Michael Schumacher continued his dream start to the season today in Malaysia with his second win of the season. Racing on local election day at Kuala Lumpur, Michael showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels from pole position. He was followed home by Montoya in second place as Jenson Button claimed his long-awaited first podium finish in third with Barrichello in fourth.

‘The most interesting aspect of the race for us today was the varying fuel loads used by the leading teams,’ said Mike Copson of Shell Global Solutions. ‘Our mandate from Ferrari is not only to provide a powerful fuel but a flexible fuel and we certainly saw Ferrari using many strategic options during the race today. Add to this the superb lubricants package we provide the team and the test which the engine and gearbox underwent in this severe heat and we have every reason to be delighted with the result. Our congratulations to B.A.R. on well deserved first podium for Jenson too.’

The action started well before the race had even started. With gentle rain falling, the atmosphere on the grid was tense to say the least and Kimi Raikkonen even spun on the formation lap. He recovered in time to take his position on the grid, but all eyes were on the front row.

Michael Schumacher got away well from pole but alongside him, Mark Webber in the Jaguar bogged down allowing the cars behind him to stream past. Into Turn One, cars jostled for position with the Ferrari cars leading the charge and a minute and a half after the furious start, the field came past the pits for the first time. Michael Schumacher led team mate Barrichello at the front, with Montoya, Raikkonen, Trulli and Button.

By Lap 2, Montoya and Raikkonen had passed Rubens as the rain began to fall again at the back of the circuit. Behind them, Trulli and Button were in the early stages of a thrilling scrap that would last the rest of the afternoon, trading places with each other at nearly every other corner.

At the other end of the pack, having started from the back, Fernando Alonso was already up to eighth position following a start, the likes of which are rarely seen outside of a computer game.

As Schumacher stretched a lead at top end of the field, all hell was breaking loose further back. Webber and Ralf Schumacher had a coming together, an incident that punctured Webber’s right rear tyre and damaged the William’s front wing. The Jaguar coasted to the pits for new rubber and the Williams developed understeer from which it would never recover.

As Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher retired most of the leaders opted for a three stop strategy, although the teams’ executions varied wildly. Ferrari used the flexibility of the Shell fuel to put both drivers onto stops that kept them ahead of the field - in fact, following today’s race the Shell-powered team leads the Constructors’ Championship by 16 points over Williams and 19 points over Renault.

Michael Schumacher is enjoying a 7 point lead over team mate Rubens Barrichello who is in second and although there are still 16 races to go, Ferrari moves to Bahrain in two week’s time at the top of the table.