It had cracking races in its early history, with Michael Schumacher’s return from injury in 1999 to deputize for Irvine, which was followed in 2000 with Michael’s 1st win there (which meant his 2000 championship ended with 4 wins on the trot). 2001 saw what is until now the best Malaysian GP ever, with the Ferraris dominating early, only for both to go off on a combination of rain and Panis’ oil. The ensuing rain caught many others out, and Ferrari bungled their pitstops as well. In spite of that, they both charged through the field (which included a Schumacher pass on Barrichello that Rubens did not like at all) to get back to the front and finish 1-2.

While 2002 saw a collision between Montoya and Schumi (where they finished 2nd and 3rd anyway to Ralf) and 2003 did see the emergence of Raikkonen (1st win) and Alonso (1st pole, 1st podium), the races itself haven’t been as exciting. Which may be the reason why in the face of Singapore’s night race this year, they’re pushing for a night race as well for 2009.