The Malaysian Grand Prix, Lap by Lap
The grid lines up with rain clouds threatening the Sepang circuit. Giorgio Pantano is going to start from the pitlane. There is some rain at the back of the track and on the final installation lap Kimi Raikkonen spins his McLaren. Fortunately he is able to retake his grid position because he is able to rejoin before the last car passes him.
Lap 1: At the start Mark Webber gets away very slowly and as the cars head for the first corner, it is a Ferrari 1-2 with Michael Schumacher ahead of Rubens Barrichello. Third is Juan Pablo Montoya in his Williams with Kimi Raikkonen fourth, Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli disputing fifth. Further back Webber has a great lap making up places and crosses the line in eighth place, having made his way up from around 15th place. Also on the move in Fernando Alonso, who has gone from the back of the grid to ninth. The top 10 is completed by Takuma Sato. At the tail of the field Giorgio Pantano spins, probably because he started on cold tyres. By the end of the first lap Michael Schumacher has a two second lead over Barrichello.
Lap 2: With half the race track dry and the other half a little damp, the Michelin cars have an advantage. Barrichello runs wide and this allows Montoya and Raikkonen to move up to second and third places. Montoya closes quickly on Schumacher and gets to within a second of the leader. The Trulli-Button battle continues with Jenson getting ahead. Further back Ralf Schumacher re-passes Webber while Sato has a spin and drops back to 15th place. Giancarlo Fisichella is also in trouble and drops from 16th to 19th.
Lap 3: As the track dries Schumacher begins to pull away again, increasing his lead to 1.6 seconds. Montoya is able to pull away from Raikkonen while Barrichello drops away. Button is next up with Trulli on his tail and Coulthard chasing. Ralf Schumacher is overtaken by Webber and Alonso while Fisichella recovers and is back up to 17th.
Lap 4: As Michael Schumacher sets the fastest lap of the race, increasing his lead to 1.8secs., the battle between Webber and Alonso is very close and Fernando gets ahead. Fisichella moves up from 17th to 15th. Sato is also in trouble and loses three places to end up 18th.
Lap 5: Schumacher increases his lead to 3.2secs.There is drama for Webber, who has a left rear puncture. He is forced to drive slowly around to the pits for a new tyre. This promotes Ralf Schumacher to ninth place and Felipe Massa to 10th.
Lap 6: Schumacher increases his lead again to 4.2secs. The order remains the same although at the back Sato begins his recovery, overtaking Gianmaria Bruni for 16th.
Lap 8: The order has settled down but Giancarlo Fisichella heads for the pitlane for his first pit stop. He drops from 14th to 17th.
Lap 9: Schumacher pits, suggesting that he was running relatively light in qualifying. This puts Montoya into the lead with Raikkonen second, Barrichello third and then the Button-Trulli duo in fourth and fifth. Also pitting are Coulthard, Alonso, Massa, Christian Klien and Bruni.
Lap 10: Montoya stays in the lead and with Raikkonen, Barrichello and Trulli all pitting, this means that Button is second with Ralf Schumacher third and Michael fourth. Trulli rejoins ahead of Barrichello. Further back da Matta stops. Webber pits for a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
Lap 11: Ralf Schumacher stops and loses ground, rejoining in 11th place, behind Alonso. The stops continue with Olivier Panis coming in from eighth place. He drops to 12th.
Lap 12: Montoya and Button both pit, leaving Michael Schumacher in the lead again. Montoya rejoins behind Raikkonen but passes him later in the lap to take second again. Trulli also gets ahead of Raikkonen to grab fourth with Button fifth and Barrichello down to sixth. Sato is seventh but has yet to stop while Coulthard is eighth, Alonso ninth. Nick Heidfeld comes into the pits, leaving 10th place to Ralf Schumacher.
Lap 13: Schumacher’s lead is up to 6.4secs. Heidfeld returns to the pits for a second stop.
Lap 14: Montoya sets the fastest lap and closes the gap to 4.6secs, Schumacher losing a little time passing Webber. Sato comes into the pits and falls from seventh place to 11th.
Lap 15: At the back of the field Webber catches and passes Zsolt Baumgartner.
Lap 18: Montoya has managed to close the gap to Schumacher to just 3.3secs. There is then a seven second gap back to Raikkonen who is under pressure from Trulli. Button follows ahead of Barrichello.
Lap 20: The gap has increased again with Schumacher beginning to pull away. Trulli pits and falls back from fourth to ninth after a very short stint of only 10 laps. Further back da Matta has his second stop.
Lap 21: Panis has his second stop but the Toyotas are not competitive.
Lap 22: At the back of the field Webber catches and passes Bruni for 18th place.
Lap 24: Alonso passes Coulthard on the outside at Turn 1 to grab sixth place but both men pit at the end of the lap. Alonso takes on a lot of fuel and so drops behind Coulthard, Massa and Salo. Webber spins off into retirement.
Lap 25: The second stops continue with Raikkonen pitting, allowing Barrichello to move to fourth place and Ralf Schumacher to fifth. Kimi rejoins in sixth. Also pitting is Massa, who falls from ninth to 12th.
Lap 26: The top three all come into the pits. Barrichello thus leads with Michael rejoining second ahead of Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and Trulli. Raikkonen is sixth. Also pitting is Fisichella down in 11th place.
Lap 28: After leading for two laps Barrichello pits and Schumacher goes into the lead again. Montoya sets the fastest lap. Ralf Schumacher disappears with a blown engine. This promotes Button to fourth and Raikkonen to fifth. Trulli is sixth.
Lap 29: Montoya once again begins closing on Schumacher but the order further back is now set.
Lap 32: Montoya has closed to within five seconds of Schumacher. Further back Heidfeld hits troubles with gears and falls down the order.
Lap 34: Heidfeld retires.
Lap 35: Sato, on a two-stop strategy pits from eighth place. He drops behind Alonso, the Spaniard’s lap times suggest that he is not going to stop again.
Lap 36: Down at the back Klien and da Matta pit for a third time. End of the field, Baumgartner does the same.
Lap 38: Coulthard begins the final stops for the leading cars. He holds on to his seventh place. Further back Panis stops for the third time.
Lap 39: Montoya has been unable to get closer than 3.7secs to Schumacher and as he begins to fade again he heads for pitlane. He rejoins in fifth behind Button, Raikkonen and Barrichello.
Lap 40: Schumacher, Button and Raikkonen all stop. Michael comes out in the lead but Montoya is stuck behind Barrichello. Also stopping is Trulli but he remains in sixth place.
Lap 41: Raikkonen retires with a blown engine. This puts Trulli up to fifth place with Coulthard sixth. Alonso is eighth and Sato ninth.
Lap 44: Barrichello finally pits but by then Montoya is more than nine seconds behind Schumacher and decides to settle for second place. Barrichello rejoins in fourth.
Lap 45: Panis goes into the pits for no obvious reason. The Frenchman drives straight through and rejoins, gesticulating in an unhappy fashion. He is later given a drive-through penalty for speeding in pitlane. This drops him back to 12th.
Lap 53: Sato retires with an engine failure. Losing eighth place. This puts Massa into eighth.
Lap 56: Michael Schumacher wins his 72nd victory. Montoya is second and Jenson Button third, delighted to have scored his first F1 podium finish. |
