Felipe Massa battled with the ailing Takuma Sato for 14th, as Coulthard moved up to 12th, with the Toyotas in a strong 8th and 9th. The McLaren's were first to pit as part of their three stop strategy, followed shortly by Button and Montoya. Ralf Schumacher was 5 seconds ahead of Alonso until he pitted and rejoined in fourth, whilst Alonso's podium hopes were later dashed by a problem with the fuel hose which forced the Renault pit crew to resort to the spare hose, costing Alonso an additional 16 seconds. Räikkönen's afternoon couldn't get much worse, as he served a drive through penalty for crossing the white line on his exit from the pit lane. Barrichello later rejoined after his first pit stop behind Montoya, to make the running order Ralf Schumacher, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso. Nick Heidfeld was involved in an incident in the pit lane where the lollipop man lifted whilst the fuel hose was still attached, and the fuel man Mick Gomme was dragged along as the Jordan pulled away. The Saubers were on a long first stint and Giancarlo Fisichella did not pit until lap 25, surprisingly rejoining in the points. Meanwhile, Button was closing the gap to Ralf Schumacher, as Montoya did likewise to Ralf's older brother Michael. Minardi's Gianmaria Bruni was hauled in for a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, but retired with gearbox failure shortly after. Ralf pitted again on lap 33, and rejoined in 3rd whilst Coulthard narrowly missed another collision with a fiery Christian Klien. In the second stint, Barrichello was seemingly much faster than his teammate Michael Schumacher, but could not find a way past the reigning champion. Alonso began to fly in fourth, as the adventurous Klien took an airborne trip over the grass. Alonso's charge was short-lived though, as his Renault pulled slowly to the side of the circuit with a driveshaft failure. Räikkönen, Barrichello and Michael Schumacher took their second pit stops without much hassle, although Schumacher had a leary moment when he almost hit the pit wall. Ralf Schumacher then took his third and final stop, and so too did Montoya and Button. Takuma Sato's disappointing afternoon ended with the Honda engine exploding. As the final stages of the race approached, Michael Schumacher led brother Ralf, with Barrichello, Button, and Montoya following, and