Austrian GP: Lap by lap

A roundup of all the action from Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring in Spieberg.

Start:Michael Schumacher outdrags his brother, Ralf, to grab second into the first corner. Jacques Villeneuve comes into the second corner out of control and knocks himself and Heinz-Harald Frentzen down to the back of the field. Nick Heidfeld is up into third and Schumacher is right up behind race leader Rubens Barrichello.

Lap 2: It looks as though Schumacher is on a two-stop race strategy. Both Williams hcars ave got past Nick Heidfeld out of sight of the cameras.

Lap 3 : Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Ralf, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Heidfeld, David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen, Mika Salo.

Lap 4: Barrichello now leads Schumacher by 1,1s. Raikkonen is right up behind Coulthard as the Mclarens battle for sixth.

Lap 5: De la Rosa retires from the race.

Lap 6: Button is up to ninth after benefiting from the startline reshuffle. Barrichello sets a new fastest lap with a 1m10,8s as Raikkonen’s Mercedes engine blows up.

Lap 7: Another bad lap for McLaren as Raikkonen suffers an early retirement. Schumacher goes fastest with a 1m10,7s.

Lap 8: Massa looks to be in big trouble. The Sauber looks to have a rear suspension failure as he crawls back to the pits.

Lap 9: Race order: Barrichello, Schumacher, Ralf, Monotya, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Salo, Jenson Button, Giancarolo Fisichella.

Lap 10: Barrichello sets a new fastest lap with a 1m10,1s. He seems to have the speed over Schumacher today. The Ferraris are now over 10 seconds ahead of the Williams and must be running a two-stop strategy as they are so much quicker than the Williams

Lap 12: The Ferraris are still pulling away at a massive rate.

Lap 13: Schumacher is 1,7s behind Barrichello as the Ferraris stay in formation.

Lap 14: Frentzen is trying to recover after his earlier assault from Jacques Villeneuve. He is currently in 16th stuck behind Eddie Irvine’s Jaguar. Schumacher is starting to drop off the pace of Barrichello. He is now 2,2s behind his team-mate.

Lap 15: Frentzen continues to challenge Irvine’s Jaguar for position.

Lap 16: Barrichello is now 2,3s ahead of Schumacher as Frentzen spins trying to get close to Irvine at the final corner.

Lap 17: Villeneuve is now right behind Salo in the battle for seventh.

Lap 18: Schumacher has closed in on Barrichello as the Ferraris make their way through traffic. The gap is now just 1s as they lap Irvine and Sato.

Lap 19: Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Ralf, Montoya, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Salo, Villeneuve, Button, Fisichella.

Lap 20: Yoong loses control of his Minardi at the last corner but he corrects his line. Villeneuve passes Salo for eighth place.

Lap 21: Schumacher is now 1,4s behind Barrichello.

Lap 22: Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Ralf, Montoya, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Villeneuve, Salo. The Williams cars are now beginning to speed up. Ralf currently lies 30 seconds behind his brother.

Lap 23: Olivier Panis has a bizarre retirment when his engine seizes on the start-finish straight. The Frenchman spins to a halt in the middle of the track as the safety car joins the track.

Lap 24: Both Ferrari’s pit in an attempt to rescue their pit strategy as the safety car stays on the track. Villeneuve and Fisichella also take advanage of the safety car situation.

Lap 25: Safety car is still out as the BAR is cleared off the track.

Lap 26: Barrichello is still out in front but Ralf is now splitting the Ferraris.

Lap 27: Race will be re-started this lap. Order – Barrichello, Ralf, Schumacher, Montoya, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Salo, Button.

Lap 28: We’re racing again but there’s a huge accident at the second corner! Heidfeld completely loses the Sauber at the second corner. The Sauber flies into the Takuma Sato’s Jordan at high speed.

Lap 29: The safety car is back out again and things look bad for Sato. He appears to be moving but he is still trapped in the car.

Lap 30: It really was a horrible accident. Mark Webber locked up going into the corner in front of the Sauber and Sato. Whether Heidfeld was distracted or not it’s hard to tell but he just lost the car going into the corner and T-boned Sato’s car at barely abated speed after taking to the grass on the inside of the track.

