Rubens conquers madness of it all

There ain't no justice. The British Grand Prix was a glorious contest, wonderful testament to a great circuit. It should have been enough to obliterate any associated rows about funding and facilities. Instead madness stole the headlines.

So let the rightful headlines be restored. This race was so packed with incident it was a reminder of long-forgotten O Level mathematics, in which you get only one mark for the eventual answer to the problem because the examiners want to know how you reached the answer. "Show your working", the old instruction went.

The British Grand Prix confounded such instruction. So complex were the events on every lap that veteran onlookers wore permanent expressions of puzzlement, as they struggled to work out what on earth could have transpired to result in the existing race order. Any race in which the man on pole - Rubens Barrichello - turns out to be the eventual winner sounds narcoleptic on paper. It was what happened between start and finish that was astonishing.

Almost at once Dav id Coulthard's bad luck struck again when his head restraint came loose. He drove for a short while literally with one hand, holding the restraint in place with the other, until it began flapping into his car's airbox. He tore the restraint loose and hurled it overboard before pittingfor repairs. Meantime, Ralf Schumacher came by and collected all the debris in his Williams, ruining his race.

By then, weirdly, Jarno Trulli was leading. A few laps later Barrichello had the crowd on its feet for a brilliant pass round Kimi Raikkonen when the madman came on the track, bringing out the safety car and rewriting everyone's race strategy. Everyone had the same idea at the same time, causing 13 cars to create a traffic jam in the pits as they dived in for fuel and turning the race on its head. So jammed was the pitlane that even Michael Schumacher was forced to queue humbly behind Barrichello at the pumps.

Cristiano da Matta emerged in front and stayed there for 16 laps. On lap 40 Juan Pablo Montoya became the fifth different race leader. Then Raikkonen, who had led before, prevailed again.