With soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees here at the Sepang circuit, the weather remained dry for the all-important start of the Malaysian Grand Prix. At this stage showers are expected to influence the progress of the event with rain expected to fall at some stage of the afternoon, with grey clouds hovering threateningly overhead. Drivers take to the grid, which is registering at a sweltering 43 degrees, in preparation of the formation lap that will lead them into round two of the 2002 season, the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The lights are off and it's time for action! Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya race for the lead, the Ferrari cutting across to stop the Williams getting past. Montoya refuses to yield and there's contact! Schumacher loses his front wing and Montoya loses several positions. Rubens Barrichello goes into the lead as Schumacher loses positions. He comes into the pits for a replacement wing while Montoya is down in 11th place.

Meanwhile, the Arrows of Heinz-Harald Frentzen stalled on the grid and rejoins a lap down. Schumacher returns to the track in 21st place and the fight is on as the German fights to make his way back up the through the field. The two Jordans have a coming together, Sato running into the back of Fisichella and both need to pit for new nosecones. Montoya has worked his way up to ninth place behind Mika Salo in eighth. Another two places for the Colombian after getting past both Salo and Jarno Trulli.

Sixth place Jenson Button is now only half a second ahead of the Williams, Juan determined to get back up the front of this race. Meanwhile, Rubens Barrichello is stretching out a lead on the second placed Williams of Ralf Schumacher with the two McLaren drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard in third and fourth places respectively.

Montoya keeps the pressure on Button and passes the Englishman with ease. Michael Schumacher is also carving his way through the field, the German up to nineteenth place, just under four seconds behind the 18th placed Minardi of Mark Webber. Lap nine and Montoya is under investigation by the stewards over the first lap incident and is handed a stop and go penalty. Pedro de la Rosa has an incident with the BAR of Olivier Panis and is in the pits for a new nosecone. Jarno Trulli is also in the pits as Schumacher gets past Webber and starts hunting down Alex Yoong. Montoya comes in to serve his penalty, the Williams team far from happy about the situation, He returns to the track in ninth place, 35 seconds behind the leading Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher is nipping at the gearbox of ex-teammate Eddie Irvine, the Jaguar driver fighting hard to retain 14th place. Jarno Trulli retires, two DNF's in a row for the Renault driver while teammate Jenson Button holds strong to sixth place.

Olivier Panis has retired with clutch failure while the two Toyota drivers of Mika Salo and Allan McNish are in seventh and eighth place respectively. Nick Heidfeld is in fifth with his teammate Felipe Massa in 11th has Michael Schumacher right behind him in 12th. Montoya is flying around the Sepang circuit desperately trying to make up lost time, however Michael Schumacher may have done more damage than expected in the incident between the duo as he doesn't appear to be slicing up the field as quickly as expected, three seconds a lap slower than Barrichello's pace.

Schumacher gets past Massa with ease but David Coulthard has a problem up front, the Scot dropping down the order. He comes into pitlane and retires, another DNF for the McLaren driver. Schumacher passes Bernoldi in the Arrows and Bernoldi takes the position back! Amazing! Back up the front and Rubens Barrichello is 6 seconds ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Michael Schumacher takes 9th place back off Bernoldi, the German now two places behind Juan Pablo Montoya.

Top six after 17 laps, Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button and Mika Salo. Montoya is hunting down the Toyota driver, now less than three seconds behind. Meanwhile, at the back of the field, Eddie Irvine is in thirteenth place with home boy Alex Yoong in 14th, a second ahead of teammate Mark Webber in 15th. Takuma Sato is 16th and a lap down followed by the second Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa. Frentzen is 18th and Giancarlo Fisichella is two laps down in 18th, another bad day for Jordan.

Juan Pablo Montoya is now only just over half a second behind Mika Salo, the Colombian almost back in the points with Jenson Button is only another half a second further ahead of the Toyota driver. Montoya gets past Salo and homes in on Jenson. Nick Heidfeld pits from fourth place with Rubens Barrichello close behind. Williams are out in pitlane as well and Montoya comes in for his first stop. Barrichello rejoins in third behind the sole remaining McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen. Montoya is back on track after an 8.6 second stop, two seconds slower than Barrichello's stationary time and slots into eighth.

