An occasional damp track was all that Michael Schumacher needed to find a way past the McLaren of Hakkinen taking out the 2000 driver’s championship for the third time in his career.

With the exception of the last, crucial, pit stop when Michael exited well ahead of Mika, the only other driver in contention for the championship, the race was rather boring and processional. Villeneuve managed to overtake a few cars, but as that was fairly well down in the field it generated little enthusiasm. He did however manage to score one point moving BAR a little closer to Benetton and his own score closer to Fisichella. A good position in Malaysia could move both Villeneuve and BAR up the ranks

I was pleasantly surprised to see Jaguar show some speed. Irvine was flying in the early stages of the race albeit on a light fuel load. I was also very impressed with Button’s performance; let’s just hope that his car will be competitive next year.

Right from the start it was obvious that the race was going to be between Schumacher and Hakkinen. Both Coulthard and Barrichello were well of the pace of the leaders and could not be brought into play to assist their teammates from very early on.

In the early stages of the race Michael had to drive the wheels off his car to stay in touch with Hakkinen who was relentlessly creeping away from him. Just before the first pit stop it looked as if Michael’s chance of winning was over. He was more than three seconds behind and was struggling with very worn tyres.

After the pit stop Michael Schumacher again managed to maintain roughly the same pace as Hakkinen for a while but it was just a matter of time before his tyres went off again. Things looked bleak.

As soon as the first drops of rain fell on the track Michael’s fortune changed. He could stay in touch with Hakkinen and even reel him in slowly.

The combination of enough fuel to stay out for two laps longer than Mika and a slight increase in the drizzle was enough to give Michael the opportunity he was looking for. Even though he encountered traffic he still managed to put in two very fast laps and after a blistering pit stop he exited the pits well ahead of Hakkinen.

Hakkinen, on the other hand, must have felt that he had the race under control before the first drops fell. He was easing away from Schumacher and short of an error in the pits or mechanical failure he was well on his way to finish ahead of Michael.

Even though it was only a minor drizzle, Mika must have known that he was in trouble when it started to rain. Mika immediately lost more pace than Schumacher and the heavier rain, which did not last very long, immediately after his pit stop slowed him enough to not be able to put in the fast laps needed to stay ahead.

When the chips were down, the Ferrari team produced what was needed to win. The pit crew produced one of the fastest (if not the fastest) stops of the race and Schumacher did what he does best: gain ground on a slippery track.

They deserved this win.

Ferrari do not have the fastest cars, but with the exception of a few retirements (some caused by Michael) they won every race they could. Not only do they appear to have the best race strategy but they also have the flexibility to change their plans to their advantage on the day.

They may not have the fastest cars but they certainly have proved that they are the fastest team.

McLaren, on the other hand, have the fastest cars but have been unable to convert this into a championship win in the season.

Early in the season they were plagued by poor reliability, but they managed to overcome that with more than enough races left.

For virtually the first half of the season it looked as if Hakkinen was having problems in adapting to this year’s car. When they finally overcame the reliability problems Coulthard was the first to get the potential speed out of the car while Hakkinen could only be described as pedestrian.

Although Coulthard did very well, and at the time I was very impressed with his performance and poise, he still is not as fast as Mika. Coulthard was very offended when Schumacher said that he still regarded Hakkinen as his main threat even though he, Coulthard, was well ahead of Hakkinen in points. With 20/20 hindsight I must agree with Schumacher.

Mika took forever to get used to his car, and even after that he was tentative in the rain.

When everything is ideal Mika is very fast. A perfect set up, dry warm weather and a good qualifying position and Mika was almost impossible to beat. Change any of it during the race, and Mika finds it hard to adapt.

Having three engine failures also did not help, but so far this season he has retired three times while Schumacher has retired from four races.

Although obviously disappointed Mika was very gracious during the post race press interview, acknowledging Michael’s third title with no sign of resentment. He is not a poor loser, yet another point in his favour.

There is always next year.

Honda did not produce the engine I thought they might. They certainly seemed a little faster and Villeneuve drove well, but I was hoping that they would produce something spectacular in front of their home crowd.

But I guess that is not their ethos. The Japanese believe in incrementalism, getting a little faster every race in a controlled, steady fashion, not dramatic or risky. They will get there and when they do they will be hard to beat.

I felt sorry for Fisichella.

I know that Benetton are focusing all their efforts on next year’s car and have virtually ceased development on this year’s car, but I am absolutely amazed at how fast they are falling back into Minardi performance.

Fisichella did considerably better in the early part of the season when the Benetton was not that dated. To see Villeneuve overtaking him in the points, while he is hopeless to defend himself in close to the slowest car in the fleet, must be frustrating.