The start in Malaysia was a bit of a disaster really, nothing to do with the organisers of the race, more blame on the drivers really. Frentzen had a problem on the parade lap and looked like he wasn't going to start but the Fisichella missed his start position and the start had to be aborted. On the second parade lap Montoya stalled and he had to run and get in the spare car so he had to start from the pit lane.
Finally the actual start of the race started. Rubens, like he did in Melbourne, made a bad start but recovered by sending Ralf into a spin at the first corner. Not only was this unfair sports manship by Rubens as Ralf was 3/4 of a car ahead it was also dangerous. Somehow all the drivers managed to get round Ralf without creating a pile up. except for Irvine who was touched by Bernoldi and spun.
Ralf about to be spun
Ralf got going again but was in last place. Irvine did too but it started raining on lap 3 and Irvine spun of for good. He wasn't alone, Villeneuve, Heidfeld and Bernoldi spun of on the same corner on the same lap and they all retired. M.Schumacher, Barrichello, Trulli and Coulthard all spun too but they recovered. Ferarri's hearts must have been in their mouths as Michael and Rubens both went of at the same corner together but managed to get back onto the track.
All the drivers left put wet tyres on apart from Ferarri's who put on intermediates. The pitstop itself was a bit of a mess. Rubens came in first and there was a mix up with his tyres so his stop lasted over a minute. Michael Schumacher was waiting behind him in the pits. Putting on intermediates looked like a strange disision but the cars were held behind the safty car until it was deemed safe to race. This played into Ferarri's hands and they moved from 10th and 11th up to first and second in a couple of laps. Also, Ralf Schumacher was climbing his way up through the field and was now seventh. 
When the track dried and they all went on to slick tyres Ferarri had a massive lead over the rest. Ralf and Mika Hakkinen went onto slicks first, maybe a little too early though.
Through the middle part of the race Ralf Schumacher was the fastest man on the track by over a second and he climbed to fourth and was catching third mad, Coulthard. He then had to make another pit stop. He started to have problems with understear after this stop but managed to bring the Williams BMW home 5th just in front of Mika Hakkinen who set the fastest lap of the race in the final stages.
the flying finn
David Coulthard and Heinz-Harold Frentzen finnished 3rd and 4th after making one less pitstop than most drivers. Both had had worries over the amount of fuel left at the end and had, had to back of the pace a bit but neither lost a place because of this.
In all this carnage Jos Vertstappen came up from 18th to 6th in the first corner and ran as high as second while it was raining. When the track dried however he dropped to 7th but it was still a brilliant performance from him.
Both BAR's were out within five laps, Panis had an engine problem and Villeneuve spun in the rain. The Benettons also had a difficult time as the car was not handling well in the rain (or the dry!) Fisichella retired and Button managed to finnish 11th but had been lapped.
The Ferarri cars were reliable and M.Schumacher finished 1st and Barrichello 2nd. This gave Ferarri a maximum 16 points and again showed the genius of Ross Brawn, Michael Scumacher, Jean Todt, Rubens Barrichello, the Ferarri design staff and the Ferarri engine designers who look like an unbeatable package at the moment. 
"It was the driver's call and we thought that while we might struggle for a few laps, we knew it would be better in the end," said the German who proceeded to drive through the field eventually often lapping as much as five seconds a lap faster than his rivals because of the tyre choice Ferarri made.
"This was a very exciting race," added Schumacher. "I thought everything was over when the rain started and I went off but we were lucky not to pick up any damage and managed to bring the cars home."
Rubens explaining what happened on his very long pit stop for wet tyres:-
"I saw a mechanic putting a slick on the front right and by that time the car was getting very hot and Michael was behind me in the pits and I didn't know what to do," said Barrichello. "So I just calmed down and decided to go again from the top."
The two Ferraris went back onto track and ended up carving their way up from 10th and 11th to 1st and 2nd.
"Michael is one hell of a driver, but I wish I had a little more luck like he had today because when I went off I picked up lots of stones and he seemed to get away without any problem really while I had to make an extra pit stop," concluded the Brazilian.
"Starting from eighth I would have been happy with a few points but with conditions like the ones today anything could have happened. I made a good start moving to fourth and was able to benefit when the rain began to pour. I spun off with Trulli just before I went into the pits and at that time we believed wet tyres would be the correct choice. I was leading when the safety car pulled in but as Michael and Rubens were on intermediates they were able to take a one-two. However I have more points now than I did at this stage of the Championship last year and I know that we are currently running a car, which is capable of a lot more than what we have shown this weekend."
"The whole team should be very happy with that. After the tough start we had to the weekend it was a great feeling to be so high up in the race. We got the maximum out of the car and the maximum out of me, especially at the start - I think that's one of my best ones yet! The car felt good in the wet but we know from last year it is good then and I have to say that I really enjoyed being up there in second place. The only shame is that we just missed out on the points but we're very happy that we have finished the race for the second time this season."
Schumacher - Position: 5th "The collision with Barrichello at the first corner is hard to understand, because usually the car that is in the front has the priority on the corner. From mid-race I picked up some understeer which became bigger and bigger after the third pit stop. My opinion is that it didn't depend on the tyre but more on the set-up of the car. But it was a good feeling anyway being able to keep Hakkinen behind me."
Race results
Back to my races 2001 page
Back to my Malaysia 2001 GP page
