Michael Schumacher's six-race winning streak was ended in spectacular style yesterday as David Coulthard thundered past the German to take victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix with a move that was almost an exact replica of that performed by Mika Hakkinen to beat Schumacher at last year's Belgian Grand Prix.

Schumacher had inherited the lead of the Interlagos race after a stunning drive by Williams new boy Juan Pablo Montoya was ended by a senseless mistake from Jos Verstappen halfway through and a late pit stop by Coulthard in the rain left him trailing the German. But the champion's hopes of extending his lead were dashed on lap 50.

As the pair came down the pit-straight at over 160mph, both could see back-marker Tarso Marques beginning to brake for the entry to turn one. Schumacher went high side as the blue flags fluttered in Marques' face. But Coulthard had other ideas. The Scot took a stunningly audacious inside line and, braking late, screamed past Marques and into the perfect line for the following corner.

From there, Coulthard carved out a comfortable lead, cruising through the drying conditions to record his 10th career win.

Coulthard was matter-of-fact about his overtaking. "It was incredibly difficult in those conditions to see anything and you just had to put a great deal of trust in the guys in front of you. I think Michael may have lifted going into turn one with the Minardi in front of him, so it was quite straightforward to slipstream past him."

It was high drama from the start. The anticipated tussle between the Schumacher brothers fizzled as Mika Hakkinen stalled on the grid, and Ralf Schumacher appeared to be put off by waving yellow flags.

The Williams driver got away badly, leaving brother Michael out in front. But that was a short-lived affair. With Ralf removed from the equation, it was left to his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya to take up arms against Ferrari. The Colombian had stolen up to second before the safety car took the track for Hakkinen's stall and when the pace car left a lap later, the former Indy 500 winner took the initiative and muscularly shouldered Schumacher aside into turn one.

It was a bold move from the Colombian, who was in only his third ever F1 race, and one that Schumacher later said was a fair racing move, despite a midmove collision between the two. "It was a pretty straightforward overtaking manoeuvre," said the German.

There was more to come as the Williams driver began to post quickest lap after quickest lap, leaving the world champion reeling in his wake.

For a while it seemed we were to see the first non-McLaren or Ferrari win for 18 months, but that was without reckoning with Verstappen.

As Montoya came up to lap the Dutchman, the blue flags came out signalling that the Arrows driver should move aside. He did so, but as soon as Montoya was past, Verstappen failed to back off enough and ploughed straight into the back of the Williams.

That handed the lead briefly to Coulthard. But then came the forecast rains and, as chaos ensued in the pits, Coulthard elected to stay out a lap longer and consider his options. That delay handed the lead back to Schumacher who had pitted almost straight away

For a while, it looked as if Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli were about to give team boss Eddie Jordan, who turned 52 on Friday, a late birthday present.

With the pair on a long-stint, one-stop strategy, it looked like a double podium finish was on the cards. But then came the rain. Trulli's car was fitted with full wet tyres as the rest of the field chose intermediates. The choice worked while the rain fell steadily, but as the track dried, he lost pace. Frentzen was then forced to pull off when third with an undisclosed problem. However, Trulli managed to finish fifth.