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GP - Race Michael Schumacher wins the European GP ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard. Ralf Schumacher is 4th ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Mika Hakkinen. Lap 67: Final lap and Michael Schumacher appears set to win the race. Lap 66: Alesi retires after attempting to pass Raikkonen. He will still be classified though. Lap 66: 1 lap to go and Michael Schumacher leads Juan Pablo Montoya by over 9 seconds. Coulthard is 3rd ahead of Ralf Schumacher while Barrichello is 5th and Hakkinen is 6th. Lap 65: Montoya has closed up to Michael and the gap is down to 9 seconds but that is probably due to Michael not needing to push in the final 2 laps. Lap 64: Ralf Schumacher is pushing to try and catch David Coulthard in 3rd but there are only 3 laps remaining! Lap 63: The top 6 places are occupied by the top 3 teams. A first this season! Lap 62: It appears as if Ralf Schumacher was the only one capable of catching Michael but the 10 second stop - go penalty ruined any chance of that happening. Lap 61: 6 laps to go and the order at the top remains with Michael Schumacher comfortably in the lead ahead of Montoya. Lap 60: Jos Verstappen retires with a mechanical problems he was in 13th place. Lap 58: Barrichello spins but recovers. He was pushing to catch Ralf but has now lost any chance of catching him. Lap 57: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Montoya, Coulthard, R Schumacher, Barrichello, Hakkinen, Irvine, de la Rosa, Villeneuve, Raikkonen. Retirements: Tarso Marques, Olivier Panis, Enrique Bernoldi, Jarno Trulli, Heinz Harald Frentzen. Lap 56: It appears as if everyone in the top 6 is satisfied with their positions. Lap 56: David Coulthard is in 3rd place 31 seconds behind Michael while Ralf Schumacher is in 4th 43 seconds behind the leader. Lap 55: Michael Schumacher is currently lapping quicker than Montoya. The gap is 13.351 seconds. Heidfeld retires in the pits. Lap 54: Nick Heidfeld in 12th appears to have a problem as he limps back to the pits! Lap 53: Only the top 7 are on the same lap following all the scheduled pit stops. 14 laps remaining. Lap 52: Ralf Schumacher goes in for his 2nd and final pit stop. He rejoins in 4th ahead of Barrichello. Lap 50: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Montoya, R Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello, Hakkinen, Irvine, de la Rosa, Villeneuve, Raikkonen. Retirements: Tarso Marques, Olivier Panis, Enrique Bernoldi, Jarno Trulli, Heinz Harald Frentzen. Lap 50: Michael Schumacher rejoins in the lead with Juan Pablo Montoya in 2nd. Ralf Schumacher is in 3rd. Lap 50: Heinz Harald Frentzen retires while Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo both pit. Lap 49: Michael Schumacher has now lapped everyone up to his own team-mate in 5th!. Lap 48: The gap between Michael and Juan Pablo is down to 8.5 seconds. Lap 47: Michael Schumacher now leads Montoya by almost 9 seconds with Coulthard in 3rd around 45 seconds behind although the top 2 are likely to have another stop while Coulthard is expected to finish the race without any more stops. Lap 46: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Montoya, R Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello, Hakkinen, Irvine, Frentzen, de la Rosa and Villeneuve. Retirements: Tarso Marques, Olivier Panis, Enrique Bernoldi. Lap 45: Jarno Trulli suffers another mechanical failure and retires Lap 44: Barrichello stops and rejoins in 5th behind Coulthard. Lap 43: Villeneuve pits and the Ferrari crew are out expecting Barrichello. Lap 42: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Montoya, Barrichello (yet to stop), R Schumacher, Coulthard, Villeneuve (yet to stop), Trulli (yet to stop), de la Rosa (yet to stop), Hakkinen and Alesi (yet to stop). Retirements: Tarso Marques, Olivier Panis, Enrique Bernoldi. Lap 41: The gap between M Schumacher and Montoya is now 9 seconds. Lap 40: Montoya is catching Michael fast now as Michael is going through traffic. Lap 40: Ralf rejoins in 4th after his penalty while Montoya has moved up into 2nd. Lap 39: Stop - Go penalty for Ralf as a result of crossing the white line at the exist of the pits. A relief for Michael! Lap 38: David Coulthard pits from 3rd. He rejoins in 6th ahead of Hakkinen but behind Barrichello although Barrichello has yet to stop. Lap 37: Irvine pits for his only pit stop. Contrary to what was thought. He was in 6th place. Lap 37: The gap is still increasing between Michael and Ralf. It is 5.9 seconds now. Lap 36: Michael Schumacher has now lapped Raikkonen in 13th place. Lap 36: Juan Pablo Montoya remains over a second behind Coulthard in 4th. Lap 35: Michael Schumacher leads Ralf Schumacher by just over 5 seconds. Lap 34: Mika Hakkinen pits and rejoins in 10th. Lap 33: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Schumacher, Coulthard, Montoya, Barrichello, Hakkinen, Irvine, Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Villeneuve. Retirements: Tarso Marques, Olivier Panis, Enrique Bernoldi. Lap 33: Michael now leads Ralf by over 4 