Schumacher wins in Malaysia

World champion Michael Schumacher claimed his sixth successive Formula One victory and led a Ferrari one-two in a rain-drenched Malaysian Grand Prix packed with drama and confusion.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello followed the German home in a demonstration of Ferrari superiority that looked extremely unlikely after they slipped from the front row to 10th and 11th respectively after skidding off the track early in the race.

McLaren's David Coulthard was third at the end of the 55-lap race on Sunday. He had led on lap 10 after a sudden burst of torrential rain caused cars to skid all over the track and forced the field into the pits for immediate tyre changes.

A rare mistake by the Ferrari pit crew, who had Schumacher's tyres ready when Barrichello came in, worsened the team's problems. But the Italian team recovered by choosing intermediate tyres while the rest of the field relied on wet weather tyres. Once the track dried, the Ferraris were untouchable and Schumacher was untroubled for the second half of the race.

The win made the German, who started in the spare Ferrari, the only living Formula One driver to have won six races in succession and only the second ever. Italian Alberto Ascari won nine in a row between 1952 and 1953.

"It was my fault, I screwed up," said Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn of the pit problems. Asked if the choice of intermediate tyres won the race, he said: "For sure."

The best driving of the day was in the scrap for places four to six. Germany's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, second after the rain, claimed fourth in his Jordan with Schumacher's brother Ralf fifth in a Williams. Double champion Mika Hakkinen of Finland, who did not finish the opening Australian Grand Prix, was sixth in his McLaren. These were followed home by Jos Verstappen and Jarno Trulli in the second Jordan.

It was Schumacher's 46th win, just five off Frenchman Alain Prost's record of 51, and Ferrari's third in three races in Malaysia. Schumacher also won in Sepang last year.

The first start of the race was aborted after the Benetton of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella took the wrong slot on the grid and then tried to move diagonally across to the right one.

That confusion set the tone, with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya forced to sprint down the pit lane to start in his spare Williams after his car failed before the formation lap.

Ferrari were not immune from the mayhem, with both their cars skidding off and bouncing across the grass and gravel as the heavy rain hit the track.

Barrichello then suffered a long first pitstop reminiscent of the embarrassment of the Nuerburgring in 1999 when Eddie Irvine was left waiting with just three wheels on his Ferrari.

Mechanics frantically switched tyres around in a stop of 1 minute 12 seconds that also delayed Schumacher. But the race was slowed by a safety car for seven laps which prevented the rest of the field taking full advantage of Ferrari's problems.

Once the safety car left the track on lap 10, the Ferraris' superior power and choice of tyres took them quickly through the pack and to the front where Schumacher effortlessly built his advantage to around 30 seconds.

He crossed the line 23 seconds ahead of Barrichello, who was third in the Australian Grand Prix, and Coulthard's third place followed his second in Melbourne. (Reuters)

Filed by Jimmy D'Arcy