Jarno on main straight.

Although there was heavy overnight rain, which left the Sepang circuit damp for this morning's warm up, the heat here in Malaysia dried it out quick enough and the race began under hot and sunny conditions. The drivers completed a few installation laps before lining up the grid to await the warm up lap. The main question in everyone's mind at this point of time is whether or not the Michelin tyres, that have worked so well here in practice and qualifying, will cope with race conditions and last the distance.

Michael Schumacher switches to the spare car minutes before the pit lane closes as his race car suffered with a hydraulic leak, and takes to the circuit, that currently sits at 43 degrees Celsius, to resume his place at the front of the grid. The formation lap gets underway and there is a problem for Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the German going slowly at the back of the field.
His Honda powered EJ11 has had a misfire and he may miss the start, but, strangely enough, Giancarlo Fisichella stops his Benetton across the middle of the grid after missing his spot and is relegated to the back of the grid. This is helping Frentzen, who in reality is the cause of Fisichella's dilemma as the other cars bunched up because he wasn't there and moved ahead a spot, leaving Fisichella nowhere to go! There is a lot happening before the race even gets underway this afternoon, as Jos Verstappen now becomes the centre of a stewards enquiry. Frentzen is pushed into his ninth place and a new formation lap begins.

It's now sixth placed man, Juan Pablo Montoya's turn to have a problem as the Colombian stalls his Williams on the grid and can't get it going again…he runs to the pits to jump into the spare as the field comes back around to take up their positions once again. The lights go out and it is finally GO in Malaysia!.

Michael Schumacher gets off to a good start, however his younger brother and Rubens Barrichello touch, sending the Williams spinning. Kimi Raikkonen pulls off the grid, his day over before it has even begun. David Coulthard is on a charge, flying through the field from his eighth starting place to move into fourth ahead of Mika Hakkinen. Jarno Trulli moves into third as Olivier Panis' engine blows, the Frenchman pulling off the circuit with smoke billowing from the back of his BAR. The field comes around again and the Ferraris slide in the oil deposited on the circuit from Panis and they are both off!!! The skies open up and heavy rain begins to pour onto the circuit to add to the excitement! Lap three and Jarno Trulli leads, followed by David Coulthard!

Utter chaos reigns as several cars slide off the circuit. They pit for wets, but it's disaster for Ferrari! The pit crew are a wheel short for Rubens Barrichello and the stop takes over a minute and Michael is parked behind him the entire time !!!

The safety car was deployed when the heavy rain hit and it is still out on lap six. David Coulthard leads with Frentzen in second and Jos Verstappen in third. Villeneuve, Heidfeld, Bernoldi, Montoya, Panis, Raikkonen have all retired by this stage and Michael Schumacher is down in 11th place behind Rubens Barrichello who sits in tenth. What a change of fortunes this race has produced! The McLarens, openly admitting they lacked the pace and here they are a t the front of the back while the Ferraris are close to the rear of the field. Eddie Irvine has also retired, the Jaguar getting a knock from one of the Arrows and when he came in for wets, the team discovered a problem with the car.

The rain has stopped, the brief downpour that played havoc on the track replaced with bright sunshine. Ralf Schumacher is still in this race, after his earlier mishap with Barrichello and currently sits in eighth behind Giancarlo Fisichella in seventh and Jean Alesi in sixth! Lap 10 and the safety car leaves the circuit and the race begins again!

Jos Verstappen makes a move on Frentzen for second as David Coulthard pulls instantly away, leaving the two drivers to battle. The Orange Arrows gets past the Jordan, Michael Schumacher moves up to ninth and Ralf is now fifth. Those Michelin tyres are really working well here in these conditions. Mika Hakkinen, now in fourth, closes in on third placed Frentzen and takes the position. Ralf is absolutely flying and passes Frentzen as well, but we can't forget Michael, he is charging as well, and he too passes the Jordan, on the outside! Jenson Button spins, but continues on as Michael Schumacher passes both his brother and Hakkinen!

Lap 14 and Michael is in third behind Verstappen and Coulthard. The German is 6 seconds off the lead as his teammate also passes the Mclaren of Mika Hakkinen. Michael's Ferrari is on intermediate tyres apposed to the wets for everyone else and he is 3 seconds a lap faster than his rivals. He attempts to pass Verstappen and fails, however he tries again and gets through to claim second. McLaren are losing a lot of time and will have to pit to change tyres soon. Schumacher continues to charge and passes Coulthard on the straight to reclaim the lead!

