For the second race in a row there was a coming together between a Ferrari and a Williams BMW on the first corner of the first lap but this time it was Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya instead of Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello and the damage was a lot less severe than two weeks ago in Australia.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralf Schumacher (D) | Williams BMW | 10 |
| 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) | Williams BMW | 6 |
| 3 | Michael Schumacher (D) | Ferrari | 4 |
| 4 | Jenson Button (GB) | Renault | 3 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld (D) | Sauber Petronas | 2 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa (BR) | Sauber Petronas | 1 |
| Fastest Qualifier: Michael Schumacher (D) | |||
Complete Malaysian GP results.
As usual Michael Schumacher — starting from pole position — veered
to the right at the start which left a gap for his team-mate Rubens
Barrichello who was immediately behind him on the grid in P3 to
charge forwards and challenge Montoya. By the end of the straight
Montoya had once again got alongside Schumacher and the two went
into the first turn side by side. Schumacher, on the inside, went
a little wide and they collided breaking off Schumacher’s front
wing. Montoya ran wide and slowed almost to a stop and several cars
were able to pass him on the inside before he regained his momentum.
Schumacher had to pit for a new front wing which left him in last
place when he returned to the track.
Avoiding the accident Rubens Barrichello raced off in the lead
followed by Ralf Schumacher and the rest of the pack. Barrichello
had apparently started with a lighter fuel load than Ralf but was
not able to pull too far ahead of him and, after taking two pit
stops to Ralf’s one, ended up behind him on the track. At this point
he had still looked likely to finish second but on the 39th
lap his engine let go in a cloud of smoke and his day was over.
Montoya had, meanwhile, been penalized with a pit lane drive-through
for his part in the first corner accident but he was now back up
to third place behind Jenson Button who had inherited second when
Barrichello retired. Driving harder than his recent results would
give him credit for Button held Montoya off for a couple of laps
but then Montoya was past and into second place where he finished
behind his team-mate giving Williams a one-two finish. Perhaps the
fact that Button had been released from the Williams team to make
room for Montoya had something to do with the extra effort he put
up to avoid being passed.
Button could still have taken his first ever podium finish in third
but a few laps from the finish his Renault slowed due to a developing
technical problem allowing Michael Schumacher to pass him with half
a lap to go.
The Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa took the remaining
points finishing in fifth and sixth places respectively.
Allan McNish would almost certainly have finished in the points
for the first time had it not been for a disastrous pit stop where
his mechanics only had three new tyres ready for him. After a long
delay they finally put one of his old tyres back on the car and
sent him out just as the missing wheel arrived. The next lap he
had to make another stop to have the wheel exchanged and he finally
finished seventh.
Both McLarens failed with technical problems, David Coulthard went
out on the 15th lap and Kimi Raikkonen followed him nine
laps later.
The Jordan team also had a bad day with Takuma Sato running into
the back of team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella early in the race. Both
cars had to pit for new wings which left Sato in ninth place and
Fisichella — the last car still running — in 13th.