Michael Schumacher has won in Sepang on 4 occasions, however, barring a miracle, it's unlikely that he'll take win number 4 today. The German is starting from the seventh row of the grid, alongside Felipe Massa, and behind Montoya and Barrichello.

It was clear, following the first qualifying session, the Schumacher, along with a few others, was struggling, however, what remains to be seen is whether the Italians have a strategic trick up their sleeves.

Up front, Fernando Alonso starts from pole, and rightly so, thus far this weekend, as in Melbourne, he has been magnificent.

Also up front we have Jarno Trulli, however as in Australia it's likely that the Italian will be making an early pit stop.

Therefore it will be worth keeping an eye on Melbourne winner Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen. The Australian was a little disappointing in Melbourne, with many race fans wondering why the WilliamsF1 driver couldn't nail David Coulthard in the Red Bull. Starting from fourth today, the former Jaguar star has an opportunity to prove himself.

Talking of DC, he starts from the fourth row, where he is alongside teammate Christian Klien.

However, the real excitement, certainly in the first few laps - and more importantly on the run to the first corner - will be in the midfield pack, which comprises Button, Heidfeld, Montoya, Barrichello and Massa, Not forgetting Sato stand-in Anthony Davidson and Jacques Villeneuve.

As the cars line up on the grid, the air temperature is 37 degrees C, while the track temperature is a muggy 52 degrees. The entire track is shrouded in a misty, heat haze.

This will be a race of attrition… 56 laps of torture for man and machine.

The cars head off on the warm up lap, led by Alonso, who starts from pole for the fourth time in his incredibly short career.

Alonso leads the field into the first corner, as Barrichello is nearly forced into the pit wall, they're four abreast in the first corner. Montoya gets past Barrichello as Klien loses two places.

At the end of the first lap it's Alonso, Trulli, Fisichella, Webber, Ralf and Raikkonen. Button is all over Raikkonen, as Klien puts pressure on DC. Montoya is eleventh ahead of Barrichello, Massa, Michael and Villeneuve. Davidson is sixteenth, running behind Villeneuve.

By the end of lap 2, Alonso leads by 1.2s as Button spins. There's smoke pouring out of the BAR, it looks as though he has an engine problem. A disaster for BAR, and Honda, as Davidson pulls off track, flames pouring from the back of the 007. Both BARs are out after just 2 laps.

Lap 3 and Alonso leads by 2.1s, both Red Bulls are hot on the heels of Heidfeld, while Massa is all over Barrichello. Patrick Friesacher is the third retirement of the afternoon, the Austrian spinning off on oil deposited by Jenson Button.