Length: 4.361 km
Number of Laps: 70 (305.270 Km)
Best Lap: J-P. Montoya - 1'15''960 (2002, BMW Williams)
Record Pole: J-P. Montoya - 1'12''836 (2002, BMW Williams)
2002 Pole: J-P. Montoya - 1'12''836 (Williams)
2002 Podium: M. Schumacher - D. Coulthard - R. Barrichello

Michael Schumacher held off brother Ralf to move into the championship lead for the first time this season with victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.

The world champion's Ferrari finished just 0.7 seconds ahead of Ralf's Williams after getting the better of the pitstops to give him his sixth race victory in Montreal.

Juan Pablo Montoya paid the price for an early spin as he finished third in the other Williams ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso.

And McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen saw his four-point lead in the drivers' standings become a three-point deficit as he was forced to settle for sixth behind Rubens Barrichello.

It could have been worse for Raikkonen after the Finn's last place in qualifying but his tactic of starting from the pitlane on a one-stop strategy got him into the points.

He was almost scuppered when the rubber on his right rear wheel worked loose and came within inches of hitting Barrichello's Ferrari.

Barrichello had already been forced to pit at the end of the first lap in his Ferrari to repair a broken front wing

Ralf Schumacher's race got off to the perfect start as he made it to the first corner in the lead after starting from pole.

But he soon found brother Michael hot on his heels after Montoya spun on the final corner of lap two, dropping down to fifth.

Although unable to force his way past, the elder Schumacher found himself in the lead when Ralf pitted and gained enough time to stay ahead after his own stop.

The race was decided at the next pit-stop window when Michael pitted a lap after his brother and just managed to come back out in front.

By the end the gap between the two Schumachers, Montoya and Alonso was just 4.5 seconds, but none of the chasing pack were able to mount an attack in the closing stages.

Mark Webber claimed two points for Jaguar with a seventh-place finish and Olivier Panis picked up his first point for Toyota in eighth.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve took a heavy toll on the cars with just nine running at the end.

McLaren's David Coulthard was the highest-profile casualty as he slipped 29 points behind Schumacher in the title race after retiring his McLaren 47 laps in while running sixth.

Jacques Villeneuve's dismal run at his home Grand Prix continued as he was forced to retire his BAR after just 17 laps with gearbox problems.

And his team-mate Jenson Button also failed to finish on his return to race action after his big crash in Monaco.