In a result that mirrored their season Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello scored another Ferrari one-two to win today’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. This time there was no mistaking the intended result as Barrichello tucked neatly in behind Schumacher when he slowed down to provide the perfect team photo opportunity.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Schumacher (D) | Ferrari | 10 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello (BR) | Ferrari | 6 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) | McLaren Mercedes | 4 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) | Williams BMW | 3 |
| 5 | Takuma Sato (JAP) | Jordan Honda | 2 |
| 6 | Jenson Button (GB) | Renault | 1 |
| Fastest Qualifier: Michael Schumacher (D) | |||
It was Schumacher’s 11th win of the year, Ferrari’s ninth one-two finish — their fifth in a row — and Schumacher is also the first driver ever to stand on the podium after every race of the season with 11 wins, five seconds and one third place. To add insult to injury Ferrari’s 221 championship points is equal to the points scored by all of the other teams combined.
Ralf Schumacher had been the “best of the rest”, running behind the Ferraris in third place for most of the race but when his Williams retired with engine problems with just five laps to go Kimi Raikkonen inherited third for McLaren. Juan Pablo Montoya scored fourth place and three consolation points for Williams.
Local favourite Takuma Sato scored his first ever world championship points with a fifth place finish in his home race which was as good as a win for the Japanese fans and press. His result in a Honda powered Jordan moved them ahead of Jaguar and BAR in the constructors’ championship and secured a larger share of the FIA TV money for Jordan next year. The Suzuka circuit is owned by Honda and as the other three Honda powered cars all had engine failures his result was probably a great relief to them.
Jenson Button took the final point with a sixth place finish in his last race for Renault.
Once again the Arrows team were not present at the race and today the starting grid was even smaller than usual as Allan McNish was advised not to race after crashing his Toyota heavily in yesterday’s qualifying session. This would probably have been McNish’s last Grand Prix as — like his teammate Mika Salo — he has been dropped by Toyota for next year.