Juan Pablo Montoya attacked race officials here yesterday after being handed a penalty which he believes cost him victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Colombian's team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, took the win and 10 championship points at the Sepangh circuit, but Montoya insisted he could have won the race if he had not been handed a "drive-through" penalty which forced him to cruise through the pit-lane after he had been involved in a first-corner collision with Michael Schumacher.

The Williams driver was starting second on the grid, behind pole position winner Michael Schumacher at the second round of the Formula One championship.

When the red lights went out to signal the start, Schumacher swerved across the track to block Montoya, who had got away well. As the pair entered turn one, Montoya attempted to overtake Schumacher on the outside, but as he squeezed the German tight against the inside kerbs, the defending champion pushed back and the pair collided.

Both men dropped down the order, but Montoya quickly began a fightback, climbing from 11th to seventh before the stewards handed him the drive-through penalty which cost him more than 20 seconds. A report later issued by the stewards blamed Montoya for "causing an avoidable collision".

"Basically, I think the penalty came from what happened in the first race," snapped Montoya, in reference to the first-corner pile-up in Melbourne a fortnight ago in which eight cars were removed from the race in a single moment but which resulted in no penalty to any driver involved.

"I think the stewards wanted to show they're really strong, and if anybody does anything wrong we'll hand you a penalty. Bullshit like that. I was pretty pissed off to be honest," added Montoya. "As far as I am concerned it was a racing incident. Simple."

Surprisingly, Michael Schumacher, who had to pit for a new nose cone, and who finished the race an astounding third having made his way through the field from 21st, concurred with Montoya and branded the collision a racing incident.

"As far as the accident was concerned, maybe Juan could have given me a bit more room, but he chose not to and we just touched. That's racing," said the world champion.

"It was only a little touch but I had to pit to change the front wing. As for the rules regarding penalties, I think they should be made more consistent, although that might be difficult to achieve."

With Montoya and Schumacher removed from the equation, Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari took over control of the race and for the middle third of it seemed assured of his first victory since an incident-filled race in Hockenheim in 2000 when he clambered through the grid to take his maiden grand prix win.

But fortune deserted him once more yesterday when the Brazilian's engine blew up on lap 39, leaving him stranded in a trackside sun shelter, his head in hands, his race run.

Ralf Schumacher took his tally of grand prix wins to four yesterday, inheriting the lead after his first and only stop gave him an advantage over Barrichello and those behind. When Barrichello's Ferrari let go, the Williams pilot found himself operating with an unassailable 50-second gap back to his team-mate. From there it was strictly cruise control from Schumacher as he pounded out the remaining laps 15 laps to the chequered flag.

Before the race Eddie Jordan had hoped for a lucky break on his team's national holiday and a little dose of national luck, but in the end his drivers conspired against him: Takuma Sato ploughed into the back of Giancarlo Fisichella's EJ12 as both mounted a challenge on the Toyota of Mika Salo. The result: a smashed rear wing for Fisichella and a wrecked nose for Sato.