seconds. Barrichello passes Hakkinen for 5th! Lap 33: Juan Pablo Montoya has now caught Coulthard and is also trying to pass. Bernoldi retires on the track. Lap 32: It appeared as if Coulthard let Ralf through without holding him too much. It would be to Coulthard's advantage if Ralf wins the race! Lap 32: Ralf Schumacher managed to pass David Coulthard for second ! Lap 31: It looks as if the Mclarens are on a single stop strategy while Williams and Ferrari are on a 2 stop. Lap 30: Frentzen pits from 10th Lap 29: Juan Pablo Montoya pits from 1st. He rejoins behind Ralf Schumacher. Lap 28: David Coulthard is between the 2. Ralf will struggle for the first few laps but will then start catching Michael. Lap 28: Michael Schumacher goes out ahead of Ralf. Lap 28: Michael and Ralf pit together! Lap 27: Montoya sets another fastest lap with a time of 1:18.354. He will be catching the leaders in around 5 laps unless Ralf manages to overtake his brother. Lap 26: Montoya sets another fastest lap so far with a time of 1:18.553. He is now 4.747 seconds behind the leaders. Lap 25: Michael Schumacher remains under pressure. Lap 24: Oliver Panis retires in the gravel! Lap 24: Ralf continues to push Michael. Lap 23: Ralf Schumacher is 0.35 seconds behind Michael. Lap 23: Juan Pablo Montoya sets the fastest lap so far with a 1:18.646. Lap 22: Hakkinen goes off the track but recovers. Lap 22: Montoya took out a second from the leaders as Michael Schumacher continues to hold Ralf. Lap 21: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Schumacher, Montoya, Coulthard, Hakkinen, Trulli, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Frentzen. Retirements: Tarso Marques. Lap 20: The Williams mechanics go out on the pit lane but return back into the garage!. Lap 19: Juan Pablo Montoya is starting to close in on the leaders. He is 9 seconds behind now. Lap 19: Ralf Schumacher is now attempting to overtake his brother. Lap 18: Half a second between Michael and Ralf! Lap 17: Juan Pablo Montoya sets the fastest lap of the race so far with a 1:18.710! Lap 16: Ralf Schumacher has now caught up with Michel. The gap down to a second! Lap 15: Eddie Irvine is now 0.4 seconds behind Heinz Harald Frentzen. Lap 15: Ralf Schumacher sets the fastest lap of the race so far with a 1:18.771. Lap 14: The gap between Michael and Ralf is now down to 1.7 seconds! Lap 13: Ralf Schumacher is now lapping faster than Michael Schumacher as the Michelins get to their optimum temperature. Lap 13: Luciano Burti pits, he took a trip over the gravel. Lap 12: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Schumacher, Montoya, Coulthard, Hakkinen, Trulli, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Frentzen. Retirements: Tarso Marques. Lap 11: David Coulthard in 4th is catching Montoya. The gap is 2.1 seconds. Lap 10: Michael leads Ralf by 3.6 seconds. Montoya continues to drop back and is now 7.5 seconds behind his team-mate. Lap 10: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest lap so far with a 1:19.415 Lap 9: The closest battle on the track at this stage is between Irvine in 11th and Frentzen in 10th. Irvine is 0.5 seconds behind. Irvine could be on a 2 stop strategy though. Lap 8: Tarso Marques is the first retirement of the race. He struggled at the start and now he has parked on the side of the track. Lap 7: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Schumacher, Montoya, Coulthard, Hakkinen, Trulli, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Frentzen. There are no retirements so far. Lap 6: Michael now leads Ralf by 2.5 seconds with Montoya 6.7 seconds behind the leader. Lap 5: Barrichello lost 3 places at the start running in 7th while Frentzen lost 2 places running in 10th. The 2 Sauber team-mates swapped positions. Lap 5: Juan Pablo Montoya is 3.5 seconds behind his team-mate. Lap 4: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest lap of the race so far with a 1:19.458. Lap 3: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Schumacher, Montoya, Coulthard, Hakkinen, Trulli, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Frentzen. Lap 2: The Michelin tyres don't perform well on the first few laps. Lap 2: Michael Schumacher is already 1.4 seconds ahead of his brother. Lap 1: Michael Schumacher leads Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya. Coulthard, Hakkinen and Trulli make the top 6. Barrichello drops from 4th to 7th. Race start: Michael Schumacher leads his brother into the first corner. No major incidents. The cars are now back on the starting grid awaiting the start of the race. All the cars have started their formation lap except for Tarso Marques who struggled but eventually got going. During the '97 race at the Nurburgring, both Michael and Ralf Schumacher retired from the race alongside Giancarlo Fisichella after a first lap incident. The two brother are confident that it will not be repeated today. Formation lap underway! Formation lap starting in 5 minutes. The weather conditions are likely to give the Michelin runners an advantage. It will be an interesting race. Weather is sunny and the temperature is 22 degrees. |