Rubens Barrichello gets past Verstappen as well and closes in on Coulthard and the Brazilian also gets past, making it a Ferrari one two once again. Meanwhile, Michael has already pulled out a 6 second lead over third placed Coulthard in just one lap! The Ferrari's are just destroying their rivals at the moment.

Lap 19 and several drivers pit for dry tyres, including Mika Hakkinen and Ralf Schumacher. Ferrari mechanics come out as well, however both drivers stay out and the mechanics go back in. Mika Hakkinen, now on dry tyres sets the fastest first sector time and Ferrari respond, bringing Rubens in for a change of tyres. Coulthard should have pitted some time ago, as he continues to lose more and more time to the Ferrari duo, the Scot now over 30 seconds behind Michael Schumacher on lap 22.

Several drivers are now pitting as Ferrari prepare for Michael. Meanwhile, brother Ralf is battling with Heinz-Harald Frentzen for seventh place. He passes him on the inside and the Mclaren mechanics finally appear for David Coulthard. Ralf is now up to sixth after Jarno Trulli pits. Rubens moves into second while Coulthard is in the pits. Apparently the Scot has been having radio problems and spits of rain begin to fall on the circuit once again. In his haste to get back onto the circuit, David almost runs over the foot of one of his crew members, but luckily he misses!

Ralf Schumacher is on a charge and passes Mika Hakkinen for fifth place. David is now in third, however he is 27 seconds behind the second placed Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello. Michael finally pits and his mechanics adjust the front wing and fuel him up for the rest of the race. His first place is safe as he rejoins the circuit still well ahead of his teammate with 26 laps left to run in this fantastic race!

Tarso Marques loses the tread form his tyre, leaving it in the middle of the circuit before pitting. Ralf Schumacher gets past Jos Verstappen for fourth, however he has a further 17 seconds to make up if he wants to get past the McLaren of David Coulthard for third. Mika Hakkinen tries to pass the Arrows as well, but the Dutchman is holding on. Three brave marshals run out onto the track to remove the tyre tread as Giancarlo Fisichella retires from the race, grinding to a halt at the entrance to the pits. His teammate, Jenson Button, is still running, albeit in 11th place and a lap down.

Ralf is closing the gap to Coulthard at a rate of two seconds a lap. The Williams driver desperately wants to be on the podium here today and with 21 laps remaining and now ten seconds between them, it may just happen. He continues to push and by lap 37 the gap is under five seconds, meanwhile behind them, a battle rages between Jos Verstappen, Mika Hakkinen and Heinz-Harald Frentzen with just over a second between the three of them. Frentzen passes the McLaren.

Ralf Schumacher pits as does Mika Hakkinen, Jarno Trulli and Rubens Barrichello. Mika comes back out in 7th behind Ralf Schumacher while Rubens retains his second place with a five second gap back to Coulthard. Jos Verstappen now pits, giving up his strong fourth place to Frentzen. The Dutchman comes back out in 7th, the last driver on the lead lap. Mika Hakkinen sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:41.4 as both Ferrari's slow down the pace a little, knowing they have plenty in hand to cruise to the end.

Seven laps remain and Hakkinen is on a late charge and so is teammate David Coulthard. The Scot closing in on Rubens Barrichello, only four seconds separate the duo at the moment. The Ferrari driver responds and brings it back up to 5,7 seconds as Hakkinen sets the new best lap of the race. Michael is cruising with only a handful of laps to the chequered flag. Mika closes in on Ralf desperately wanting that extra point that fifth place will bring. He tries and tries to pass, but the younger Schumacher holds his own. Two laps to go and the podium looks certain, Michael will take his sixth successive win here and a third victory for Ferrari at the Sepang circuit. The German comes around for his final lap and takes the chequered flag for Ferrari! Victory for Michael Schumacher in Malaysia!

The top 6 from today's Malaysian Grand Prix were:

1: Michael Schumacher

2: Rubens Barrichello

3: David Coulthard

4: Heinz-Harald Frentzen

5: Ralf Schumacher

6: and Mika Hakkinen