"Mark was pretty aggressive which I guess came from his start," Schumacher said. "I didn't want a collision but Mark didn't give me any room. I had a reasonable start but then I touched with Webber and something broke on my car because I had a lot of understeer."

Prior to the start of the 2004 Malaysian Grand Prix several drivers would take the opportunity to change their engines, including Renault's Fernando Alonso and BAR's Takuma Sato. Both drivers are starting from the back of the grid so they could not be moved back ten grid places. Jordan's Pantano would start the race from the pit. It was reported that the two Ferrari's were on different strategies with Barrichello aiming to make any two stops compared to Michael Schumacher's three.

The conditions were overcast with a slight chance of rain, but the rain would start to fall prior to the drivers making their race starts. Nobody was looking to change their tyres as everyone searched the skies looking for how long the rain would last. Even with the rain the track was remaining dry due to the high temperatures. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen would spin on the parade lap, but he was able to retake his grid position.

So with everyone still on dry tyres they would start the race and it would be Michael Schumacher leading Barrichello, Montoya, and Raikkonen. Webber was to make a terrible start. Raikkonen would be struggling with his car as after one lap Michael would be 2.0 seconds ahead. Juan Pablo was in third, but he would pass Rubens. The rain would get heavier and Raikkonen would pass Rubens. Juan Pablo would set the fastest lap time. a 1m:39.335. Button in fifth would be climbing all over Rubens, but Jenson would be passed by Trulli only for the BAR to quickly repass the Renault.

Lap four and Michael was 1.6 seconds ahead of Juan Pablo. Alonso would pass Webber for eighth. This was amazing considering Alonso started from the back of the grid. Lap five and Michael is leading by 1.8 seconds. Ralf would also pass Mark Webber with the Jaguar driver appearing to have a puncture. He would drop down the order and pit to take on new tyres and fuel. BAR's Sato would spin on lap six putting his car into the gravel. He would rejoin the track in sixteenth.

Lap seven and Juan Pablo was 4.2 seconds behind Michael in second. Raikkonen was in third with Rubens fourth. Ralf was down in ninth. Button was fifth and Trulli sixth. By lap eight the track was to have dried out. Lap nine and Sauber's Fisichella would pit. For Mark Webber his day would get even worse when he was given a penalty for speeding in the pitlane.

Michael Schumacher would pit joined by Coulthard and Alonso. Michael would stop for 8.2 seconds. Lap ten and Juan Pablo would lead the race. Raikkonen, Barrichello, and Trulli would all pit, leaving Button in second. Trulli would beat Rubens back out on the track. The WilliamsF1 mechanics would start to get ready and it would be Ralf who would pit first, 8.1 seconds. Lap twelve and Juan Pablo would pit, joined by Button. Michael would retake the lead. Lap thirteen and Heidfeld would pit. Michael was now leading the race by 6.4 seconds from Juan Pablo.

But Juan Pablo would be pushing hard setting the fastest first sector time. He would set the fastest lap, a 1m:34.649, to reduce the lead to Michael. Rubens was down in sixth. Juan Pablo would continue to reduce the gap to Michael.

Lap eighteen and Trulli would challenge Raikkonen with the Renault driver just 0.4 seconds behind. Renault team-mate Alonso would lose time to seventh placed Coulthard, the Renault suffering from understeer. Jordan's Pantano was yet to make his first pit stop. At the front the gap between the FW26 and the F2004 would stabilise. Ralf's poor race would continue running wide at the final turn losing more time.

Trulli would pit on lap twenty one, 8 seconds, joined by Toyota's da Matta from fifteenth. Michael's lead had grown again to be 4.6 seconds. Panis would pit from fourteenth. Coulthard and Alonso would be fighting over sixth. Michael would take another eight tenths from Juan Pablo. Lap twenty four and Pantano would make his first stop, while Alonso would finally pass Coulthard. Jaguar's Christian Klein would make his second stop. Both Alonso and Coulthard would pit, with Coulthard getting out in front after Alonso had a long stop.

The following lap and Raikkonen would stop from third, while Mark Webber's race would end in the gravel after he spun at the final corner. Both Juan Pablo and Michael would pit, the FW26 following the Ferrari into the pits. Button would also stop from third. Michael would push hard on his out lap setting a fastest second sector time. Barrichello would lead the race. Ralf was in fourth yet to make his second stop.

Juan Pablo would attempt to fight back setting a new fastest first sector time. This would see him set a new fastest lap time of 1m:34.223 to be a second faster than Michael. Rubens would finally pit for his second stop. Lap twenty eight and Ralf would retire with what appeared to be engine failure. Lap twenty nine and Michael's lead was down to 6.6 seconds.

Lap thirty three and it was down to 5.4 seconds. Minardi's Baumgartner would run wide onto the grass while he let the leaders past. Barrichello would close in on to Raikkonen. Button was in third. Juan Pablo would respond to Michael and start to set times 0.5 seconds faster than Michael. BY lap thirty seven the gap was down to 3.7 seconds. da Matta would pit, joined by Klein. Heidfeld would retire in his garage. Lap thirty nine and Coulthard would pit. Panis would stop from eleventh. Juan Pablo would make his final stop, 7.9 seconds.

Michael would pit the next lap, joined by Button and Raikkonen. Trulli would also make his final stop, only changing his rear tyres. On his out lap Juan Pablo would be pushing hard setting the fastest third sector time. For Raikkonen his race would end on his first lap out of the pits stopping out on the circuit with an engine problem. Raikkonen looked far from happy as he walked away from his McLaren.

Juan Pablo was in third right behind Barrichello in second. The gap to Michael would grown out to be 8.1 seconds as a result of Rubens appearing to deliberately slow, setting a sector time slower than a Minardi. It will be interesting to hear Juan Pablo's views on this.

Rubens would pit on lap forty four, stopping for 6.9 seconds. By lap forty five Juan Pablo was 9.2 seconds behind Michael. Lap forty seven and Panis would pit but would drive straight back out, as it looked like the Toyota team was not ready for him. he would subsequently getting a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. With just six laps left there was no way that Juan Pablo could make up the 9.4 second gap to Michael and the WilliamsF1 driver would appear to settle for second.

Michael's lead would grow as the laps counted down. Lap fifty four and after an excellent run Takuma Sato's engine would fail seeing him retire. Barrichello would challenge Button for third, with the Ferrari closing the gap.

So Michael would cross the finish line winning the race with Juan Pablo second and Button, scoring his first podium, in third. Barrichello would come in fourth, with Trulli fifth, Coulthard sixth. The final two points went o Alonso and Sauber's Felipe Massa.

P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Gaps/Laps Average Stops

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 0'00"000 3
2. 3 MONTOYA WilliamsF1 BMW M 0'10"600 + 0'10"600 3
3. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 0'19"200 + 0'19"200 3
4. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 0'21"800 + 0'21"800 3
5. 7 TRULLI Renault M 0'42"900 + 0'42"900 3
6. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'00"100 + 1'00"100 3
7. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'09"300 + 1'09"300 2
8. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s) 2
9. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1 lap(s) 3
10. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap(s) 3
11. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s) 3
12. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1 lap(s) 5
13. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 2 lap(s) 2
14. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 3 lap(s) 3
15. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 3 lap(s) 3