Ralf Schumacher wins Malaysian Grand Prix

Ralf Schumacher broke Ferrari's stranglehold at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday after Williams team mate Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked older brother Michael's chances at the first corner.

Ralf, who was lucky to escape unscathed from a first corner crash in the season-opening Australian race two weeks ago, seized the fourth win of his career after Montoya collided with Michael Schumacher, Ferrari's four times world champion, and took off his front wing.

Colombia's Montoya was penalised by the stewards for the incident, which sent the older Schumacher from pole position to the back of the field. Montoya fought his way back to finish runner-up, 39.7 seconds behind Ralf.

Germany's Michael Schumacher - who won in Australia - eventually finished third, depriving Renault's young Briton Jenson Button of the first podium of his career on the final lap.

Button was fourth, Germany's Nick Heidfeld fifth in a Sauber and his 20-year-old Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa followed in sixth place on a hot, humid day.

The Williams one-two marked the first time that a driver from any team other than Ferrari or McLaren had finished on the podium in Malaysia.

Ferrari had won every Malaysian Grand Prix since the first in 1999 and Michael Schumacher, triumphant in 2000 and a rain-hit race last year, is the sole driver to start at Sepang in pole position.

But this time it did the German little good.

He moved sharply across, as he so often does, to block Montoya at the start but the Colombian refused to back off and tried to outbrake him into the first turn.

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The Ferrari and Montoya's right front wheel came together, an incident deemed an avoidable collision by the race director. Montoya was forced later to drive through the pits as a sanction.

The brush also took off Schumacher's front wing and as the two went wide, Schumacher's Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello slipped through to take the lead.

With only one victory to his name, it seemed as if Barrichello's hour might have come as he led for the first 21 laps before his pitstop.

Ralf took over for the next 10 before another round of pitstops and then Barrichello's hopes were cruelly destroyed when his engine gave way with 14 laps to go.

McLaren, who qualified behind both the Ferraris and Williams, had a miserable afternoon with both their cars out of the race before the halfway mark.

Briton David Coulthard, who was overall runner-up last season behind Michael Schumacher, is still searching for his first point of 2002 after slowing and retiring on lap 16.

His young Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who ran second for a while as the first pitstops unfolded, cruised into the garage on lap 25 when his car's Mercedes engine belched a cloud of smoke.

Jordan fared even worse, suffering the embarrassment of their cars colliding with only one lap completed.

Japan's Takuma Sato piled into the back of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, forcing both to pitstop for a new front and rear wing respectively. Both rejoined the race but their hopes of points were gone.

Malaysian Alex Yoong made history as the first Formula One driver from the home nation to race at Sepang but the Minardi man failed to finish.