Final Lap: Schumacher looks very comfortable as he brings the Ferrari home in first place for the third year in succession. Order is: Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen, Eddie Irvine, Mark Webber, Mika Salo, Alex Yoong, Pedro de la Rosa

Lap 57: Salo only car lengths behind. It is very close but Salo spins - Webber romps away

Lap 56: Salo now only 2.6 seconds behind Webber

Lap 55: Gap now only 3.6 seconds

Lap 54: Webber looks slow, must have a gearbox problem - the engine sounds fine.

Lap 53: Only five seconds separate Webber and Salo - with 5 laps to go it does not look as if Webber will be able to keep him at bay.

Lap 52: Schumacher 28 seconds in the lead, Raikkonen again closing on Montoya.

Lap 51: Yes Webber is short changing, he has a problem.

Lap 50: Webber is struggling. Salo is catching up too fast!

Lap 49: No change except for Salo closing the gap to Webber by 2 seconds a lap.

Lap 48: Salo is closing on Webber

Lap 47: Schumacher is now definitely taking it easy.

Lap 46: de la Rosa is lapping at the same pace or better than the leaders. Don't understand why he is so far behind (5 laps down).

Lap 45: Race is settling down. The gaps between cars are stable.

Lap 44: Montoya 4.9 seconds ahead of Raikkonen who seems to be struggling more with this set of tyres

Lap 43: Order: Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Irvine,  Webber, Salo, Yoong, de la Rosa

Lap 42: Schumacher has lapped everyone except Montoya and Raikkonen.

Lap 41: Montoya now comfortable 3.7 seconds ahead of Raikkonen.

Lap 40: No change

Lap 39: 8 cars left. Schumacher still a comfortable 22 seconds in the lead.

Lap 38: Montoya pits. 10.1 seconds. Tyres look new, maybe they do not need to scrub them this season. Schumacher pits 10.5 seconds, exits in the lead. Raikkonen in pits too 10.6 second stop and comes out just ahead of Montoya but has an off in the first corner, losing second.

Lap 37: Webber pits - the first of the pit stops, they are struggling to fuel. A 34 second pit stop!

Lap 36: Montoya now comfortably in second place. It seems that Raikkonen is slowing - hopefully not with the same problem as Coulthard who stops on the side of the track.

Lap 35: No sign of rain. Schumacher laps Eddie Irvine in fourth place.

Lap 34: Schumacher laps Coulthard.

Lap 33: Schumacher is flying. He could be planning to pit soon.

Lap 32: Montoya seems to be pulling away from Raikkonen.

Lap 31: No I'm  mistaken. Schumacher just did 1.28.628

Lap 30: Schumacher seems to be taking it easy.

Lap 29: No change in race order.

Lap 28: 9 cars left. Villeneuve crashed because he lost a rear wing apparently.

Lap 27: Villeneuve is closing on the Minardi of Webber. Oh No! Villeneuve has just crashed. 

Lap 26: Villeneuve into 6th.

Lap 25: Bernoldi gets black flagged because he swapped to the spare car after the official start of the race. Coulthard is seriously off the pace and falling back steadily. Schumacher is 18 seconds ahead of Montoya. 

Lap 24: Raikkonen crowds Montoya now and Mark Webber passes Coulthard.

Lap 23: Webber is in 6th place. 

Lap 22: Irvine is in 4th place.  Ahead of Coulthard who is still struggling.

Lap 21: Coulthard's car seems to be missing gears in the corners - he has too many upsets.

Lap 20: Raikkonen gets out of shape on turn one. Seems that McLaren have a handling problem. Schumacher now 11.3 seconds ahead of Montoya. Coulthard has another slide.

Lap 19: Frentzen started the race from the pit lane under a red light. Schumacher two seconds per lap faster than Montoya.

Lap 18: Montoya now almost 5 seconds behind Schumacher. Montoya has Raikkonen and Coulthard catching him. Frentzen has been black flagged.

Lap 17: Order is: Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Irvine, de la Rosa, Webber, Yoong, 

Lap 16: Montoya seems weak on brakes.  Montoya is driving very defensively but it only works for a little while, Schumacher gets past into the lead.

Lap 15: Montoya has Schumacher all over his gearbox Raikkonen now in third.

Lap 14: Schumacher seems faster but the Williams is faster on the straights which makes it hard to overtake. Coulthard offs again.

Lap 13: Montoya pulls away a couple of car lengths.

Lap 12: Race restart. Coulthard has an off. Schumacher goes through into the lead only to be overtaken by Montoya who learnt his restarts in CART.

Lap 11: Only 12 cars running now still behind the safety car. Both Arrows managed to get back into the race.

Lap 10: Coulthard, Schumacher, Montoya are packed up behind the safety car again.

Lap 9: Trulli loses it coming out of turn 2 and hits the wall - safety car back out and Coulthard loses the gap he had.

Lap 8. Schumacher pushing hard.

Lap 7 : Gap between Coulthard and Schumacher now over 6 seconds

Lap 6: Only 13 cars left in the race Schumacher is still all over Trulli's gearbox

Lap 5: Positions unchanged Montoya seems to be dropping back

Lap 4: Race resumes . Schumacher crowds Trulli - Coulthard is getting away.

Lap 3: Still behind the safety car.

Lap 2: Safety car still out. Barrichello moved in to the inside of the track at the start which is probably why Ralf Schumacher thought there was a way past. Barrichello possibly did not see him, or maybe he was covering his line but he moved out again and Ralf Schumacher ran right over him. It was hard to see if the rest of the field just got involved in that accident or had their own. Michael Schumacher and Raikkonen avoided the carnage by scooting across the grass.

Lap 1: Safety car is out. Coulthard leads, Trulli second, Montoya third and  Michael Schumacher in fourth Raikkonen in the pits.

Out: Massa, Button, McNish, Barrichello, Panis, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher

Race Start: Rubens gets away well, M Schumacher is away slowly, Ralf Schumacher has a fantastic start but runs into the back of Rubens. Rubens off, Ralf off, Michael is through.

Formation lap: Cars are out on the parade lap. Both Arrows are stationary on the starting grid - they are being pushed out of the way, back into the pits. In the cockpits hearts will be pounding as drivers hone their focus, ignoring everything but the job at hand..

-5 Min: The track is dry, although the threat of rain has not gone away. Rubens Barrichello, in pole position is getting into his car. Next to him is Michael Schumacher in the other Ferrari. The second row has Ralf Schumacher in the Williams beside Coulthard in a McLaren. Third row: Raikkonen and Montoya.

-10 Min: National anthem of Australia is being sung - the final strokes before the race starts.

-15 Min: Tyre warmers are still on. Pit lane looks like a busy railway station. Barrichello is deep in conversation with his team.

-20 Min: Cars are out on the track. Excitement is mounting.. 

-25 Min: Conditions are cloudy and there is a strong possibility of further rain. Albert Park is crowded by umbrellas in the grandstands. Unless tyre qualities have changed substantially this will favour Bridgestone shod cars and as Ferrari are on Bridgestone while McLaren and Williams are on Michelins we must assume that Ferrari has the advantage unless the weather changes, which seems unlikely.

Session starting at 2:00 PM local time