Up at the front, Schumacher led Barrichello by 13 seconds at half-distance. By this point, the Ferraris were so far ahead that Barrichello retained an advantage of over half a minute over third-placed Montoya following a spin on lap 33. By making one fewer stop, Montoya managed to catch up with the Brazilian and overtake him on lap 41, but Barrichello repassed him five laps later and pulled away again. Ralf Schumacher benefitted from the misfortunes of the McLarens and the Renaults to regain fourth, only to have another pit stop go wrong when his fuel rig failed. This left four more Bridgestone drivers – Villeneuve, Heidfeld, Olivier Panis in the second BAR and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Jordan – occupying fourth to seventh.