Lap 31: Montoya was very lucky not to be involved in the accident as he was only inches behind Sato’s car.

Lap 32: Sato is now out of the car and is being treated by the side of the car by FIA chief medical officer Syd Watkins and the paramedics.

Lap 33: Salo is into the pits in the Toyota. Sato has been lifted into the ambulance by the paramedics.

Lap 34: Frentzen and McNish are also pitting as the safety car remains out on the track

Lap 35: It’s possible that Heidfeld may have suffered a exploded brake disc. Footage shows a big puff of brake dust as he started to spin.

Lap 36: Order – Barrichello, Ralf, Schumacher, Montoya, Coulthard, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Trulli, Button.

Lap 37: We’re going racing again at the end of this lap. No dramas this time around as everyone gets through in the same order as they started.

Lap 38: Villeneuve makes a nice move around the outside of Fisichella into turn one to grab sixth place. Order – Barrichello, Ralf, Schumacher, Montoya, Coulhard, Villeneuve, Fisichella, Trulli.

Lap 39: Villeneuve is now all over the back of Coulthard as Schumacher puts Ralf under pressure. Rubens is stretching out a bit of a lead.

Lap 40: Rubens is now about 2s ahead of Ralf as he draws away from the battle for second.

Lap 41: Villeneuve has been given a drive-through penalty even though he has just overtaken Coulthard for fifth.

Lap 42: Villeneuve’s penalty was for his attack on Frentzen right at the start of the race.

Lap 43: Coulthard is now coming under pressure from Fisichella, Trulli and Button.

Lap 44: Ralf is able to keep Michael behind quite comfortably. Schumacher is now 3,5s behind leader Barrichello. Still no news of Takuma Sato’s condition.

Lap 45: Order – Barrichello, Ralf, Schumacher, Montoya, Villeneuve, Coulthard, Fisichella, Trulli, Button.

Lap 46: Villeneuve still hasn’t come in for his stop-go. It’s shame a great drive has been spoilt. Sato appears to be okay according to Eddie Jordan, which is a miracle if true.

Lap 47: Bad lap for Minardi. Yoong retires with an engine blow up and Webber called in for a drive-through.

Lap 48: Trulli is out with an engine blow up while a mistake by Coulthard lets Fisichella through into fifth.

Lap 49: Button is putting Coulthard under pressure although the Scot may be able to make it through to the end of the race without making another stop.

Lap 50: Villeneuve may have already made his drive-through so he may be okay.

Lap 51: Schumacher is starting to put Barrichello under pressure and he has the gap down to under two seconds.

Lap 52: Montoya is in for his pit-stop. Can he beat Ralf out again. They don’t change the tyres and the Colombian beats his team-mate out of the pits.

Lap 53: Villeneuve is now up into third but he still has to stop.

Lap 54: Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Villeneuve, Montoya, Ralf, Fisichella, Coulthard, Button. Villeneuve has made his stop and he comes out behind the battle for fifth comprising Fisichella, Coulthard, Button and now Villeneuve.

Lap 55: Barrichello is now lapping Frentzen as Schumacher sets a new fastest lap with a 1m9,4s. The gap is now 3.5s.

Lap 56: Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Montoya, Ralf, Fisichella, Coulthard, Button, Villeneuve.

Lap 57: Barrichello is responding to the attack of the his team-mate as he sets a new fastest lap of a 1m9,3s.

Lap 58: The battle for fifth place is intensifying as Fisichella, Coulthard, Button and Villeneuve close up on each other.

Lap 59: The Ferraris are in the middle of lapping the Toyotas which are lying in ninth and tenth.

Lap 60: Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Montoya, Ralf, Fisichella, Coulthard, Button, Villeneuve.

Lap 61: Barrichello is coming into the pits for his stop. How quick will it be? He gets out in 6,2s after a perfect stop.

Lap 62: Michael is coming in this time round. Schumacher gets out in 6,4s and Rubens sweeps through to take the lead. It looks like the Brazilian’s day.

Lap 63: The gap between the two Ferraris is now about 4s.

Lap 64: Order – Barrichello, Schumacher, Montoya, Ralf, Fisichella, Coulthard, Button, Villeneuve.