[ Christoph Risius ] Ralf and Michael are again two strong contenders for the title

After the first race of this year’s formula one season in Melbourne (Australia), Michael Schumacher came in first while his younger brother Ralf starting from the second row then crashed in the first lap. Michael, last year’s champion and winner of the first race this season, started from the second place, using the same car he sat in last year taking over the lead in the 17th lap. Ralf crashed his car trying to pass his brother and then running into Rubens Barrichello causing an eight-car pile up. Once he had passed Juan-Pablo Montoya Michael lead the race finishing it 18.6 seconds in front of Montoya. Ralf was on the one hand very disappointed about his result but also happy about the second place of his team mate Juan-Pablo saying: "I have already moved on from the accident at Melbourne, and worrying about whose fault it was. What is much more important is that our car was very competitive in Melbourne even with the pretty low temperatures there. And in Sepang it is going to be much hotter and our Michelin tyre should provide a big advantage over our competitors. There will also be a couple of changes to the car, which make me really confident for the race." (www.formula1.com) Qualifying just .5 seconds behind his brother, Ralf had already shown that the Williams team really has a car that can keep up with the two Ferraris (both starting from pole position). Michael, in spite of his impressing victory, keeping his feet on the ground, said about the upcoming race in Malaysia: "Things can change very quickly around and I wouldn't see what we have seen today as a real measurement for what happens in the future. I would assume that it\'s going to be a much tighter battle from now on." (www.formula1.com)

The fact that the first eight drivers were not more than two seconds apart after the qualifying proves Michael right and shows how close of a season can be expected this year. Still the two Schumacher brothers are two very strong contenders for the title having good cars, teams and lots of skills. So in the end it is pretty likely that Schumacher will win the title 2002/03.
The question is just which one.