Michael Schumacher threw away the chance to gain maxium points at the Malaysian Grand Prix this morning. Starting from the second row he ran into the back of Jarno Trulli while trying to squeeze through a non-existent gap into the second turn, resulting in a trip to the pits for a new nosecone and an ensuing drive through penalty. He eventually recovered to snatch three points for sixth place by passing Jenson Button's BAR-Honda on the final lap.

Meanwhile Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello had a steady run to second place in an afternoon when the Bridgestones were no match for eventual winner Kimi Raikkonen's Michelins. It was the young Finn's first ever Grand Prix victory and joining him and Barrichello on the podium also for the first time was pole winner Fernando Alonso who overcame illness and gearbox problems in his Renault.

Alonso had led the field away at the green lights, chased by Renault team mate Jarno Trulli, Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld, Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. Schumacher's incident forced Trulli to run wide onto the grass and drop down the order, while Juan-Pablo Montoya's Williams-BMW was also caught up. Australian Grand Prix winner David Coulthard retired on lap 3 with electrical problems, and after Raikkonen passed Heidfeld's Sauber for second place, once Alonso headed pitwards to refuel on lap 14, the Finn took control of the race, and ran out winner almost 40 seconds ahead of Barrichello at the chequered flag.

Drive of the day came from Briton Justin Wilson in the Minardi-Cosworth, who had climbed as high as seventh early on before pain from a trapped nerve saw him retire 15 laps from home and rushed to the medical centre, before being airlifted to hospital.