Suzuka Grand Prix lap by lap

Before the start of the race Allan McNish is told that he will not be allowed to start because of worries about the bruises on his knees following his huge qualifying accident on Saturday. Jacques Villeneuve switches to the BAR spare car. Giancarlo Fisichella has an engine problem during the recognition laps and has to go to the spare Jordan, which is set-up for Takuma Sato and has a less powerful engine than his race car.

* Lap 1: At the start of the race the frontrunners all get away well and the order as they go into the first corner is Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, who gets ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato and Jarno Trulli, the Italian up from 11th on the grid. He is followed by Jenson Button. The big losers are Fisichella who drops from eighth on the grid to 11th and Villeneuve who falls from ninth to 14th after an off in the course of the lap. At the end of the first lap Schumacher is 2.2 seconds ahead of Barrichello.