Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya brought the first 1-2 win for the partnership between BMW and Williams on this day in 2002, defeating Michael Schumacher in last year’s Ferrari, and the race was marked by contact between Michael Schumacher and Montoya.
In 2002, Ferrari began the season with last year’s F2001, which already proved to be quick enough for pole position and victory in Australia while in hot conditions in Malaysia, it was fast enough for Schumacher to win pole position with 0.231 s advantage over Montoya.
Montoya starts better and before the first turn is slightly ahead of Schumacher on the outside, but the German brakes late and his front wing gets stuck in Montoya’s front right wheel, after which the front wing on the Ferrari F2001 fell off.
The Colombian was punished with the drive through penalty and after the race, Schumacher admitted that the penalty was too harsh.
Malaysian GP main steward Nazir Hoosein has been known for odd decisions before, and in 1998 he was also main steward at Silverstone when Schumacher won by going through the pitlane in the final round, ‘serving’ his penalty, and after that, Hoosein temporarily lost his license for a year.
Ralf raced to a dominant victory, fourth in his career after San Marino, Canada and Germany in 2001, and despite the penalty, Montoya managed to finish second and complete the double win for BMW Williams. Williams will wait for the next double win until France in 2003, the last one before this race being in Portugal in 1996 with Hill and Villeneuve.
Button was on his way to the first podium of the F1 career driving the Renault R202, but due to suspension problems he had to slow down and was overtaken by four time champion Schumacher, who finished third. This result will prove important as Schumacher 2002 will finish all races on the podium and thus become the only driver in F1 history to achieve that.
Heidfeld and Massa finished fifth and sixth for Sauber Ferrari, thus earning the last points in the Malaysian GP, with Montoya taking the fastest lap.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:35.266 | – |
| 2 | 6 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 1:35.497 | 0.231 |
| 3 | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:35.891 | 0.625 |
| 4 | 5 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 1:36.028 | 0.762 |
| 5 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:36.468 | 1.202 |
| 6 | 3 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:36.477 | 1.211 |
| 7 | 7 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber/Petronas | 1:37.199 | 1.933 |
| 8 | 15 | Jenson Button | Renault | 1:37.245 | 1.979 |
| 9 | 9 | G.Fisichella | Jordan/Honda | 1:37.536 | 2.270 |
| 10 | 24 | Mika Salo | Toyota | 1:37.694 | 2.428 |
| 11 | 20 | H-H.Frentzen | Arrows/Cosworth | 1:37.919 | 2.653 |
| 12 | 14 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 1:37.920 | 2.654 |
| 13 | 11 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Honda | 1:38.039 | 2.773 |
| 14 | 8 | Felipe Massa | Sauber/Petronas | 1:38.057 | 2.791 |
| 15 | 10 | Takuma Sato | Jordan/Honda | 1:38.141 | 2.875 |
| 16 | 21 | Enrique Bernoldi | Arrows/Cosworth | 1:38.284 | 3.018 |
| 17 | 17 | Pedro de la Rosa | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:38.374 | 3.108 |
| 18 | 12 | Olivier Panis | BAR/Honda | 1:38.390 | 3.124 |
| 19 | 25 | Allan McNish | Toyota | 1:38.959 | 3.693 |
| 20 | 16 | Eddie Irvine | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:39.121 | 3.855 |
| 21 | 23 | Mark Webber | Minardi/Asiatech | 1:39.454 | 4.188 |
| 22 | 22 | Alex Yoong | Minardi/Asiatech | 1:40.158 | 4.892 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 5 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 56 | 1:34:12.912 | |
| 2 | 6 | J.P.Montoya | Williams/BMW | 56 | 1:34:52.611 | 39.699 |
| 3 | 1 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 56 | 1:35:14.706 | 1:01.794 |
| 4 | 15 | Jenson Button | Renault | 56 | 1:35:22.678 | 1:09.766 |
| 5 | 7 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber/Petronas | 55 | 1:34:13.608 | 1 lap |
| 6 | 8 | Felipe Massa | Sauber/Petronas | 55 | 1:35:21.343 | 1 lap |
| 7 | 25 | Allan McNish | Toyota | 55 | 1:35:38.086 | 1 lap |
| 8 | 11 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Honda | 55 | 1:35:52.238 | 1 lap |
| 9 | 10 | Takuma Sato | Jordan/Honda | 54 | 1:34:38.730 | 2 laps |
| 10 | 17 | Pedro de la Rosa | Jaguar/Cosworth | 54 | 1:34:40.393 | 2 laps |
| 11 | 20 | H-H.Frentzen | Arrows/Cosworth | 54 | 1:35:43.490 | 2 laps |
| 12 | 24 | Mika Salo | Toyota | 53 | 1:35:39.091 | 3 laps |
| 13 | 9 | G.Fisichella | Jordan/Honda | 53 | 1:35:52.699 | 3 laps |
| (2) | 2 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 39 | 1:06:12.158 | Engine |
| (11) | 23 | Mark Webber | Minardi/Asiatech | 34 | 1:00:28.720 | Electrical |
| (12) | 16 | Eddie Irvine | Jaguar/Cosworth | 30 | 53:38.552 | Hydraulics |
| (14) | 22 | Alex Yoong | Minardi/Asiatech | 29 | 52:33.790 | Gearbox |
| (4) | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | McLaren/Mercedes | 24 | 40:55.900 | Engine |
| (8) | 21 | Enrique Bernoldi | Arrows/Cosworth | 20 | 34:37.673 | Oil pressure |
| (9) | 3 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 15 | 26:05.350 | Engine |
| (13) | 12 | Olivier Panis | BAR/Honda | 9 | 15:53.842 | Clutch |
| (18) | 14 | Jarno Trulli | Renault | 9 | 16:27.198 | Overheating |
Fastest lap: Juan Pablo Montoya – 1:38.049 (krug 38)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 2/17 RACES
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 14 | 10 | 4 |
| 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | Ralf Schumacher | 10 | – | 10 |
| 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | 4 | 4 | – |
| 5 | Eddie Irvine | 3 | 3 | – |
| 5 | Jenson Button | 3 | – | 3 |
| 7 | Mark Webber | 2 | 2 | – |
| 7 | Nick Heidfeld | 2 | – | 2 |
| 9 | Mika Salo | 1 | 1 | – |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | 1 | – | 1 |
| 11 | Alex Yoong | 0 | – | – |
| 11 | Allan McNish | 0 | – | – |
| 13 | Pedro de la Rosa | 0 | – | – |
| 14 | Jacques Villeneuve | 0 | – | – |
| 15 | Takuma Sato | 0 | – | – |
| 16 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 0 | – | – |
| 17 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 0 | – | – |
| – | Rubens Barrichello | 0 | – | – |
| – | Anthony Davidson | 0 | ||
| – | David Coulthard | 0 | – | – |
| – | Olivier Panis | 0 | – | – |
| – | Jarno Trulli | 0 | – | – |
| – | Enrique Bernoldi | 0 | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Williams/BMW | 22 | 6 | 16 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 14 | 10 | 4 |
| 3 | McLaren/Mercedes | 4 | 4 | – |
| 4 | Jaguar/Cosworth | 3 | 3 | – |
| 5 | Renault | 3 | – | 3 |
| 6 | Sauber/Petronas | 3 | – | 3 |
| 7 | Minardi/Asiatech | 2 | 2 | – |
| 8 | Toyota | 1 | 1 | – |
| 9 | BAR/Honda | 0 | – | – |
| 10 | Jordan/Honda | 0 | – | – |
| 11 | Arrows/Cosworth | 0 | – | – |
