 The stewards neutralised the race on lap one with the safety car to clear the track when Pizzonia swerved to avoid Ricardo Sperafico's vehicle; the latter swerved to avoid other competitors and it caused him to spin and crash into the barrier at the bottom of the Senna S chicane.Melo slowed sharply and allowed Pizzonia, Rodrigo Sperafico and Tomáš Enge to pass him under safety car conditions.At the lap four restart, Wilson overtook Melo into the first corner, and moved into first when four separate ten-second stop-and-go penalties were imposed on Pizzonia, Rodrigo Sperafico and Enge for their earlier transgressions.