Trouble for Enrique Bernoldi, his Arrows stuck in the middle of the circuit and marshals run to his aid. Kimi Raikkonen appears to be on a one stop strategy while Rubens Barrichello is on a two, the Ferrari driver taking on very little fuel on his earlier stop. Raikkonen is keeping Barrichello behind him as Felipe Massa comes in for his first stop. Lap 25 and Ralf leads the race and Kimi Raikkonen has smoke and flames coming out of his McLaren! Race over for McLaren as the Finn retires from second place.

Barrichello moves into second after Raikkonen's retirement with Nick Heidfeld third and Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth. Michael Schumacher is down in eighth place behind the second Sauber of Felipe Massa. Pedro de la Rosa pits as does Mika Salo. However Salo veers off and goes straight into the garage but comes back out to rejoin the race. Michael Schumacher is now sixth, 13 seconds behind Montoya, however he is 80 seconds behind the leader of this race, his brother Ralf Schumacher, who is yet to come in for his first stop.

Eddie Irvine tries to lap a Minardi and loses his front wing in the process. The Jaguar goes across the grass, rejoins the track and takes to pitlane. Luckily he was on a one-stop strategy and takes advantage of the unscheduled repairs to take on fuel and fresh tyres. Although he goes a lap down, he also manages to hang onto his overall seventh place, however he retires soon afterwards after losing hydraulic pressure in the R3. A new lap record for Ralf Schumacher with a 1:38.369, the Williams really working well here today.

Juan Pablo Montoya takes Heidfeld for fourth place, putting the Sauber between himself and Michael Schumacher. However, third place is a long way off with Jenson Button's Renault a further 30 seconds up the road. Ralf Schumacher finally comes in for his first and only stop of the day, 11 seconds for the Williams driver after taking on fuel and scrubbed Michelin tyres. Rubens Barrichello is back in the lead, however the Ferrari driver has to stop a second time, where Ralf, who is only three seconds behind the Brazilian, doesn't.

Michael Schumacher is in sixth place, and is hunting down the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, however he will need another stop as well. Montoya is up to third after Jenson Button pits. Rubens Barrichello pits and rejoins in second place behind Ralf Schumacher. Montoya is six seconds behind in third, however the Colombian may need another stop. Michael Schumacher passes Nick Heidfeld and takes fifth place, 52 seconds behind his brother. Mark Webber has an off track excursion and parks his Minardi in the gravel.

Heidfeld pits and comes out behind the Renault of Jenson Button who is in fifth place after being passed by Michael Schumacher. Only 14 drivers remain in the race with 6 still on the lead lap. Montoya comes in for his second and final stop and he needs for it run smoothly if he wants a shot at the podium. He rejoins behind Button and Michael Schumacher in fifth place as Rubens Barrichello retires from the race with engine failure, smoke pouring from his F2001!

Michael Schumacher comes in for his third stop of the day and Jenson Button goes into second with Juan Pablo Montoya in third. Michael Schumacher is fourth, Nick Heidfeld, who is the last on the lead lap, fifth and Allan McNish in sixth.

Montoya is only six tenths of a second behind Jenson Button and the Colombian is determined to get past him to make it a Williams one-two here in Malaysia. McNish pits and it's a long one, over 27 seconds, putting him out of a points scoring finish in seventh place. Jenson Button is refusing to yield and with only eleven laps remaining Montoya applies the pressure and although Button makes a slow error, the Colombian doesn't get through. Montoya doesn't give up and takes second place away from the Renault driver only a few seconds later.

Only a handful of laps remain and Ralf Schumacher remains in control of this race with teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in second. Jenson Button holds firm to third place with Michael Schumacher in fourth. The two Sauber drivers make up the top six with Heidfeld in fifth and Felipe Massa in sixth, the Brazilian in line to score his first world championship point.

The laps tick down and Ralf begins his final lap. the German has run a superb race here today and crosses the line to take the chequered flag for the fourth victory of his career with a 50 second lead. Juan Pablo Montoya takes second, a brilliant comeback for the Colombian after everything he went through today but Jenson Button who looked good for third, runs into problems on the final lap and slips back to fourth, giving third spot on the podium to Michael Schumacher!

Top six from today's Malaysian Grand Prix were Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa.