Race Finish: Michael Schumacher wins the Malaysian GP ahead of Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. Heinz Harald Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen make the top 6.

Final Lap: Mika Hakkinen appears to have backed off from chasing Ralf Schumacher.

Lap 55: One lap to go and it looks like Michael Schumacher will win his 6th win in a row.

Lap 54: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 29 seconds. Coulthard, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Hakkinen make the top 6. Verstappen, Trulli, Alesi and Burti make the top 10.

Lap 53: Hakkinen is unable to get past Ralf, 3 laps to go!

Lap 52: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 29 seconds. Coulthard, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Hakkinen make the top 6. Verstappen, Trulli, Alesi and Burti make the top 10.

Lap 51: David Coulthard backs off attacking Barrichello. He is now 9 seconds behind. 

Lap 50: Ralf Schumacher appears to be suffering from brake problems and Mika Hakkinen is all over him. 

Lap 49: Hakkinen is catching Ralf Schumacher very quickly, he could take 5th before the end of the race. 

Lap 48: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 36 seconds. Coulthard, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Hakkinen make the top 6. Verstappen, Trulli, Alesi and Burti make the top 10.

Lap 46: Coulthard is catching Barrichello.  

Lap 45: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 38 seconds. Coulthard, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Hakkinen make the top 6. 11 laps to go.   

Lap 44: David Coulthard is catching Rubens Barrichello. The gap is down to under 5 seconds. Mika Hakkinen sets another fastest lap.  

Lap 43: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 40 seconds. Coulthard, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Hakkinen make the top 6.   

Lap 42: Jos Verstappen pits while Mika Hakkinen sets the fastest lap ! 

Lap 41: Only the top 7 are on the same lap.  

Lap 40: Barrichello pits and rejoins in 2nd. Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 42 seconds. Coulthard. Verstappen, Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher make the top 6.   

Lap 39: Mika Hakkinen pits. Rubens Barrichello is catching Michael Schumacher but he might need another stop. 

Lap 38: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 21 seconds. Coulthard. Verstappen, Frentzen and Hakkinen make the top 6. 

Lap 38: Ralf Schumacher pits while Mika Hakkinen loses a position to Frentzen while trying to pass Verstappen.

Lap 36: Michael Schumacher's lead is down to 24 seconds. Ralf Schumacher closing fast on Coulthard.

Lap 35: Hakkinen stuck behind Verstappen! while Ralf Schumacher is catching David Coulthard. 

Lap 35: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 25 seconds. Coulthard. R Schumacher, Verstappen,  and Hakkinen make the top 6. 

Lap 34: Barrichello is closing the gap to Michael by a second. 

Lap 34: Fisichella retires on the track and is pushed off by marshals. 

Lap 33: Hakkinen appears stuck behind Verstappen and Frentzen is catching him. 

Lap 32: Ralf Schumacher passes Jos Verstappen for 4th. Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 28 seconds. Both stopped and on dry tryes. 

Lap 31: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello and Coulthard. Verstappen, R Schumacher and Hakkinen make the top 6. 

Lap 31: Michael Schumacher pits and rejoins in the lead. 

Lap 30: Looks like Michael Schumacher is about to pit. 

Lap 29: Michael Schumacher increases the gap to 1 minute and 7 seconds to Barrichello! 

Lap 29: Ralf Schumacher passes Mika Hakkinen for 5th! 

Lap 28: It is raining again!, only Michael Schumacher is on intermediates. 

Lap 27: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads Rubens Barrichello by 1 minute. Coulthard, Verstappen, Hakkinen and R Schumacher make the top 6. 

Lap 27: Hakkinen catches Verstappen and is trying to overtake him. 

Lap 26: David Coulthard pits and rejoins behind Barrichello. 

Lap 25: Ralf Schumacher passes Frentzen while David Coulthard is ready to switch to dry tyres. 

Lap 24: Trulli pits but Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard are still on intermediates. 

Lap 23: Race order: Michael Schumacher leads David Coulthard by 31 seconds. Barrichello, Verstappen, Trulli and Hakkinen make the top 6. 

Lap 22: Heinz Harald Frentzen pits from 6th place, Jos Verstappen pits as well. 

Lap 21: Barrichello pits for dry tyres. Michael still out on intermediates. 

Lap 21: Race order: Michael Schumacher ahead of Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. Verstappen, Frentzen and Trulli make the top 6. 

Lap 20: Ferrari mechanics go back in the garage! 

