Check out a short list of favorites for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

	Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello:
The No. 2 Ferrari driver was the first to retire in Australia as he slid on the grass and hit the wall on lap 5; in three years with Ferrari, he has improved every season in the standings from fourth in 2000 to second last year; earned a career-high 77 points; won four grand prixs in 2002, with the most notable one at Indianapolis where he and teammate Michael Schumacher attempted to make history by crossing the finish line with the smallest gap in F1 history; the effort did not work out as the Brazilian claimed the flag by a narrow margin.

David Coulthard:
Took advantage of a mistake by Juan Montoya with 10 laps to go at Melbourne to win the season opener and his 13th career F1 race; the 32-year-old Scotsman took the checkered flag by more than eight seconds over Montoya and averaged 120.623 miles per hour; "Any talk about the championship is nonsense," he said. "We've got 15 grand prixs left this year. With the new point-scoring system introduced this year, I'm only two ahead of Juan Montoya instead of four I would have been this time last year." Did not finish last year's race at Sepang. One of only four drivers to win a race in 17 events last year, the Monaco GP.

Cristiano da Matta:
The 29-year-old Brazilian had a less than desirable F1 debut as his race ended on lap 8 when he spun his Toyota after missing his braking point; "I'm very disappointed," da Matta said. "The only thing to do, is put this behind and go to Malaysia." The 2002 CART champion also was fined $2,500 and $2,000 for speeding on pit lane on March 7; dominated the 2002 American-based CART circuit en route to the title with seven victories, seven poles and 11 podium finishes in 19 starts.

	Montoya

Juan Montoya:
Started year with a second-place finish in Australia after a late spin saw him hand victory to David Coulthard; the Williams BMW driver finished second at Sepang last season, following a first lap incident with Michael Schumacher; Juan was assessed a penalty, but raced hard the rest of the way for the result; "Sepang is a very smoot track and last year we had our first and only 1-2 finish there," he said. Last year, he won seven poles, but was unable to turn any of them into victories; 50 points earned in his second year in Formula 1, put the former CART champion in third place of the final standings; looks to continue good start and take advantage of new rules changes to challenge the tough Ferrari drivers.

Kimi Raikkonen:
Good run in Australia to claim the third position on the podium, the fifth of his career; the young Finn put in some superb performances in 2002, even with better qualifying performances than McLaren teammate David Coulthard on several occassions; also came very close to winning his first F1 grand prix in France, but the 22-year-old ran wide and handed victory to Michael Schumacher; finished on the podium four times, including the runner-up in France.

Michael Schumacher:
Winner of this grand prix in two of the four years since the circuit opened at Sepang; the five-time world champion started from the pole in Australia, but finished fourth after a black flag penalty for a dislodged side board; it was the first time since the European Grand Prix in September 1999, a Ferrari failed to record a podium finish; but after winning in 2000-01 in Malaysia, he managed just a third place behind the Williams BMW drivers last year; the three-time defending F1 champion is tied with Juan Manuel Fangio for the record of five world titles; last year, he clinched the championship with six grand prixs to spare; also captured titles in 1994-95; all-time F1 winner with 64 checkered flags to his name, among other records.

	Schumacher

Ralf Schumacher:
The Sepang circuit was the track of his only victory in 2002; the 26-year-old German started fourth and took advantage of other drivers early misfortunes to drive a balanced race under high temperatures and humidity; overcame slow pit stops and a spin on the track in Melbourne to open season with an eight place finish, the last points paying position under the new rules system.

Jacques Villeneuve:
The Sepang circuit has not been the most successful for the BAR team over the past three years; Jacques did finish fifth here in 2000 and has always qualified in the top 10; the 1997 Formula One champion had a poor season in 2002, failing to finish in seven grand prixs; earned just four points with a fourth at the British Grand Prix and sixth at the U.S. Grand Prix; has not been a factor in the series since his championship season; enters the last year of his contract with British American Racing.