From his 61st Pole Position, Michael Schumacher made light work of the 66-lap German Grand Prix to record his 11th win from 12 races. Schumacher's third win at Hockenheim was never in doubt almost from the outset, as he led the field into turn one ahead of the fast starting Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. The McLaren driver chased Schumacher hard until a rear wing failure sent him crashing out of the race and from that point, Schumacher could control the pace from the front.

While the battle for the victory was over early, second position was wide open for much of the race. Starting back in 13th place, Jenson Button drove a fantastic race and finished in second position, eight seconds behind Schumacher and ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Button's third fastest qualifying lap on Saturday was even more impressive as it emerged during the course of this race that he had approximately four to five laps of extra fuel in the BAR Honda compared to his rivals. The first round of pit stops saw Button vault from tenth to fifth as a result and from thereon he used the strategy to run third behind Alonso. A great battle ensued, with Button finally making the move late in the race.

Fernando Alonso finished in third position in his Renault. Starting fifth, the Spaniard launched himself into second place by the first turn. Alonso did not have the pace to hold off Raikkonen, but ran a strong race only to lose out to Button on the closing stages. Team- mate Jarno Trulli suffered a dismal race, losing time to his rivals with a piece of Kimi Raikkonen's wrecked McLaren Mercedes wedged under his front wing. A long pit stop and a new wing and he was classified back in 11th place.

David Coulthard started in fourth position and finished in the same place in his McLaren Mercedes. Coulthard pushed Alonso hard at times in the closing stages, but unlike team-mate Raikkonen, never really took a stab at passing the Renault driver. Amazingly, Coulthard was unaware that Raikkonen had crashed out due to a wing failure.

Kimi Raikkonen left Hockenheim even more speechless than usual. The Finn looked all set to challenge Michael Schumacher for the lead, running just under three seconds behind the Ferrari, when his whole rear wing plane failed in dramatic style approaching the first turn. Raikkonen spun wildly and came to rest after a large impact with the tyre wall.

Fifth place fell to 2003 winner Juan Pablo Montoya who drove a scruffy race in his BMW Williams. The Colombian made a terrible start from second position on the grid, ran wide in the race and generally looked rather lost for much of the time. The closing stages saw Montoya close in on Coulthard for fourth position, but the passing attempt never came and he was classified in fifth position.

Mark Webber did as he promised and that was to score points for Jaguar Racing. Sixth position for the Australian was a very good result in a car that clearly did not have the pace of his rivals' equipment. Significantly, Webber finished 18s behind Juan Pablo Montoya, but ahead of Antonio Pizzonia in the second Williams.

Pizzonia showed good pace at times at Hockenheim and did as was asked and scored points for Williams. However, it was not the stunning performance that Pizzonia would have dreamed about Saturday night, but it was however a great deal better than Marc Gene managed in his two outings with the team.

The final point fell to Takuma Sato in his BAR Honda. While Jenson Button enthralled the estimated 130,000 plus crowd, Sato had his second straight race where he seemed somewhat off the boil, although a lose HANS device and a high-speed spin did not help his quest.

Ninth position went to Giancarlo Fisichella, who used the tried and trusted two-stop tactic in his Sauber Petronas. However it was not quite enough today for the Italian, as he finished out of the points but ahead of Christian Klien in the second Jaguar after a solid race.

Jarno Trulli was classified in 11th on the day he announced he was leaving Renault at the end of the year, while Rubens Barrichello had a rotten race in his Ferrari. The Brazilian was in the pits at the end of lap one for a new front wing after out-braking himself and striking Juan Pablo Montoya. Barrichello worked his way back up to ninth, only to suffer a tyre failure on the final lap and dropped three positions.

For Ferrari, who needed 13 points from this race to clinch the Constructors' Championship, they will have to wait until the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks time to seal the title.

Felipe Massa finished in 13th place and a lap down in the second Sauber, while Olivier Panis recovered from the pit-lane start to finish 14th on a poor day for Toyota. Panis' team-mate Cristiano da Matta spun out of the race after suffering a left rear Michelin tyre failure, but in truth, the TF104B has some way to go to be a regular points scoring car based on today's performance.

At the back of the pack, Giorgio Pantano finished 15th in his Jordan Ford while Nick Heidfeld retired his Ford powered machine with what seemed to be a broken rear suspension component. Zsolt Baumgartner finished ahead of Gianmaria Bruni in the Minardi battle, but both drivers were a full four laps behind race winner Michael Schumacher.

The Formula One circus packs up and heads home for a three week break from testing and racing. Michael Schumacher adds his 11th winners trophy of the year to his cabinet and Jenson Button and BAR enjoy the rewards of a stunning race at the German Grand Prix.