Michael's mishap is a triumph for Ralf

13 April 2012

Ralf Schumacher has sounded a warning to his brother Michael that Ferrari's Formula One domination is under serious threat by winning a dramatic Malaysian Grand Prix.

The younger Schumacher took advantage of a collision involving his brother and team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya to lead Williams to a one-two and put the Oxfordshire-based team on top of the constructors' championship for the first time since Jacques Villeneuve's heyday in 1997.

'The car was great today, unbelievably fast,' said a delighted Ralf. 'If it stays like this, we can really compete everywhere.'

He was helped by a firstcorner incident just as his big brother was assisted in the season opener in Melbourne two weeks ago. There, it was a coming together between Ralf and

Rubens Barrichello which sparked a pile - up and allowed Michael to drive through for his third consecutive Australian Grand Prix victory.

Here at Sepang, there were no flying cars when Michael, chasing a hat-trick of wins, fell victim to another controversial incident with Montoya just after the start.

The pair began together on the front row of the grid but that did not last long as the collision sent a scarlet front wing flying off the Ferrari, forcing Schumacher into the pits.

The world champion then had to fight his way through the field and ended up passing luckless Jenson Button on the final lap to snatch third place behind Montoya in second.

Montoya's car escaped without any serious damage after the early accident but he was hit by a novel 'drive through' penalty handed out by the stewards. This, they said, was due to causing an 'avoidable collision' - a decision that caused outrage.

The Williams driver was livid about the penalty. He said: ' They made an example of me after what happened in Australia. The penalty came from what happened in that race. The stewards wanted to show they are strong and will give out tough penalties.'

Even Michael Schumacher supported Montoya's claim that he had been harshly treated.

He said: 'We've seen more extreme situations where nothing has happened. We don't seem to have the consistency.'

David Coulthard, who was undone by engine failure, like his McLaren team-mate Kimi Raikonen, agreed that there should not have been a penalty but could not resist taking a pop at the world champion.

He said: 'They made a wrong call. It was at best a racing incident. If you understand the lines drivers have to take then Montoya was closing the door. But equally, Michael would have known that, so he was relying on him not to take that position by going on the outside. It's happened to me with Michael before and I came off worse for it, too.'

Schumacher's brother, Ralf, said: 'I had a bit of luck because I was able to take advantage of the first-corner incident. It works out like this and you have take advantage.'

The 26-year-old German went on to produce a faultless performance to win by almost 20 seconds.

The result was cruel luck for Britain's 22- year- old Renault driver, Button, who deserved a podium place but was robbed because of a suspension problem on the closing laps. He said: 'I am really disappointed but fourth is still a good result for me and the team. The problem at the end was a real shame.

'The car was running on three wheels at times and it was difficult to race properly.'

The first- corner collision shaped the race and left Barrichello in front until he was forced to retire with a blown engine, giving Ralf Schumacher his opportunity.

It was a disastrous day for Jaguar. Eddie Irvine was ninth when he was hit by Alex Yoong's Minardi and forced to drop out but it was satisfactory for Allan McNish, who completed his first Grand Prix with Toyota in seventh. He said: 'I was so close to a point until we messed up a pit stop.'

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