NewsOnF1 - 2002 Malaysian GP

Ralf Schumacher wins the race just under 40 seconds ahead of his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya and his brother Michael Schumacher. Jenson Button finishes 4th after losing 3rd on the last lap to Michael while the Sauber pair of Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa make up the top 6.
Allan McNish, Jacques Villeneuve, Takuma Sato and Pedro de la Rosa make the top 10.

The race started with Juan Pablo Montoya getting alongside Michael Schumacher going into the first corner. They touch with Michael losing his front wing while Juan Pablo going onto the grass. Michael had to pit and rejoined in 21st place while Montoya lost a few places and rejoined back in 11th. Both drivers started to make up places. At the front Rubens Barrichello took the lead and slowly started to build a gap to Ralf. Behind them were the 2 McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard and they were lapping slower than the 2 in front.

On lap 8, Montoya who was up into 6th place was given a 'drive through the pit lane' penalty due to his touch with Michael at the start. After driving through the pit-lane he rejoined in 9th place. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher was slicing his way through the field reaching 13th place.

By lap 15, Rubens Barrichello was leading Ralf Schumacher by 6 seconds with Raikkonen in 3rd almost 18 seconds behind and Coulthard right behind his team-mate. At that stage it seemed as if the 2 in front were on 2 stops while Raikkonen and Coulthard were on 1.
Coulthard slowed and went into the pits to retire a lap later.

By lap 20 and the first round of pits for the 2 stoppers started. Michael Schumacher made his pit stop and Rubens Barrichello followed on the following lap giving the lead to Ralf Schumacher. A lap later Juan Pablo Montoya pits.
Rubens Barrichello joined behind Kimi Raikkonen in third after the pit stop and appeared to be stuck behind him, however the McLaren engine blew on lap 25 and Barrichello was up in second. Surprisingly Jenson Button who was also on a single stop was up in 3rd place after the retirement of the 2 McLarens.
Both Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher benefited from the failures of the 2 McLarens. Montoya was up into 4th and Michael Schumacher in 6th by lap 30.

Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button made their only pit stop on lap 32. Rubens Barrichello took the lead with Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya behind.

On lap 36, Rubens Barrichello made his second stop and rejoined in 2nd place just in front of Juan Pablo Montoya. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher takes 4th after passing Heidfeld and Button.

On lap 40 disaster stuck for Ferrari with an engine failure for Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya makes his second pit stop and rejoins behind Jenson Button. A lap later Michael Schumacher makes his second stop and rejoins behind Montoya.
Race order after all the scheduled pits stops: Ralf Schumacher ahead of Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya. Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld and Allan McNish round up the top 6.

On lap 44 Juan Pablo Montoya manages to get by Jenson Button and takes 2nd. Michael Schumacher was catching Jenson Button but was 20 seconds behind. Allan McNish lost 6th place to Felipe Massa due to a mix-up in the Toyota pits looking for one of Allan's tyres.

The race order remained the same until the final lap with Jenson Button slowing, Michael Schumacher managed to pass him on the and take third. Button was certainly very unlucky.

So the race finished with Ralf Schumacher winning ahead of his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher. Jenson Button finished 4th ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa.

With both Williams finishing the Malaysian GP, it looks as if they are both fast and reliable.
They have broken Ferrari's wining streak at Malaysia and look very strong heading into Brazil. Ferrari will most likely use the F2002 there.
The McLaren's were not only unreliable but were also slow relative to the Williams as they are running the same tyres. Ralf Schumacher was on a single stop and built a comfortable gap to Raikkonen before the Finn retired. Lets hope McLaren sort out their problems early so we could see a three way fight.
Jenson Button was certainly impressive after almost landing his first podium position and scoring Renault's first points since their comeback into Formula 1. Felipe Massa was also impressive scoring his first ever point in only his second Grand Prix.

Juan Pablo's 'drive through' penalty will be talked about for a long time. It was the first such penalty and even Michael Schumacher who was at the receiving end thought it was extreme.

The drivers' championship now looks close with Michael Schumacher leading with 14 points followed by Juan Pablo Montoya with 12 and Ralf Schumacher with 10.
In the constructors' championship, Williams have opened an 8 point gap to Ferrari leading 22 to 14.
The season is looking good.

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