Lap 19: Ferrari mechanics in the pits ready for a driver. 

Lap 18: Hakkinen and Ralf Schumacher pit for dry tyres! 

Lap 18: More rain is expected as dark clouds appear to be approaching. 

Lap 17: Barrichello passes Coulthard and the 2 Ferrari's are in the lead. The order behind them: Coulthard, Verstappen, Hakkinen, R Schumacher, Frentzen, Trulli, Fisichella and Burti.

Lap 16: Michael Schumacher passes David Coulthard and takes the lead - amazing!. Rubens Barrichello is in 3rd.

Lap 15: Michael Schumacher passes Jos Verstappen and is catching David Coulthard.

Lap 14: Order - D Coulthard, J Verstappen, M Schumacher, M Hakkinen, R Schumacher, R Barrichello.

Lap 14: Michael Schumacher up in 3rd place as he overtakes Ralf Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. 

Lap 13: Michael Schumacher is up in 6th place ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Jarno Trulli. 

Lap 12: Hakkinen catches and passes Frentzen. Order - D Coulthard, J Verstappen, M Hakkinen, R Schumacher, H Frentzen 

Lap 12: Jos Verstappen passes Heinz Harald Frentzen while Ralf Schumacher is up in 5th! from 8th 

Lap 11: Barrichello in 10th passes Mazzacane in 9th! 

Lap 11: Race is back on! 

Lap 10: Lights out on the safety car. It will be going in this lap! 

Lap 9: Juan Montoya managed to get in the spare car but retired during the downpour! - safety car in at the end of this lap. 

Lap 8: Ralf Schumacher is still in the race. He spun at the start when trying to pass Barrichello. He is now in 8th - safety car still out.

Lap 7: Current order: D Coulthard, H Frentzen, J Verstappen, M Hakkinen, J Trulli, J Alesi. (Barrichello 10th, Schumacher 11th).

Lap 6: The rain has stopped but there is a lot of retirements. Villeneuve, Heidfeld, Bernoldi, Montoya, Irvine, Panis.

Lap 5: Cars spinning everywhere. It is really chaotic out here. Coulthard in the lead. Ferrari stuff up their pit stops with both cars waiting for tyres at the same time!.

Lap 4: Current order: J Trulli, D Coulthard, R Barrichello, H Frentzen, J Verstappen, J Villeneuve. Michael Schumacher in 7th.

Lap 3: Heavy rain and the safety car is out. Everyone is in the pits. Nick Heidfeld retires.

Lap 2: Panis retires with a blown engine. Both Ferrari's are off. The spun from oil on the track. Probably from Panis's car. They recover. It is raining.

Lap 1: Kimi Raikkonen retires with a problem. Mika Hakkinen is back in 8th place as if he swapped positions with Coulthard!

Race start: Michael Schumacher leads ahead of Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher spins trying to pass Barrichello as they touch. He recovers at the back of the grid. Jarno Trulli is third ahead of David Coulthard who made a great start. Frentzen 5th ahead of Verstappen!

Cars lining up.

Juan Pablo Montoya gets out of his car to get the spare. His car won't start.

Juan Montoya stuck in the grid. Stalled perhaps ?

2nd Formation lap underway!

It will be interesting to see who will go to the back of the grid Fisichella, Frentzen or both !!

Another formation lap in 3 minutes

Fisichella missed his starting position!

Start delayed, problem with Fisichella's car !

Race about to start. 

Formation Lap: Heinz Harald Frentzen (9th) slow ! 

Formation lap underway 

1 minute till formation lap. 

Under 5 minutes to go. The order on the grid is : M Schumacher, R Barrichello, R Schumacher, M Hakkinen, J Trulli, J Montoya, J Villeneuve, D Coulthard, H Frentzen, O Panis. 

All the cars are lined up on the grid. Michael Schumacher is in the spare car after his race car was found to have a hydraulic leak at the last minute - 7 minutes till the formation lap. 

Ralf Schumacher was the surprise of the qualifying session. It will be interesting to see how well the Michelin tyres will be during the race - 12 minutes to go. 

Ralf Schumacher was the surprise of the qualifying session. It will be interesting to see how well the Michelin tyres will be during the race - 12 minutes to go.

This will be one of the toughest races on the drivers and their cars this season.

The track was wet during the warm-up session but it quickly dried out. Weather forecast is for rain in the afternoon. 

Race starting in 20 minutes. Dry track but there is a possibility of rain during the race. Temperature at 34 degrees.