The 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix took place on 18 March, at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, and was the second race of the 2001 Formula 1 season, a Championship which the Ferrari fans throughout the world are always happy to remember thanks to the highly competitive F2001 car, driven superbly by Michael Schumacher, who finished the season with almost twice the number of points scored by the 2nd place driver, David Coulthard of McLaren-Mercedes.
Ferrari won their third consecutive Constructors’ Championship with the F2001 and the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix was just one of the many races dominated comfortably by the Italian team. Michael Schumacher took pole position on Saturday, with a lap time of 1:35.220, closely followed by his teammate Rubens Barrichello.
The race seemed to become more difficult for Ferrari after only three laps, when rain began to fall on the track and both cars ran wide across the gravel, giving Jarno Trulli the chance to momentarily take the lead. This was most likely caused by the oil leak from Olivier Panis’s BAR which retired on the first lap. Schumacher ran further across the gravel than the Brazilian driver which meant Michael fell behind his teammate. As a result, the order became on lap 3: Trulli, Coulthard, Barrichello, Frentzen, Verstappen, Villeneuve, Schumacher and Hakkinen.
However, it only took Schumacher 12 laps to regain the lead, while soon after Rubens Barrichello also moved up to second. At the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Michael recorded his sixth consecutive Formula 1 win from pole position and finished almost 24 seconds ahead of his teammate, while the Brazilian driver also had a safe advantage over David Coulthard, showing once again the highly successful level of the Scuderia Ferrari car.
That Sunday, the entire team wore red wigs, with President Montezemolo leading the way after the race, before a party that went on until dawn.
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