Sepang: Kimi Raikkonen cruised to victory in Malaysia on Sunday to put Ferrari back on the winning track and slash Lewis Hamilton’s lead to three points.

World champion Raikkonen failed to finish last weekend’s season-opener in Australia but the Finn sealed his 16th Grand Prix victory when he took the lead from teammate Felipe Massa at the first set of pitstops.

BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica finished second, the best result of the Pole’s Formula One career so far. McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen was third with British teammate Hamilton having to settle for fifth.

Massa’s race came to an end on lap 31 when the Brazilian, who started on pole position with Raikkonen alongside on an all-Ferrari front row, spun out at turn eight and could not escape the gravel trap.

“It was a pretty easy race from that first pitstop really,” said Raikkonen. “We had quite a difficult weekend in Australia and we were not 100 percent sure it was going to be any different here.

“But everything worked perfectly. This is a good start to the season for us and we’re in a pretty good position,” added the Finn, who scored a point in Australia after only seven cars were left running at the finish and one of those was disqualified.

Hamilton, who started ninth on the grid after he and Kovalainen collected five-place penalties for impeding rivals in qualifying, finished behind Italian Jarno Trulli, who took a fine fourth place for Toyota.

Nick Heidfeld (BMW), Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso (Renault) collected the rest of the points.

Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella finished 12th while teammate Adrian Sutil retired with a hydraulic snag on the fifth lap.

Hamilton, who won in Melbourne, was fifth at the end of the first lap but could not find a way past Australian Webber.

Problems in removing the McLaren’s right front wheel at the first pitstop cost Hamilton 20 seconds and ultimately wrecked his chances of catching the leaders.

“I was pushing Mark for a long, long time but being behind someone is extremely difficult so it doesn't matter how much quicker you are, it makes it extremely difficult to get past,” said the 23-year-old. “And then we were in with a good shot for third place and then we had the wheel gun at the pitstop.”

Kubica savoured BMW's second runners-up spot in a row following Heidfeld’s superb finish at Albert Park last week, but said his team had to rein-in their expectations.

“It was a fantastic result for the team,” said the Pole. Hamilton leads the championship with 14 points after two races, ahead of Raikkonen and Heidfeld with 11.

MALAYSIAN Grand Prix

RESULTS

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:31:18.555; 2. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) +00:19.570; 3. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) 00:38.450; 4. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 00:45.832; 5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 00:46.548; 6. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 00:49.833; 7. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 01:08.130; 8. Fernando Alonso (Renault) 01:10.041; 9. David Coulthard (Red Bull) 01:16.220; 10. Jenson Button (Honda) 01:26.214; 11. Nelson Piquet (Renault) 01:32.202; 12. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) 1 lap; 13. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) 1 lap; 14. Nico Rosberg (Williams) 1 lap; 15. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) 1 lap; 16. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) 2 laps; 17. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) 2 laps r. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) 17 laps r. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 26 laps r. Adrian Sutil (Force India) 51 laps r. Timo Glock (Toyota) 55 laps r. Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) 56 laps Fastest Lap: Nick Heidfeld, 1:35.366, lap 55.

STANDINGS

Drivers (Top ten): 1. Lewis Hamilton 14; 2. Kimi Raikkonen 11 3. Nick Heidfeld 11; 4. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 10; 5. Robert Kubica 8; 6. Nico Rosberg 6; 7. Fernando Alonso 6; 8. Jarno Trulli 5; 9. Kazuki Nakajima 3; 10. Sebastien Bourdais 2.

Constructors: 1. McLaren 24; 2. BMW Sauber 19; 3. Ferrari 11; 4. Williams 9; 5. Renault 6; 6. Toyota 5; 7. Red Bull 2; 8. Toro Rosso 2; 9. Honda 0; 10. Force India 0 11. Super Aguri 0