Raikkonen maintains McLaren's early charge

Two Grand Prix, two victories for McLaren-Mercedes. The championship points lead for Kimi Raikkonen, only sixth place for Michael Schumacher.

If you thought the 21-year-old Fernando Alonso putting his Renault on the pole in qualifying in Malaysia was a dream, the race went one better.

Once again it would be wise not to get too carried away with the idea that the rule changes worked the miracle. Raikkonen's maiden victory owed as much to the superiority of his Michelin tyres and a crass first-corner error by the world champion as it did to the changes. However, they had played a key part in denying the German his customary pole position start.

Twice before Raikkonen, who made his debut two seasons ago with Sauber-Petronas, had threatened to take over the mantle of fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen. At Magny-Cours last July he was heading for a win over Schumacher until he got caught out by an oil patch. Two weeks ago an electronic malfunction let him exceed the pit lane speed limit by a paltry 1.1kmh, and the resultant penalty dropped him to third. This time, nothing stood in his way.

Alonso led initially from team-mate Jarno Trulli, Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. But as Trulli turned into turn two, a left-hander, Schumacher went for a gap that wasn't there. As American champion Mario Andretti once observed, "You get offered a lot of gaps in racing; the trick is to find one big enough for your car."

Trulli got pushed on to the grass. Schumacher damaged his Ferrari's nose and was delayed by the need to have it replaced, and later by a pit lane drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable accident. The BMW-Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya was an innocent victim.

Now championship leader David Coulthard was pushing Alonso, chased by Heidfeld and Raikkonen, but two laps later the Scot's hopes were dashed by electrical failure. Once Raikkonen passed Heidfeld on the third lap he only had to wait for Alonso's expected early pit stop, on lap 14, to take the lead. After that the only times the Finn did not lead were laps 20-22 after his own first stop, when Barrichello briefly went ahead. When Raikkonen stopped again on lap 40, he retained the initiative. By the flag, he was 40 seconds ahead, on a day when Bridgestone had to play second fiddle.

Normally, Raikkonen has a voice like a gurgling sink and only opens up in Finnish, but this time his pleasure was all too apparent. "I'm very pleased but I'm not sure it's really going to sink in until tomorrow," he said. "I was coming in to the second corner when I saw two cars hitting each other. I was going to stay on the outside, but at the last moment I saw one of the cars going backwards and I managed to take the inside line – it was the right decision."

Coulthard, despite his own bitter disappointment, sportingly applauded the man who has supplanted him as points leader. "Congratulations to Kimi on winning his first Grand Prix, which is a very special feeling for every Formula One driver," he said. "It certainly won't be the last."

Alonso was also pleased with his third place, ahead of a lacklustre Ralf Schumacher. But Jenson Button was disappointed to lose out on fifth on the final lap when his worn Bridgestone tyres allowed the recovered Trulli and Schumacher to slip ahead.

"I'd kept Jarno behind OK," Button said, "but when he spun I pushed to open a cushion and then had no grip. After Jarno got me in turn three, Michael squeaked ahead in the last corner. I should say sorry, really, because I nearly slid into him."

His fellow Briton, Ralph Firman, was also unlucky, losing ninth place on the last lap after a very strong drive. "We were a bit marginal on fuel at the end of each stint," he said, "and on that last lap the engine coughed just enough to let Frentzen by."

SEPANG DETAILS

1 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1hr 32min 22.195sec

2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari +39.286sec

3 F Alonso (Sp) Renault +64.007

4 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW +88.026

5 J Trulli (It) Renault +1 lap

6 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari +1 lap

7 J Button (GB) BAR-Honda +1 lap

8 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas +1lap

9 H H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber-Petronas +1 lap; 10 R Firman (GB) Jordan-Ford +1 lap; 11 C da Matta (Bra) Toyota +1 lap; 12 J P Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW +3 laps; 13 J Verstappen (Neth) Minardi +4 laps. Not classified: A Pizzonia (Bra) Jaguar 42 laps completed; J Wilson (GB) Minardi-Ford 41 laps; M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 35 laps; O Panis (Fr) Toyota 12 laps; D Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 2 laps; G Fisichella (It) Jordan-Ford 0 laps; J Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda 0 laps. Fastest Lap: M Schumacher 1:36.412, lap 45.

Drivers' Championship standings: 1 K Raikkonen (Fin) 16pts; 2 D Coulthard (GB) 10; 3= J P Montoya (Col) 8; 3= M Schumacher (Ger) 8; 3= J Trulli (It) 8; 3= F Alonso (Sp) 8; 7 R Schumacher (Ger) 6; 8 H H Frentzen (Ger) 3; 9 J Button (GB) 2; 10 N Heidfeld (Ger) 1.

Constructors' Championship standings: 1 McLaren 26pts; 2= Renault 16; 2= Ferrari 16; 4 Williams 14; 5 Sauber 4; 6 BAR 2.

Remaining races: 6 Apr: Brazil; 20 Apr: San Marino; 4 May: Spain; 18 May: Austria; 1 June: Monaco; 15 June: Canada; 29 June: Europe (Nürburgring); 6 July: France; 20 July: Great Britain; 3 Aug: Germany; 24 Aug: Hungary; 14 Sept: Italy; 28 Sept: United States; 12 Oct: Japan.