For the second consecutive race, a Williams and a Ferrari clashed at the start of a Grand Prix. But, unlike in Australia, at the Malaysian Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya received a controversial penalty for clashing with Michael Schumacher at the first corner. Richard Barnes analyses the penalty as well as other events of the second Grand Prix of the season

Another Grand Prix, and another first corner controversy - modern Formula One is nothing if not consistent. The first corner incident between Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was always going to be the talking point of the race. The discussion has centred on the Draconian and unjustified drive-through penalty handed to the Colombian. It will be hailed as the F1 equivalent of boxing's dubious 'hometown decision', even though Montoya correctly called the stewards' decision as a warning to all drivers, and not as a means to advantage one. In the context of this year's Championship, the boxing analogy is apt, pitting the cultured skills of a defensive Schumacher against the raw toughness and aggression of main Championship rival Montoya.

As silly, inconsistent and unnecessary as the penalty was, it's unlikely to set a precedent. Formula One drivers are alpha males who thrive on aggression and dominance - and get paid a fortune to do so. They're never going to form up in safe and orderly single file, least of all under the adrenaline rush of a GP start. Race officials can legislate all they like, and the drivers can thrash it out in the Thursday briefings ad nauseam. In an era where overtaking opportunities are severely limited, they won't stop F1 drivers milking the benefits of a fast launch, nor limiting the damage of a slow getaway. There is simply too much at stake.

Most stop-and-go or drive-through penalties given for such offences are redundant. For the drivers involved, the contact is punishment enough. In the Australian season-opener of 2001, even the lightest touch with Frentzen's Jordan was enough to upset the handling of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari, costing him a second place to David Coulthard later in the race. There are times when one driver has everything to gain and nothing to lose from initiating an accident, and in such cases punishment is necessary. But no driver, least of all the two favourites for the WDC title, stand to gain from causing an accident in the second race of the season.

With ever-improving reliability from the top Championship contenders, accidents and spins have become the biggest factor in deciding Championships. Ask Michael Schumacher about 1998, and the 16 points lost through clashes with Alex Wurz's Benetton and David Coulthard's McLaren at Monaco and Spa respectively. Or about 2000, when two first-corner incidents at Austria and Hockenheim turned a Schumacher cakewalk into a nailbiter. Ask Mika Hakkinen about Imola and Monza 1999, where driver errors cost the Finn dearly and almost handed the Championship to underdog Eddie Irvine. Ask Damon Hill about 1995, when his ten spins and accidents in the final nine races of the season handed the WDC title to Schumacher on a silver platter.

It was inevitable that Schumacher and Montoya would eventually lock wheels, the surprise lay in how and why it happened, not when. Predictably, both drivers blamed the other - Schumacher claiming that Montoya left him no room, the Colombian countering that Schumacher had simply understeered straight into him. From the video evidence, scant as it was for viewers of the terrestrial feed, it appears that both drivers have valid points and that the collision can be written off as a prototypical 'racing incident'. The real question is why Schumacher allowed himself to become involved at all.

There are many circuits where the Schumacher chop is almost guaranteed to keep him in the lead through the first corner. Sepang is not one of those circuits. With the tight first right-hander flowing immediately into a left-hander, and with an ultra-wide track surface, the outside line for turn one is viable. David Coulthard has proved it in the past, and Renault's Jenson Button proved it again while defending second position from Montoya later in the race. If the driver on the outside can remain almost level with the car inside, he'll enter turn 2 on the preferred inside line and should manage to lead down the following straight.

The moment Montoya managed to nose ahead of Schumacher, even on the outside line, the lead was going to belong to the Williams. Schumacher was hard to the right of the track, on the dirtiest part of the surface and with no entry angle for the ultra-tight first turn. On a corner like that, 'tight in' only serves to increase the corner angle - with the attendant loss of speed.

Although Montoya did force Schumacher even more to the extreme inside line, the movement was controlled and precise, and not the sort of gross defensive lunge that would have caught Schumacher unaware. The German four-time World Champion is extremely adept at avoiding contact when it suits him to do so. At the start of Silverstone 2000, he put two wheels on the soaked trackside grass to avoid Mika Hakkinen's McLaren. He skirted Damon Hill's theatrical weaving at Canada 1998, and twice survived Montoya's worst intentions last season. This time, Schumacher either ran out of patience or braking traction, or perhaps a bit of both.

The irony is that while the incident dramatically affected the flow and pattern of the race, it had zero impact on the final result. Even if Montoya and Schumacher had survived the first corner unscathed, neither would have had the pace to match Ralf Schumacher, the only car in the leading four to make the correct tactical decision of running a one-stopper. Judging from their progress through the field and their pace after the incident, it is also likely that Montoya would have beaten Michael into second position anyway.

Schumacher's eventual four-point haul was the result of pure good fortune. It kept Ferrari's number one driver in a narrow Championship lead, but more importantly it also preserved the Scuderia's astonishing run of 38 successive races with a podium finish. Still, Malaysia 2002 was a humbling wake-up call for Ferrari. Their domination of Sepang has ended, Rubens Barrichello's engine failure has handed the Constructors Championship lead to Williams, and there is now greater urgency to bring the much-vaunted F2002 into action.

If Sepang was a disappointment for Ferrari, it was positively disastrous for McLaren. During the first stanza of the race, there was hope that their one-stop strategy, large fuel tanks and legendary fuel consumption would allow the race to come back to them. That hope vanished the moment it became clear that Ralf Schumacher was also running a one-stopper.

Most teams would be mildly satisfied with either outright pace or flawless reliability in the early-season exchanges. During pre-season testing, McLaren appeared to have both in abundance. Once the racing started, the horrible truth has emerged that they have neither pace nor reliability. If Schumacher and Montoya are the title contenders in the ring, David Coulthard must be feeling like the celebrity spectator. He has the best seat in the house, the supermodel on his arm, and loads of media attention, but lacks the one thing he really wants - to be in the ring mixing it up with the others.

The Drivers' Championship scoreline currently reads Schumacher 14, Montoya 12. If this were a boxing title fight, the more apt score would be 19-apiece. Schumacher's 'overtake me now, I'll get you later' patience and racecraft sneaked the first round, with Montoya's 'in your face and over my dead body' aggressive style prevailing in round two. It's the most intriguing of all matchups, and highly reminiscent of the last time a young Latin hothead challenged the supremacy of a cool and established European champion. Round 3 in Brazil should be a corker.