Jarno Trulli lined up third on the grid, made a fine start and, with everyone using intermediate tyres on a damp surface, drove beautifully to keep the leading Team McLaren Mercedes cars in sight.

Ralf Schumacher, however, benefited from a well-timed pit stop just before a Safety Car period that followed an accident to Giancarlo Fisichella, which meant that when the order was reshuffled he found himself in second place.

“I think I was overdue a bit of luck and that worked out rather well!” Ralf smiled.

He was then in a very strong position as the team had anticipated the race-day conditions and set-up the TF105s to carry extra downforce, making them highly competitive.

As the surface dried, however, it was a difficult call as to whether to take another set of intermediate tyres or to switch to dries when the second pit stops were due. Unfortunately for Schumacher, he had to make his stop before either of the McLarens. He opted for dries but the surface was still too wet and he spun on his first lap back out.

“We took the decision together, as a team,” Ralf said, “but unfortunately we got it wrong. I was surprised because a dry line normally emerges very quickly at Spa, but that was not the case today. I knew as soon as I went back out that I was in trouble and had to come straight back into the pits to go back onto intermediates.”

Schumacher made a fourth pit stop 15 laps later by which time dry tyres were clearly faster. He set the fastest lap of the race by almost a full second as he only just failed to snatch sixth place from Jacques Villeneuve’s Sauber Petronas as the chequered flag fell.

Trulli’s race, meanwhile, mirrored that of his team mate as the Italian tried dry tyres when everyone made their first pit stops under the Safety Car. He was also back in a lap later for intermediates. Ultimately he was forced to take avoiding action when one of his rivals braked unexpectedly early and the Toyota got away from him at Turn 7, the Italian finishing his race in the tyre barrier after 35 of the 44 laps.

“We didn’t have much luck today,” Jarno said. “I felt very strong in the early stages and was comfortable keeping a consistent gap to the McLarens. We both suffered through the tyre calls but that can happen and you just have to accept it, put it behind you and look ahead.”

The race brought the sixth win of the year for Finn Kimi Raikkonen but a McLaren Mercedes 1-2 was spoiled when Juan Pablo Montoya was taken off with a couple of laps remaining. World Champion elect Fernando Alonso was therefore able to finish second and will become the youngest world champion in the sport’s history if he manages to finish third or better in the Brazilian Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time. Jenson Button’s Lucky Strike BAR Honda was third, ahead of Mark Webber’s BMW Williams F1 Team car and Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari. Behind Villeneuve’s Sauber and Ralf’s TF105, Tiago Monteiro claimed the final point for Jordan Grand Prix.

Chief race engineer Dieter Gass said: “We were highly competitive and the outcome was very disappointing. It is easy to look at these things with hindsight but in the heat of the moment you have to make the call. If the dry line had emerged just a little bit sooner which, as Ralf said, often happens at Spa, then we would have been looking very good and could even have taken our first victory. But it didn’t, and we have to put this down to experience which, I am sure everyone appreciates, is something we are still a little short of. So, an unfortunate outcome but a very satisfying level of performance. Barrichello’s fifth place means that Ferrari is now 10 points ahead of us in the constructors championship but, with three races left, we won’t give up our fight to catch them.”