Slick Barrichello thunders to first win.

Rubens Barrichello finally opened his Formula One account with victory in the German Grand Prix - despite starting only 18th on the grid.

The Brazilian endured a nightmare qualifying session on Saturday, when he crashed his Ferrari at the start of his first flying lap, and only managed to scrape onto the back end of the grid with minutes remaining. With nothing to lose, however, Barrichello was able to take a light fuel load to the start, and run a two-stop strategy in the hope of making it into the points.

Things worked well for the Brazilian right from the start, as a collision between his Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella at the first corner allowed him to gain a couple of places immediately. The incident was Schumacher's second first corner retirement in two races - as it was for Fisichella - but, despite poleman David Coulthard's McLaren veering across the circuit in front of him, the German chose instead to blame Fisichella for the shunt.

Both cars were far enough off the circuit to prevent the need for the Safety Car to be called for, and it was the two McLarens who pulled away from the rest of the field. Coulthard, however, had already lost the advantage he had worked hard for on Saturday, as Mika Hakkinen swept from fourth, between the Scot and Schumacher to lead by the first turn.

Once in front, there was little to hold the silver pairing back, and a gap of several seconds quickly emerged between them and nearest challenger Jarno Trulli in third. The Italian had also benefited from the incident at the first corner, but had Pedro de la Rosa and both Jordans in close attendance.

The man on the move was already Barrichello who, by lap seven, had progressed into the points and passed Johnny Herbert for fifth! Running with less fuel than the majority of his rivals, the Brazilian made short work of de la Rosa and, two laps later, was running in the top three and closing on the two McLarens.

Herbert's high-flying start came to an abrupt end on lap twelve, when the Jaguar again let him down, while Jos Verstappen, who had been challenging the green cars in the early stages, began to drop back when part of his engine cover broke free and ruined his aerodynamics.

Barrichello's charge was, by now, being mirrored by fellow qualifying sufferer Frentzen. The Jordan driver passed Herbert just as the Jaguar cried enough, and was running in the points by the time the two lightweight runners had to make the first of their two pit-stops. Barrichello was first in, the Ferrari crew turning him around in a shade over seven seconds, while Frentzen followed two tours later, rejoining just behind the Brazilian at the tail of the top six. Their strategy had worked to a point, but looked unlikely to produce anything more unless the frontrunners failed to finish.

That was, however, until one member of the crowd decided to take matters into his own hands.....

Somehow evading the marshals and security crews, the banner clad 'fan' was first spotted wandering along the outside verge down towards the Ostkurve. Thankfully waiting for a gap in the traffic, he then jogged across the road to the infield side of the track, and proceeded to walk slowly back towards the Clark chicane.

With the marshals unable, or unwilling, to try and remove him, the organisers had no option but to launch the Safety Car, lest he do something untoward that may have endangered a life on the track or off it.

This, of course, played right into the hands of those drivers having already made a stop, and allowed Barrichello and Frentzen to have good sight of the leaders as the field began to slow. Naturally, those banking on making just one stop began to peel into the pits, with Hakkinen leading the way.

Coulthard, however, never heard the call from his crew and, seemingly unaware that the pace car was out, blithely continued past the pits and onto another lap. With the Mercedes estate waiting out in the forest for him, though, he didn't get far at racing speed, and was forced to wait while the pack, with Hakkinen at its head, caught up with him again.

When, after several laps, the Safety Car pulled in, and the order had shaken itself out, Hakkinen was back in front, but Barrichello lurking menacingly behind the Jordan of Trulli in third.

There was little chance for any change in the order, however, as Pedro Diniz edged Jean Alesi's Prost into the barriers on the run down to Senna. With loose wheels and assorted debris scattered over the road, the pace car made a hasty re-appearance while the marshals did their work.

Even when the green flags flew again, the incidents were not over. Mika Salo nudged the slow-to-react Alex Wurz on the main straight, pitching the Benetton driver into a spin from which he never recovered. The length of the Hockenheim lap played into the marshals hands this time, however, and the stalled car was cleared from the racing line in time for the field to scream past next time around.

Coulthard had, by now, begun his recovery drive, passing Frentzen for fifth, but more fun was on the way for all still left in the race as the expected storm his Hockenheim with a third of the race to go. Dark clouds had loomed overhead right from the off, and as sunshine finally gave way to the first sign of rain, the sight of Jacques Villeneuve pirouetting out of turn one, as the result of a tap from team-mate Ricardo Zonta and putting a wheel on the kerb, merely confirmed suspicions that there may now be a rush for the pit-lane and wet weather tyres.

Hakkinen was the first to pit, coming in for treaded rubber on lap 35, with ten to run. Barrichello, however opted to stay out, figuring that the cloudburst had not yet reached the outer part of the track, and that fast lap times may still be possible on grooved tyres.

The Brazilian's hunch proved correct for, although at one point Hakkinen began to make inroads, it quickly became apparent that what the Ferrari lost to the McLaren between the Senna and Clark chicanes, it regained in the opposite direction through the Ostkurve. So began a game of cat-and-mouse, although, deep down, Ferrari knew that the only man that could beat the Barrichello was the Brazilian himself.

Lap after lap, Barrichello tip-toed through the stadium section before flooring it through the forests, holding the gap back to Hakkinen steady at seven seconds. The Finn's decision to go for wets paid off in as far as he was able to catch Frentzen and Coulthard ahead of him in the closing stages; the Scot as he pitted for his own treaded tyres; the German after a heated one-lap battle in which places were traded until Frentzen again missed a chicane.

Any hope Frentzen had of scoring points evaporated with a mechanical failure on the impressive new EJ10B, while Zonta skated off in the stadium and was joined shortly afterwards by Verstappen. Staying on the track, however, were Mika Salo and Jenson Button, the Briton recovering from a stall on the formation lap to steal fourth place from the Finn at the flag.

de la Rosa bagged sixth after another fine showing from both the Spaniard and the Arrows, but Trulli's hopes of a top six finish disappeared when he was called for a stop-go penalty after speeding out of the pits. Irvine joined Herbert on the sidelines after two spins in 500 yards.

Nick Heidfeld added his name to the list of retirements in the closing stages, despite running on wets, but Barrichello had no problems as he sailed serenely on to his first win. Veering over towards the pit wall as he passed the flag, the Brazilian's emotion was already evident. The belts were popped further around the lap to accept the adulation of a Schumacher-devoted crowd pleased that McLaren had again been prevented from knocking their hero off the top of the charts.

Schumacher himself, already changed into T-shirt and jeans, was watching the monitors as his team-mate round the final lap. Although he had his back to the rest of the pit-lane, his smile was a broad one.