Ferrari the finest by far

Schumacher and Barrichello master the conditions

BBC motor racing correspondent Jonathan Legard watches the skill and tactical nous of the Ferrari team trump their rivals in Malaysia.

There were no red wigs this time but Michael Schumacher ensured that Ferrari left Malaysia once more as Formula One's number one team.

Even by Schumacher standards, this 46th career victory was phenomenal.

How does a man who dropped from first to 11th in a near miss with a barrier, and who spent nearly a minute and a half in a chaotic pitstop with his team-mate, then go waltzing through a monsoon to take the chequered flag for the sixth successive race?

Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello made a mockery of the conditions and the opposition.

The Ferraris seem to run on rails through the rain while the rest slithered and struggled for traction.

Schumacher described the conditions as "atrocious and undriveable", but there wasn't the slightest sign he had problems seeing, passing and winning.

Unlike his rivals who scrapped gamely in his wake.

Has a tyre call ever been more decisive?

McLaren went for full wets in the downpour. "Anything else would have put the drivers' lives at risk," said team principal, Ron Dennis.

Barrichello celebrates his second place

"It was the only responsible option to take, and this was confirmed by David (Coulthard) who reported he was aquaplaning behind the safety car."

Yet Schumacher overruled Ferrari's arch strategist, Ross Brawn, and opted for intermediates - despite the lakes and rivers washing around at least a third of the Sepang circuit.

Inspired? Fortuitous? Unreal? Incredible? Take your pick. But not suspicious, according to Dennis when asked about Ferrari's startling grip in the wet.

"If there was anything sinister, I would say so," he said. "There wasn't. They lucked in just like they did in the first race behind the safety car."

"We're not despondent. This is a long championship season. This is motor racing."

Ferrari can rightly claim supremacy, but McLaren can draw encouragement.

Coulthard's second successive podium and Mika Hakkinen's first point of 2001 means the team is actually better placed than this time last year when they had no points at all after two races.

Ferrari are in a different championship

  Eddie Jordan

And remember, Hakkinen hit back to lead the championship, only losing it in the penultimate grand prix of the season.

Dennis promised improvement for the next race in Brazil in two weeks, but significant gains will only happen from mid April when the cars are back in Europe for intensive testing.

Will that be too late? And what difference will the introduction of traction control from late April make to the grid?

One of the most telling post-race remarks came from Eddie Jordan.

The day after St Patrick's Day, the Jordan team boss was singing the praises of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who came home fourth ahead of Ralf Schumacher's resurgent Williams.

But the Irishman commented, "We look to be improving our reliability and taking the fight to McLaren, BAR and Williams."

"But Ferrari are in a different championship."