Imagine Mika Hakkinen as a big Spanish bull, pawing the ground in anger. Imagine his victory to be striking the matador with the red rag. Now I'm sure you can picture the triumphant Olé! as the matador sidesteps the bull's charge at the last second.

Michael Schumacher could not believe his luck, the victory dropped into his lap belts.

That doesn't quite tell the story, but it describes the ending pretty accurately. Ferrari, and Michael in particular, had qualified beautifully, shutting the doubters up as Schumacher posted the fastest time with one run to go. Fair enough, Hakkinen did pull out a fantastic final qualifying lap to come within a tenth of the pole sitter, but Michael probably could have gone quicker.

Coulthard looked the quicker of the two McLaren drivers until the last few seconds of the qualifying session. His nightmare weekend was only just beginning. With the aid of traction control (!) Coulthard's McLaren stalled on the grid on the formation lap and he had to start in last place. Ron Dennis, Coulthard's biggest fan called it brain fade before he knew the facts and Coulthard soon retorted that Dennis has brain fade for making such a comment without the truth to hand. Is Coulthard sick of McLaren?

Either way, things didn't particularly improve on the opening lap for David. In his eagerness to gain places quickly, he was caught in the rear of the pack in the first corner and came into contact with a few cars. This necessitated a pitstop for a new nose cone, which delayed him even further. The fact that he finished fifth in the end is a testimony to the difference in skill and machinery between the front-runners and the back of the grid. Coulthard is still in for the championship - he is only 8 points behind Schumacher after all.

The Williams were once again the third best team in the race, although Montoya is still behind on qualifying form. Ralf spun out on lap 20, leaving the path clear for Montoya to make his way up the grid. Trulli managed to hold the Columbian up for a while, but they both pitted at the same time and Juan Pablo got out first and remained in front. He inherited second place to get his first podium in Formula One.

In third place was a surprised Jacques Villeneuve. The BAR was reliable and seemingly faster than the Jordan in the race. Trulli, for whatever reason looked lacklustre in the race. Can Jordan keep their grip on the lead over the rival Honda team?

Worth a mention is the Sauber team. The cars finished 6th and 8th, with Nick Heidfield holding off David Coulthard, until Coulthard's experience and his car's speed got the better of the young German. They are certainly a team to watch now though.

The next race of the Formula One season is in Austria at the A-1 Ring on Sunday 13th May 2001. Click here to see the preview.