With cloudy skies and a damp but drying track, Ricardo Zonta and Jarno Trulli are the first out for reconnaissance laps before the start of the US Grand Prix.

Mika Hakkinen makes his appearance just a few moments later. The surface is noticeably wet, with rooster tails thrown up behind the car.

The dampness is even more apparent as Michael Schumacher goes past at speed.

The formation lap is underway. Grid positions are Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button in sixth.

The starting lights go out and they're off at the start of the first US Grand Prix for nine years. The entire starting grid was moved back the night before because front-row starters Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard expressed concern about wheel-spin at the start due to the yard of bricks at the start-finish line.

As they start David Coulthard pulls alongside Michael Schumacher and makes it into the first corner in the lead. But he is soon under investigation by the stewards for jumping the start.

Everyone gets through the narrow Turn 1 smoothly, which is a bit of a surprise. DC leads followed by Schumy, Hakkinen, Barrichello, Trulli and Button being challenged by Villeneuve.

And at the start of the second lap it is still DC in the lead, but that investigation is going on. Before long it looks from the grandstands as if DC is slowing, possibly knowing of his impending penalty and deliberately allowing Hakkinen to keep in touch with Schumacher.

On lap 5 Michael makes a charge on the front straight, trying to go round the outside at Turn 1...

...but DC manages to shut the door on him.

Trulli drives straight into the run-off area at Turn 1 at the start of his thirteenth lap and parks the car, which has a broken suspension. He blamed this on an earlier collision with Jenson Button, who had been pushing him hard.

Mika Salo slides his Sauber off into the gravel trap at Turn 4. At this stage of the race, Hakkinen is fastest on the track, rapidly reeling in Schumacher. But as we start to anticipate a showdown for the lead, Hakkinen's car stops at the entrance to the pits with smoke pouring from the exhaust towers. His day is done.

...ending up on the grass. He quickly rejoins, but Frentzen has easily recovered his third place. Nice try, though, Jacques!

Michael Schumacher ends lap 73 with the checkered flag and a 12.1 seconds lead over his teammate in second spot. This is the 42nd victory of Michael Schumacher's career, moving him into second on the all-time Formula One victory list behind Alain Prost.

Rubens seems happy to be in second place. At one point he was as low as ninth, so he had been pushing really hard. This is the third 1-2 finish of the season for the Ferrari teammates.

Frentzen managed to hold off Villeneuve for the third spot on the podium. "It was very tough,' he said. 'I had set the car up for straight-line speed but this meant I was struggling on the infield. I was pushed very hard by Jacques; he tried one overtaking move which was very optimistic and he went onto the grass, which gave me some breathing space.".

"I'm sorry and frustrated that I jumped the start, which meant I received a 10 second stop-and-go penalty," said Coulthard. "I worked my way through traffic but my second set of tires was not as good as my first one and as a result I couldn't push as hard as I would have liked and had to settle for fifth.".

The Speedway pagoda displays the results. A great race for the return of the Formula One to the USA, and the first Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!