Content area
[Raikkonen] leads the championship from teammate David Coulthard, who won the Melbourne race two weeks ago, but retired here with electrical problems after just three laps.
Raikkonen has 16 points, Coulthard 10, and four drivers are on eight points: Montoya, [Trulli], [Fernando Alonso] and Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya, who only completed three laps yesterday.
Ice cool: Kimi Raikkonen raises the trophy after winning the Malaysian Grand Prix for McLaren.Finnish first: Kimi Raikkonen takes the checkered flag for his first Grand Prix win at Sepang yesterday.; AP; Photo: Photo
KIMI Raikkonen scored his first Formula One victory in yesterday's Malaysian Grand Prix to take the lead in the world championship.
The 23-year-old, ice cool Finn did as he promised to do in the Australian Grand Prix and scorched to victory by a cavernous 40 seconds in only his 36th race.
But this time there was no blunder in the pits or on the track, even though his pace was so hot in the sweltering 34C heat only three other drivers finished on the same lap.
Superior Ferrari tactics earned Rubens Barrichello second place and Fernando Alonso, at 21 the youngest driver ever to start from pole, was third in a Renault, despite a high fever.
Alonso is the first Spaniard to finish on the podium since Alfonso De Portago in 1956, but it was a close run thing as he called on the radio for a doctor on the slowing down lap because he feared he would be sick.
At 23 years and 157 days, Raikkonen becomes the fourth youngest winner. He is 83 days younger than Michael Schumacher was when he scored his maiden victory in 1992.
"This won't sink in until I wake up in the morning," Raikkonen said.
"It's a great feeling but still difficult to know just how I did this. Hopefully this is the start of a McLaren reign in F1.
"We will be doing our best but there is a long way to go with 14 races left in the championship.
"We are in good shape in the championship compared to Ferrari and hopefully we will be even faster when the new car comes along.
"Now they have changed the qualifying system you never know what can happen in a race, so I wasn't too worried to be starting seventh."
Pre-race favourite Schumacher blundered for the second race in succession when he tapped the back of Jarno Trulli's Renault to destroy both their chances of victory on only the second bend.
Mark Webber's difficult weekend ended when he drove into the garage on lap 36 -- having scrapped his way up to eighth -- and climbed on the plane home, pleased to see the back of a depressing day for the entire Jaguar team.
Raikkonen leads the championship from teammate David Coulthard, who won the Melbourne race two weeks ago, but retired here with electrical problems after just three laps.
In the gruelling temperatures, two drivers were treated in the medical centre for dehydration and injuries, several engineers have to be treated for the effects of heat and only 13 of the 22-car field reached the finish.
Although Schumacher started on the second row behind the two Renaults, there was general expectation he would conjure a victory thanks to the car's outright performance.
But his bid to get his challenge for a record sixth title failed to get off the ground convincingly yet again.
It was the questions that flowed after the race rather than the champagne when he made an elementary error on the second bend and hit Trulli from behind, resulting in a pit stop for a repaired nose and later a second visit to serve out a drive-through penalty when he was penalised for "causing an avoidable accident".
Ralf Schumacher was almost anonymous as he finished fourth, Trulli was fifth, Jenson Button seventh and Nick Heidfeld eighth to round off the points.
Raikkonen has 16 points, Coulthard 10, and four drivers are on eight points: Montoya, Trulli, Alonso and Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya, who only completed three laps yesterday.
Another dramatic race and five drivers on the podium in two races has vindicated the pre-season decision by the sport's governing body to re-write the rule book for the start of this season.
Caption: Ice cool: Kimi Raikkonen raises the trophy after winning the Malaysian Grand Prix for McLaren.Finnish first: Kimi Raikkonen takes the checkered flag for his first Grand Prix win at Sepang yesterday.; AP; Photo: Photo
Copyright News Limited Mar 24, 2003