Kimi Raikkonen stalled his McLaren at the start forcing the rest of the field to complete a second parade lap. At the restart Coulthard got away fast moving up to third as Fisichella led Trulli. Behind Coulthard Webber led team mate Heidfeld and the second Red Bull of Christian Klien.

Despite starting from the pit lane Kimi Raikkonen wasted no time cruising up to sixteenth behind Michael Schumacher by the end of the first lap. The order remained relatively static until the first set of pit stops after lap twenty. Raikkonen did manage to pass Schumacher as Fisichella retained the lead from Coulthard, Webber, Barrichello and Montoya.

Michael Schumacher's race ended when he tried to pass Nick Heidfeld but forced his compatriot onto the grass. Heidfeld could not then slow down for turn three and slid into Schumacher's Ferrari putting both into the gravel. Schumacher beckoned assistance from marshals and after they helped him back on track he ended up retiring in the Ferrari garage.

Giancarlo Fisichella led the race from start to finish and claimed his second career victory though the first time he has been able to enjoy the glory on the top step of the podium. Renault kicked off their season in immaculate style with a perfect race from Fisichella and a magnificent drive from team mate Fernando Alonso to cruise up to third. Rubens Barrichello salvaged eight points for Ferrari in second.

A fantastic debut for Red Bull Racing with Coulthard narrowly missing a podium but claiming an impressive fourth ahead of Mark Webber, Juan Pablo Montoya, Christian Klien claiming another two points for Red Bull Racing and Kimi Raikkonen collecting the final point in eighth.