In a move which may have surprised his team mate more than anyone else Rubens Barrichello won the United States Grand Prix today. Michael Schumacher led the race from the start to the last few yards but then slowed down to let Barrichello catch up with him so that the two Ferraris could cross the finish line together.

Complete GP of United States results.

Apparently this was entirely Schumacher’s idea and Barrichello — who had not been told about it — did not slow quite as much and crossed the line 0.010 seconds ahead of Schumacher in the closest recorded GP finish ever.

After the race Schumacher said that Barrichello had deserved the win for the help that he had given him earlier in the season when the championship was not yet decided but it still wasn’t entirely clear whether or not it has really been his intention to give Barrichello the win.

David Coulthard was third for McLaren but this would almost certainly not have been the case but for some mistakes made by the two Williams drivers.

At the start of the second lap Juan Pablo Montoya attempted to pass his Williams team mate Ralf Schumacher on the outside of Turn One but Schumacher’s rear end drifted wide and clipped Montoya. Montoya continued without any apparent damage but Schumacher had to pit for a new rear wing which dropped him a lap behind the leaders and ended any chances that he may have had for a decent result.

Having got away with this one Montoya then misread a pit board and entered the pits about 10 laps early. He compounded the error by failing to tell his crew on the radio that he was coming in and so caught them completely unawares and lost more time while they scrambled to get ready as he approached his pit. Considering this he was probably lucky to finish fourth and score at least three points.

Jarno Trulli (Renault) was fifth with Jacques Villeneuve scoring the remaining point for BAR in sixth.