Motor Sport: Ferrari's Michael Schumacher piled the pressure on his Formula One rivals yesterday with a pole-to-post win in the sweltering heat of Malaysia."Michael drove a perfect race from beginning to end.

The team did an exceptional job and the strategy was spot on," said Ferrari boss Jean Todt after a victory that kept Schumacher unbeaten in two races this season.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished runner-up for Williams, setting the fastest lap, while Briton Jenson Button collected the first podium of his Formula One career in third place for BAR.

There was more disappointment for Eddie Jordan and his team; Giorgio Pantano finished 13th - one place better than in his Formula One debut in Australia and two laps behind the winner.

But Nick Heidfeld, who ran over two Jordan mechanics during a pit-stop in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, retired again after his car got stuck in fifth gear on the 34th lap.

For Schumacher, it was the six-time champion's 72nd career win, third in Malaysia, and it only heightened a sense of foreboding that 2004 could turn into a rerun of 2002 when Ferrari won all but two races.

The German leads the championship with 20 points ahead of Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello with 13 and Montoya on 12. Ferrari lead the constructors' standings with 33 points to Williams's 17.

"It was pressure all the way, and Malaysia is a tough circuit," Schumacher said after a race which started with a sudden shower in cooler conditions than normal.

"The beginning of the race was very tough as it was so unpredictable, where the water was and how much there was. Being the first car didn't really help as I had no reference."

Button was the feel-good story of the day, sprayed with champagne by Montoya and Schumacher on his first trip to the podium.

"It's amazing," he said. "It's obviously not the pinnacle of what we want but it's a step in the right direction. I'm ecstatic."

Despite Schumacher's success, winning from pole position, Ferrari were less dominant than they had been in Melbourne when he and Barrichello finished one-two.

Barrichello was fourth at Sepang, ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Renault and Scot David Coulthard, sixth for McLaren.

Spain's Fernando Alonso roared from the back of the grid to collect two more points for Renault, while Brazilian Felipe Massa was eighth for Sauber.

Last year's championship challenger Kimi Raikkonen, in a McLaren, retired 15 laps from the finish after suffering transmission failure.