Schumacher Wins; Button on Podium - Malaysia
Sunday March 21st, 2004
By Will Gray
World Champion Michael Schumacher continued his dominant form and extended his World Championship lead to seven points as he cruised to victory for Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday to claim his 72nd career victory.
The 35-degree heat failed to halt the six-time title winner as he left his rivals in the shade with a measured drive to claim his first victory in Sepang for three years.
The win was not as easy as it was in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he finished five seconds ahead of second-placed Colombian Williams-BMW driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
But his performance, as he wracked up another ten points after starting from pole for the Bridgestone-shod Ferrari squad, blew away pre-race claims from the Michelin runners that the heat and humidity would not suit his tyres.
Briton Jenson Button finished ahead of fourth-placed Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello to claim the first podium of his career and punched the air after showing both he and BAR-Honda have stepped up a gear this year.
But his teammate Takuma Sato missed out on eighth place when his engine gave way two laps from the finish to let in Brazilian Sauber driver Felipe Massa to claim the final point.
Italian Jarno Trulli finished fifth for Renault but his Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso was left wondering what might have been after he climbed up from last on the grid to score a point for eighth for the second time in his career.
Scot David Coulthard claimed sixth for McLaren-Mercedes to add to his eighth in Australia but it was another unsatisfactory day for the team as Kimi Raikkonen continued his 100 percent retirement rate for this season.
Raikkonen gave McLaren a scare before the start when he spun on the parade lap but he was able to return to his original grid spot as Italian Giorgio Pantano sat at the end of the pitlane after having problems with his Jordan.
Australian Mark Webber made a disastrous get-away from his first front row start and dropped to ninth as the two Ferraris shot into the lead. At the same time Alonso, starting from the back, climbed all the way up to 10th after one lap.
Pantano spun on cold tyres before he had even completed lap one then Barrichello slid wide and dropped to fourth place as Montoya put the pressure on the Ferrari of leader Schumacher.
Rain started to fall on lap three but all the drivers decided to ride out the brief shower. It soon stopped and on lap four Alonso passed Webber after almost squeezing him into the pit wall as the pair headed into the first corner.
Webber's disaster race went from bad to worse one lap later when he suffered a puncture and dropped to last after pitting to change tyres and fill up with fuel. He was then given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
By lap five Schumacher had started to pull away and had developed a lead of 3.6 seconds from Montoya with Raikkonen a further 5.0 seconds behind in third. Alonso had already made it into the points in eighth.
Sato spun his BAR-Honda on lap six but recovered to drive out of the gravel trap at turn eight and still stay ahead of the two Minardi cars and the struggling Jordan of Pantano.
At the end of lap nine Schumacher pitted for an 8.2 second stop to hand the lead to Montoya - the first time anyone other than Schumacher and Ferrari has led this season - and Coulthard and Alonso followed him in.
Raikkonen, Barrichello and Trulli came in on the next lap and Renault's quick turn-around helped Trulli pass Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher was in on lap 11 and Montoya stayed out one more lap before handing the lead to Michael Schumacher.
At the end of the first round of stops Schumacher led Montoya by 6.4 seconds with Raikkonen 3.1 seconds further back. Trulli was fourth with Button fifth after passing Barrichello during the pit sequence.
Trulli pitted early for his second stop at the end of lap 20 and four laps later his teammate Alonso stopped at the same time as Coulthard, who he had just passed, and immediately lost the place he had just taken.
Webber's disappointing race came to an end on lap 26 when he spun into the multi-coloured gravel trap at turn 15 and was forced to find a lonely lift back to the pits after his team's race performance faltered again.
Raikkonen stopped on lap 25 and the lead three drivers, Michael Schumacher, Montoya and Button all stopped on the next lap, BAR-Honda turning him round quick enough to move him ahead of Raikkonen after both had stopped.
Ralf Schumacher was forced to park his Williams-BMW at turn nine on lap 28 after the rear of his car shot out a plume of white smoke at almost the same time as his teammate Montoya posted the fastest lap of the race.
Barrichello was the last of the leaders to pit on the same lap and his stop left Schumacher leading Montoya by 6.6 seconds with Button 9.4 seconds further back in third as he chased the first podium finish of his career.
Raikkonen was fourth with Barrichello fifth having made it back past Trulli, who dropped to sixth. German Nick Heidfeld then put a frown on team boss Eddie Jordan's face when he slowed and retired after being lapped once.
Coulthard was the first of the leaders to stop for a third time at the end of lap 38 with Montoya pitting from second place one lap later for a stop of 7.9 seconds.
Schumacher pitted on lap 40 along with Button, Raikkonen and Trulli but Raikkonen was out of the race just seven corners after exiting the pits, when his car ground to a halt with smoke coming from the rear end.
It was Raikkonen's second retirement in as many races and the angered Finn pushed away a marshal who came to his aid as he walked towards the barriers after seeing his title rivals pull further away.
Barrichello, running slowly in front of Montoya, finally stopped for a third time on lap 44 and that left Schumacher with a comfortable cushion of time to cruise to the finish. |
