumacher made his way back to the pits, but his race was over there and then.

Takuma Sato started in 18th position in his BAR Honda as a result of an engine change on Friday. The Japanese driver steered clear of trouble and used a two-stop strategy to gain valuable points for BAR Honda.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa brought their Sauber Petronas’ home in seventh and eighth positions respectively. The team flattered to deceive a little in qualifying, but they will be very happy with a double points finish.

David Coulthard had a poor day in the second McLaren. The Scot, who is without a drive in 2005, finished in ninth position after having to make an extra stop to replace a punctured front Michelin as a result of his heavy contact with Ralf Schumacher.

Mark Webber raced hard all race long in the lead Jaguar, fending off Jacques Villeneuve across the line. Villeneuve’s much hyped return to racing yielded no points for Renault, but the former Champion is on a very steep learning curve with the team.

Michael Schumacher finished in a disappointing 12th position. The Ferrari start started the race from the pit lane, clashed with the unfortunate Christian Klien, ending the Jaguar driver’s day on the spot, suffered a puncture and then made a seemingly needless pit stop in the closing stages of the race. With the exception of Japanese last year, it was probably the worst race of the German’s career. The highlight was his fastest lap of 1:32.238 recorded on the final lap.

Of the remaining runners, Jordan brought both cars to the chequered flag with Nick Heidfeld finishing 13th ahead of Olivier Panis in the Toyota. The Frenchman lost time at the start of the race with what seemed to be a clutch problem and was never a feature again. Timo Glock was 15th in what was his second career Grand Prix. Zsolt Baumgartner finished three laps down in his Minardi.

The F1 circus leaves Shanghai International Circuit and head to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks time.