2004 Malaysian GP: Schumacher wins, Button claims his first podium

Michael Schumacher won the 2004 Malaysian GP from pole position in his Ferrari. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second in the Williams and also set the fastest lap. Jenson Button took third in the BAR, his first podium in Formula 1. The race was settled when Schumacher pulled away after a brief rain shower early on, and Montoya never got close enough afterwards to mount a serious attack. At the Sepang International Circuit, the front-runners all completed 56 laps.

The surprise of qualifying was Mark Webber, who put his Jaguar second on the front row of the grid. At the start, however, he bogged down and was only ninth at the end of the opening lap. The team offered no clear explanation. Kimi Räikkönen had already half-spun his McLaren on the formation lap, but he was allowed to start from his grid position.

Schumacher took the lead straight away. Light rain began to fall immediately afterwards, with every driver still on dry tyres. Rubens Barrichello was running a harder Bridgestone compound than his teammate. On the second lap he ran off the racing line, and Montoya and Räikkönen both got past him. Montoya made the most of the slippery track and closed to within about a second of Schumacher. As the track dried out again, Schumacher set three fastest laps in a row, according to grandprix.com, stretching his lead from 1.1 to 4.2 seconds. Schumacher said afterwards that in the opening laps nobody knew how wet the track would be on the next lap.

Further back, Button and Jarno Trulli in the Renault fought a close duel, during which the two made light contact. Trulli briefly got ahead of Button, but Button took the place straight back.

Ferrari opted for a short first stint with Schumacher. According to grandprix.com, he pitted after nine laps. Schumacher said later that this had been the strategy they went into the race with. Montoya therefore took the lead from lap 10 until he made his own stop. From lap 13, Schumacher was back in front. During the next round of stops, Barrichello led briefly on lap 27, after which Schumacher took over again all the way to the chequered flag.

Montoya stayed within striking distance but never really closed in. At one point he cut the gap to less than four seconds, but after his final stop he got stuck behind Barrichello. Montoya complained that the Ferrari driver shut the door every time he tried an attack. In the end he finished 5.022 seconds behind the winner. With the fastest lap of the race (1:34.223) he at least showed that the Williams had enough pace. He took it in his stride: “it's better to go home with eight points than out of the race” (press conference, grandprix.com).

• Mark Webber (Jaguar), retired after lap 23, spin: Webber had a tough battle in the midfield with Ralf Schumacher, during which he forced the Williams driver onto the grass. Shortly afterwards, Ralf Schumacher hit the Jaguar's right rear wheel while trying to retake the place. Webber drove almost a full lap on a puncture. He was also handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Later, rear tyre wear gave him trouble, and Webber spun out. He took the blame for the mistake.
• Ralf Schumacher (Williams), retired after lap 27, engine: His Williams pulled up trailing smoke. According to Wikipedia, it was BMW's first engine failure in 17 races.
• Nick Heidfeld (Jordan), retired after lap 34, gearbox: The refuelling rig failed at his first stop, forcing him to pit a second time. Later his gears got stuck and he had to retire.
• Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren), retired after lap 40, gearbox: Räikkönen ran in the top five for a long time. At his second stop, a problem with the fuel filler cost him time. A gearbox failure then put him out.

Takuma Sato in the second BAR had spun into the gravel early on. In the closing stages his engine failed. He was nevertheless classified 15th, four laps down.

Winner of the day was Button, who stood on the podium for the first time. Starting sixth on the grid, he gained three places, saw off Trulli and worked his way past Barrichello and Räikkönen. After the race, Button spoke of a “good step in the right direction” (press conference, grandprix.com).

Fernando Alonso gained the most places. He had spun in qualifying and started only 19th. In the first stint he moved up to eighth, but then got stuck behind David Coulthard in the McLaren. Renault switched him to a different strategy, but it made no difference. He eventually finished seventh, twelve places higher than he started, and scored two points. Trulli finished fifth, Coulthard sixth. The final point went to Felipe Massa in the Sauber in eighth. Behind him, Cristiano da Matta in the Toyota and rookie Christian Klien in the Jaguar crossed the line.

Loser of the day was Webber. He started from the front row and lost 18 places before his retirement. Räikkönen and Ralf Schumacher each lost twelve places through their retirements. Olivier Panis also had a difficult day. After a radio misunderstanding he drove through the pit lane unnecessarily, was speeding in the process and received a drive-through penalty. He finished only twelfth. Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Sauber lost time with stalled engines at his pit stops and came home eleventh.

After two races, Schumacher had a perfect score. As at the Australian GP, he took ten points and led the 2004 standings with 20 points. Barrichello was second with 13 points, while Montoya moved up to third with 12 points. Button was now fourth with 9 points, ahead of Alonso (8) and Trulli (6). Ralf Schumacher dropped to seventh after his retirement (5 points).

In the constructors' standings, Ferrari already had almost twice as many points with 33 as Williams (17). They were followed by Renault (14) and BAR (9). After Räikkönen's retirement in Malaysia, McLaren had just 4 points.

Ferrari had struggled with tyre problems at Sepang in the past. But this race showed once again that Schumacher and Bridgestone had the strongest package in 2004. Schumacher made a point of thanking the tyre manufacturer. Williams-BMW with Montoya were the only real rivals on the day. For BAR-Honda and Button, the first podium was a sign that the team was on the way up. McLaren, on the other hand, endured another weak showing, with Räikkönen's retirement and sixth place for Coulthard. You can find all of the season's results in the 2004 results overview.