Dennis says he won't play with drivers' lives

McLaren's arch rivals Ferrari scored a one-two in a chaotic race which saw Michael Schumacher score his sixth consecutive victory ahead of team mate Rubens Barrichello.

Like many other teams, McLaren opted for wet tyres as torrential rain blanketed the Malaysian Grand Prix on the third lap. The decision proved to be the turning point in the race, as Schumacher and Barrichello had slid off the track and pitted late enough to find out the safety car was being deployed. This enabled the Maranello pair to plump for intermediate tyres, which came into their own as the rain eased.

"The decision to put both drivers on wet tyres was the only responsible option when faced with the severity of the downpour," said Dennis. "It turned out to be the wrong decision but it was the only decision to take at the time.

"You can't play around with drivers' lives. David told us he was aquaplaning at 60mph behind the safety car. When the safety car finally pulled in, conditions had significantly improved, resulting in a performance advantage being passed to our main competitors who had fitted intermediate tyres."

Dennis was outwardly disappointed with the day's result, which saw Coulthard come home a valiant third and team mate Mika Hakkinen take the final point-scoring place in sixth.

Schumacher's win extends his lead in the drivers' standings to 10 points.

"Of course the result was unsatisfactory," said Dennis, "but David had a great race to finish third - which he thoroughly deserved."

For full race results, click here.