Rubens Barrichello led home a Ferrari one-two in the US Grand Prix, finishing just a hundredth of a second ahead of Michael Schumacher as the pair staged a grandstand finish at Indianapolis.

Schumacher had been ahead for the entire race, but allowed Barrichello to draw alongside as they approached the chequered flag. In the end it was the Brazilian who won by just 0.011 seconds - the closest finish in F1™ history.

David Coulthard was third for McLaren, ahead of the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian's race had almost ended on lap two when he and team mate Ralf Schumacher collided.

Jarno Trulli was a distant fourth for Renault, with former Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve picking up the final point for British American Racing.

After celebrating the fifth win of his Formula One™ career, Barrichello, who is now confirmed as runner-up in the 2002 drivers' championship, said the close finish had not been orchestrated.

"It wasn't planned," he said. "We never said at the beginning of the race. We had a lot of fun in the race trying to be as fast as each other. What can I say? I thank Michael very much and the whole team for the support over the year. I guess we have everything now - the constructors' (title) and one-two in the drivers' (championship).

"It was an important race for me to win. I got to the last corner and I didn't know what to do. Michael was very kind to let me finish equally. It (the difference) was zero so that is equal. I just pointed a little in front!

"I am now looking forward to 2003. We have built up a fantastic team, although who knows if it will be better, the same or worse than this year."

Meanwhile, Schumacher declined to say whether he had intended to hand Barrichello the win. "We have so many records this year and I thought there is one left - the closest finish," he joked. "Seriously, we have such a great team and today I thought it was good opportunity to go equal over the line, and we failed a little bit!"

Schumacher and Barrichello had led away off the front row at the start and quickly began to pull away from the field. They never lost the lead, though their two stop strategy did allow Coulthard to close up mid race. However, the Scot dropped away slightly after his single stop, leaving the Ferraris to take their eighth one-two finish of the year.

Schumacher insisted he had not been surprised to see the McLaren staying in touch. "That was expected to be honest and if you see the gap it was less than ten seconds (at the end), which shows it was a tight race," he said. "All in all, we did the right thing at the right time, had the right car and our guys did the right strategy for us."

Coulthard closed on the Ferraris as they started to lap the field well before mid distance. However, he admitted he backed off slightly in the final stages after seeing team mate Kimi Raikkonen's engine fail on lap 52. The Finn, who had been up to fourth place, had appeared to be struggling for pace from the start.

"There was a lot of traffic - I have never seen so many cars to be lapped," said Coulthard. "The fact the Ferraris were in front helped me, but I knew I was a stop down and so it was unlikely I would be able to make it up.

"We changed the strategy and I was driving to protect the engine on the last 20 laps, so we could have been quicker. In the end, it was a case of staying in front of Williams. But it was a boost this weekend as we took a little step forward."

Montoya's fourth place was scant consolation for Williams. The Colombian lost out to his team mate at the start and tried to re-pass around the outside of Turn one on the second lap. However, the pair touched and Ralf lost his rear wing as both went off track.

Montoya rejoined in seventh place, while Ralf had to pit for a new wing, which took over a minute to attach, dropping him to the back of the field. He eventually finished 16th and last, two laps down on the leaders. A late charge by Montoya brought him to within two seconds of Coulthard as they crossed the line.

Villeneuve drove a typically aggressive race in the BAR. From seventh on the grid he was past Raikkonen for fifth by lap 15. He then enjoyed a tight battle with Trulli, passing the Renault at Turn one on the 34th lap. However, his two stop strategy to Trulli's one ultimately dropped him behind the Italian. Their respective team mates, Jenson Button and Olivier Panis, finished eighth and 12th.

Giancarlo Fisichella was the top Jordan driver in seventh, almost half a minute down on Villeneuve. Team mate Takuma Sato, on two stops to Fisichella's one, finished 11th. The Japanese enjoyed a close dice with the Sauber of Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the early laps, taking to the grass at Turn one as he passed the German, with Button opportunistically passing both of them in the confusion.

Frentzen, on his race return for Sauber, eventually came home 13th, three places down on team mate Nick Heidfeld. Eddie Irvine just made the top ten after a disappointing day for Jaguar, which saw Pedro de la Rosa retire on lap 29 after a suspected transmission problem caused a fire on his R3.

Things got worse for the Spaniard as he leapt over the nearest barrier, only to find water unexpectedly awaiting him on the other side. "I jumped because the marshal told me to," said de la Rosa. "But they didn't tell me there was a river next to the barrier, so I fell. Unbelievable."

The Toyotas both finished their first United States Grand Prix, with Mika Salo and Allan McNish 14th and 15th respectively. The pair were two laps down on the frontrunners, with Ralf Schumacher just behind them.

Neither Minardi made the chequered flag. Mark Webber had been running well, but pulled into the garage to retire on lap 40 with a hydraulics problem. "It was a shame," he said. "I was on a one-stop strategy. It was strange the way it happened."

Team mate Alex Yoong lasted until lap 49 when his Asiatech V10 failed in spectacular fashion at the end of the main straight, briefly bringing out the yellow flags.

The championship now moves on to the final round at Suzuka in Japan on October 13th, a race Barrichello is already looking forward to. "Brazilians have quite a good history there," he said.

"I have a lot of good Japanese tifosi. It would be good to go there and hopefully we will have a very good race for Bridgestone, which is the most important thing."

Third place in the drivers' championship is still up for grabs in Japan. Just six points separate Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard.

Meanwhile, Jaguar could still overhaul Sauber for fifth place in the constructors' standings. And Honda head to their home race with their two teams, Jordan and BAR, locked together in joint seventh place.