FORMULA ONE/Chinese Grand Prix: When the leaves start turning brown and Michael Schumacher's latest world championship is safely won, Rubens Barrichello begins to win races. Taking advantage of a mistake in qualifying which forced his Ferrari team-mate to start at the back of the field, the Brazilian followed his first victory of the season at Monza a fortnight ago by writing his name at the top of the first page of the history of this new race.

Formula One, which sometimes has less trouble making new friends than hanging on to old ones, put on its best face for this ground-breaking race. The prospect of the world champion starting from the pit lane lent the day an element of drama, and Schumacher's 19 rivals responded with a contest that gripped the attention of initiates and converts alike from start to finish.

They were helped by this outstanding new track, which combines a rich architectural spectacle with a layout that encourages drivers to attempt the overtaking manoeuvres that used to be the point of motor racing. The result is remarkable enough to make it seem a shame that it took the course designer, Hermann Tilke, three goes to get it right. But where the German architect's previous efforts in Malaysia and Bahrain produced circuits manifestly unconducive to proper racing, Shanghai must be accounted an equally obvious success.

A happy babble of Portuguese over Barrichello's car-to-pits radio on the lap of honour testified to his delight in his historic achievement.

Jenson Button was equally happy on the podium, his second place, along with a sixth place for his team-mate Takuma Sato, enabling BAR-Honda to consolidate their remarkable second position in the constructors' championship, behind Ferrari. For Renault, BAR's nearest challengers, Fernando Alonso's fourth place was the only reward since Jacques Villeneuve, returning to the grand prix scene for the first of three races with the French team, could finish no higher than 11th.

As a race it was an unqualified success. As the cars roared past the main stand for the last time at the end of an absorbing and incident-filled race, less than a second and a half covered Barrichello, Button and the third-placed McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen.

It was less successful for Michael Schumacher, however. After a mistake in qualifying, he opted to start from pitlane, leaving him with the unfamiliar task of a charge through the field.

It was to become less and less familiar as the afternoon wore on. Trying to pass Christian Klien on lap 12, he surprised the young Austrian and the two cars made contact, breaking the Jaguar's rear suspension. The Ferrari continued, but Schumacher lost more ground three laps later when he spun. A punctured rear tyre on lap 35 ended his hopes of a recovery.

"You never give up until the end," he said, "because you never know what's going to happen. But I was just racing for pleasure. Nothing to win, nothing to lose, nothing to prove."

Grand prix drivers race for a variety of reasons, but pure pleasure is seldom among those cited after a race, particularly by a driver who has finished 12th. A cynic would say Schumacher was merely fulfilling his public relations duties. But after such an invigorating start to Formula One's Chinese adventure, cynics were thin on the ground.

How They Finished

After 56 laps: 1 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:29:12.420, 2 J Button (Gbr) BAR Honda 1:29:13.420, 3 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1:29:13.820, 4 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:29:44.920, 5 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 1:29:57.520, 6 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 1:30:07.120, 7 G Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 1:30:17.820, 8 F Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1:30:32.420, 9 D Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren Mercedes 1:30:33.020, 10 M Webber (Aus) Jaguar at 1 lap, 11 J Villeneuve (Can) Renault at 1 lap, 12 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari at 1 lap, 13 N Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth at 1 lap, 14 O Panis (Fra) Toyota Toyota at 1 lap, 15 T Glock (Ger) Jordan Cosworth at 1 lap, 16 Z Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth at 3 laps, Not Classified: 17 G Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth DNF 48 laps, 18 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW DNF 40 laps, 19 R Zonta (Bra) Toyota DNF 39 laps, 20 C Klien (Aut) Jaguar DNF 13 laps.

Drivers' Championship: 1 M Schumacher 136pts, 2 Barrichello 108, 3 Button 79, 4 Alonso 50, 5 Trulli 46, 6 Montoya 46, 7 Raikkonen 34, 8 Sato 26, 9 Coulthard 24, 10 Fisichella 21, 11 R Schumacher 12, 12 Massa 11, 13 Webber 7, 14 Panis 6, 15 A Pizzonia 6, 16 C Klien 3, 17 C Da Matta 3, 18 N Heidfeld 3, 19 T Glock 2, 20 Baumgartner 1.

Manufacturers' Championship: 1 Ferrari 244, 2 BAR Honda 105, 3 Renault 96, 4 Williams BMW 64, 5 McLaren Mercedes 58, 6 Sauber Petronas 32, 7 Jaguar 10, 8 Toyota 9, 9 Jordan Ford 5, 10 Minardi Cosworth 1