Having claimed his maiden pole position on Saturday, Juan Pablo Montoya had the race in his pocket until a fumbled pit stop cost the Colombian valuable time and more importantly, handed team mate Ralf Schumacher his third victory of the season. The German ran out a comfortable winner, his BMW powered Williams taking the flag some 46 seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello. "It has been an unbelievable day and I am very, very happy," commented Ralf. "It is just great for a German driver, with a German engine to win the German Grand Prix." As for Barrichello, his driving was nothing short of sublime. The Brazilian - electing to make two stops instead of the 'de rigueur' format of a single stop, was at one with his car all afternoon. "This result was really everything I could hope for today," he said. "I had a good race and I am pleased to have brought home another six important points for the Constructors' Championship." Displaying a level of confidence rarely seen, Barrichello underlined his commitment and pace by twice passing David Coulthard around the outside of the fast right hander preceding the stadium section. They were both fabulous manoeuvres in a race where 'Rubino' was the victor himself twelve months previous. Asked what the secret was to pull off the moves on Coulthard, the Brazilian's reply was simple and direct, "I guess you have to have a good car, you have to be a bit audacious or something like this!" With Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Coulthard all retiring their respective machines, Jacques Villeneuve made his second visit of the year to the podium - his first since May's Spanish Grand Prix. "Today's result feels great, said the Canadian. "We haven't been competitive in the last few months and this was probably the race we expected to be least competitive in. It's great that we got another podium but we still need to be more competitive. This time it's more enjoyable than Barcelona because there, Hakkinen retired on the last lap and this time, we deserved it."
