Mika's comment at the arrival to Spain: "This is a circuit that all the drivers know well and a favourite amongst us. It's a technical track with a good mixture of both high and low speed corners and a very long straight. I was testing at the track last Friday and I'm confident we have found a good set-up. Having won in Barcelona for the past two years I'm aiming to make it three in a row".

The qualifying session was exciting, though with a sad result. Häkkinen didn't beat Barrichello's temporarily pole position with his first lap after the warm up lap, but with his second lap he beat Barrichello's time with an excellent -0,4 second! Schumi's first try didn't beat Häkkinen but later on he had a great lap and did a fantastic -0,3 second better than Häkkinen's time, and took thereby pole position. Mika made an attempt in the very end, just seconds before the session was over, and even though he too made a great lap, he didn't beat Schumi's time, and had to settle with a second place, only +0,078 second slower. So close, yet so far... *sigh* Barrichello starts from third grid, Coulthard from fourth.

Mika's comment after the qualifying session: "We have gone through a lot of work today and I'm a lot happier with the car than I was yesterday. I set my fastest time on the final run in the closing minutes of the session where the air was cooler. However I don't think that influenced my time because I felt I drove a better lap. This is a very technical circuit and it's a challenge to get it right. I'm on the front row so I'm confident for tomorrow's race but it will be difficult because the track is physically very demanding".

The race: After the start the positions didn't change for Schumacher and Häkkinen, though Häkkinen almost passed his rival on the long straight. It became a bit difficult when suddenly Ralf Schumacher too tried to pass his brother, and Coulthard and Barrichello had their own fight behind them. Schumi kept his position when they got to the first turn, Häkkinen stayed second and Ralf third, followed by Coulthard and Barrichello. When Schumacher took a 3 seconds lead after just 5 laps one had to wonder about Ferrari's strategy, perhaps they had three pit stops' strategy? But soon one had to out rule that theory. Häkkinen wouldn't let Schumi run away and after a few more laps, Mika obviously decided to go for it (the Finnish commentators think that he was probably saving his tyres in the first 5-7 laps). The first pit stop went well for Mika, though he didn't get back on the track in front of Schumi. Schumi's pit stop too went fast, but accidently he drove over the "fuel guy", as the guy with the brake-and-stop-sign lifted it too soon, and the fuel guy had to go to the hospital, probably with a broken foot or two. Mika closed in on Schumi after this pit stop, and for many many laps he was just half a second behind Schumi, but the Spanish track is known for being very difficult to pass other drivers, and it showed clearly. Luckily the second pit stop soon came, and Häkkinen had a brilliant 6,4 seconds pit stop to Schumi's over 17 seconds (they seemed to have problems with the fuel filling, now dealing without the regular fuel guy *chuckles* which Barrichello also admitted after the race) which gave Mika a 10 seconds lead and only a few laps later Coulthard passed Schumi, who now had problems with the car, while Häkkinen was already 16 seconds in front, still increasing his lead rapidly. The amazing thing then happened when Michael, still struggling with car problems, suddenly found himself between his younger brother, Ralf, and his team mate, Barrichello. I have NEVER seen anything like that! Despite of the problems, Michael still tried to keep his position by taking a huge risk, which resultated in an minor impact with Ralf's car, and when Barrichello passed the two fighting brothers, and Ralf refused to give any space to Michael, Michael had to give up, as he did the last time when they fought, and an extra pit stop only to change tyres was needed, which put him on a definitive 5th place, far behind his brother.  Probably Häkkinen could have passed Schumi too, before the second pit stop, if he was as crazy, but Mika thinks about safety and concentrates on getting the car all the way to finishing line in one piece, while Schumi is brainless enough to take risks with his own life, his brother's life and his team mate's life. Unbelievable. But he got what he deserved, totally. Häkkinen made his lead as big as almost 23 seconds, but had only 10 laps more to go, and was probably asked from the Team to slow down and play safe. He won the Grand Prix 16 seconds in front of Coulthard, Barrichello came in third, Ralf Schumacher fourth and Schumi on a fifth place almost 48 seconds after Häkkinen! This victory was Häkkinen's third consecuitve GP victory in Spain! What a BRILLIANT Grand Prix, very exciting, and finally with a result that we've all been waiting for. For once the car and the McLaren Team did an excellent job. And of course Mika didn't forget to thank all the Finnish fans in Barcelona (more than 4000) and the (Spanish) supporters, who made this race an unforgettable one, waving with all the Finnish flags, making him feel incredibly good throughout the race!

Mika's comment after the race: "I can't really find the words to explain how happy and relieved I am to have claimed my first victory this season. We have been so close before but today was the day and the team did a fantastic job. My start from second wasn't ideal, despite having a lot of traction I didn't get the clutch to bite properly. Fortunately Schumacher didn't make a great start either, so we were side by side coming into the first corner. In the end I had to give way because I was on the outside. Schumacher managed to pull away during the first couple of laps but when his tyres started to go off I was able to catch him and could start putting him under pressure. The team did a great job in the second pitstop so I was able to take the lead".

Last year Mika took his fifth 100% consecutive pole position and won the Grand Prix easily. Nothing else to be said really. David came in second.