The Hindu : Ralf wins a `perfect race'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 18, 2002

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Ralf wins a `perfect race'

SEPANG March 17. It was another Schumacher victory at an accident-marred Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday _ but this time it was Ralf atop the podium, not Michael. Ralf broke his elder brother's two-time winning streak in Malaysia to lead a Williams-BMW one-two finish that challenged Ferrari's recent grip on Formula One. ``It was a perfect race,'' Ralf Schumacher said. ``I can't believe how quick the car was ... we certainly were a bit lucky.''

The Williams team profited from a collision when Juan Pablo Montoya, starting from second on the grid, collided with Michael Schumacher as they jousted for the lead at the first corner. Schumacher, starting from his 44th career pole position, lost his front wing and was forced into the pits. But the four-time world champion fought his way back from 21st to eclipse Jenson Button of Renault on the final lap and finish third.

It was the fourth career Grand Prix win for Ralf Schumacher, who started from fourth and finished the 56 laps in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 12.92 seconds, almost 40 seconds ahead of Montoya. Nick Heidfeld in a Sauber-Petronas was fifth, and his Brazilian rookie team-mate, Felipe Massa, gained his first Formula One point in sixth.

At the start, Michael Schumacher lurched to the right to block Montoya in the sprint to the first turn. Montoya swung over alongside Schumacher's left and appeared to beat him to the corner. Schumacher refused to yield and the cars tangled. Schumacher's left front wheel hit Montoya, whose own wheel tore Schumacher's front wing off. Montoya nearly headed into the gravel.

Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello slipped into the lead. Schumacher completed the first lap and went to the pits, coming out with a new wing in 12.5 seconds. He quickly got up to speed but was 45 seconds behind. Montoya came out of the incident in about 10th place and moved up to sixth at the end of seven laps, 14.9 seconds behind Barrichello.

But the Stewards ruled the incident was Montoya's fault and called him in for a drive-through penalty _ not a full stop-and- go but enough to slow him down and drop him to ninth, 35 seconds behind at the end of 10 laps.

The incident came two weeks after the Australian Grand Prix, where Ralf Schumacher rear-ended Barrichello on the first corner and caused a pileup that decimated the field.

``I gave him enough room,'' Montoya said. ``He touched me and that was it. I think it was very unfair. I think, what happened in the first race, they wanted to be extreme.''

The Schumacher brothers agreed that the penalty was `unfair.' ``I have seen more extremes and nothing was done,'' Michael Schumacher said. ``Today, a little touch and something was done.''

Barrichello jousted for the lead with Ralf Schumacher, shifting back and forth due to pit stops, until the 38th lap, when his engine gave out. That moved Montoya into second and Williams was unchallenged the rest of the way.

Michael Schumacher grabbed third in the final lap after being more than 16 seconds behind Button with six laps to go. ``I kept on pushing,'' Schumacher said. ``That's driving. There is always an opportunity''

Ferrari was using a modified version of last year's season- winning cars, preferring to do more testing on the 2002 models, which could be used in the Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks.

Allan McNish just missed giving Toyota another point in its debut season with a seventh, followed by 1997 World champion Jacques Villeneuve in a BAR-Honda. Takuma Sato of Jordan-Honda survived bumping team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella to end ninth. Pedro De la Rosa was 10th in a Jaguar. Nine of the 22 cars failed to finish _ two of them from McLaren- Mercedes, which is accustomed to sharing a spot on the Malaysian podium with two Ferrari drivers.

David Coulthard, who finished a distant second behind Schumacher in the championship last year, was in fourth place after 15 laps when he went out early for the second time in two races. Kimi Raikkonen blew his engine at lap 24 while he was momentarily in second.

The young Finn had been third in Melbourne and fared better in practice and qualifying than his veteran team-mate. ``I was lying in second place when all of a sudden my engine let go at the last corner, and that was it,'' said Raikkonen, who had had the fastest time in Friday's practice.

Schumacher won the season-opener in Australia and still maintains a slim lead in the drivers' standings with 14 points. Montoya is second with 12, and Ralf Schumacher third with 10. Williams, with its first one-two finish since 1996 and the first-ever one-two placement for BMW engines, shot to the top of the constructors' standings with 22 points over 14 for Ferrari and McLaren's four.

The race was in humid conditions made slightly hazy by peat fires burning in the area. _ AP

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport