Raikkonen’s win was the 16th of his career and proved he is carrying no “negative baggage” after his dismal outing at Albert Park where he spun twice, but still managed to collect a point for being classified eighth.
It was also Raikkonen’s seventh win for Ferrari and his second win in Malaysia.
Raikkonen won by 20 seconds ahead of BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, with McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen a further 19 seconds back in third.
The only negative for Ferrari was the failure by pole-sitter Felipe Massa to finish. He spun off under no pressure while running in second place just after the halfway mark. “It’s a shame that Felipe was unable to let us bring home a (one-two) result that was within our grasp,” Raikkonen said.
“From then on, with a clear track ahead of me, the car was perfect, I was able to control the situation without having to stress the car or the tires,” Raikkonen said. “We have had a very complicated start to the season, but I have certainly not lost faith in the team — we can still do better.”
Massa was left pointless after two races — an unhappy situation given there was already talk in F1 circles of the Brazilian’s seat at Ferrari being under scrutiny.
“This has been a very difficult start to the season for me, but there is still a very long way to go,” Massa said. “We have great potential as was seen today, and so I am still confident.”
Massa spun off on the 31st lap, appearing to accelerate out of a corner too early and spinning into a gravel trap.
Hamilton now leads the driver’s championship with 14 points, ahead of Raikkonen and Heidfeld, who both have 11 points. Kovalainen is in fourth place with 10 points, while Kubica is fifth with 8 points.
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