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| March 24, 2003 | Monday | Muharram 20, 1424 |
Raikkonen posts 1st win in Malaysia
SEPANG (Malaysia), March 23: McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen cruised to the first win of his Formula One career in Malaysia on Sunday as Ferrari’s world champion Michael Schumacher joined the also-rans.
The Finn, living up to his ‘Iceman’ nickname, kept his cool in the sticky heat to beat Ferrari’s Brazilian Rubens Barrichello by a massive 39.286 seconds.
With new rules mixing up the grid, but none of the unpredictable weather of the enthralling Australian opener, the 2003 season continued to provide thrills and spills in abundance.
In a race turned topsy-turvy by Schumacher colliding with Italian Jarno Trulli into the second corner, Renault’s promising young Spaniard Fernando Alonso claimed his first podium with third place.
Already the youngest ever pole starter, the 21-year-old became the first Spaniard on the podium since Alfonso de Portago was second at Silverstone in 1956 for Ferrari.
Raikkonen’s win had been coming for some time and was a deserved reward for the disappointment of missing out on a season-opening win in Australia two weeks ago.
It lifted the 23-year-old to the top of the championship after two races with 16 points, ahead of team mate David Coulthard on 10.
Five-times world champion Schumacher, now sixth overall, nudged the rear of Trulli’s Renault in an incident that triggered a chain reaction behind him and produced a drive-through penalty.
The German — his fourth place in Australia two weeks ago was the first time he had finished off the podium since Monza in September 2001 — carved back through the field but was a lap down on Raikkonen before the halfway mark.
He finished sixth after four visits to the pits, one for the penalty and another to replace his front wing.
With some familiar frontrunners out of the running, the second race of the season was blown wide open with some immediate surprises.
Germany’s Ralf Schumacher, winner in Malaysia for Williams last year but apparently out of the running after qualifying 17th, experienced a sporting resurrection to claim fourth place ahead of Trulli.
Briton Jenson Button was seventh for BAR and Germany’s Nick Heidfeld eighth for Sauber.
Button’s Canadian team mate and feuding foe Jacques Villeneuve failed to start due to a damaged gearbox, a situation that undermined his much-publicised opinion before the race that Button was a weak team mate.
His absence also wrong-footed Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, whose Jordan should have been behind him on the grid and was flummoxed when the BAR went into the pits.
He made a mistake in lining up on the grid and the subsequent gear changes and reversals wrecked the launch control system so that he failed to start also.
Coulthard, winner in Australia, fell by the wayside on lap three with an electronics problem.
RESULTS
Race distance: 56 laps, 310.408 kms 1. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren one hour 32 minutes 22.195 seconds (average speed 201.629 kmh) 2. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 39.286 seconds behind 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:04.007 4. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:28.026 5. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault one lap 6. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari one lap 7. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR one lap 8. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber one lap 9. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber one lap 10. Ralph Firman (Britain) Jordan one lap 11. Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota one lap 12. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 3 laps 13. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 4 laps
Not classified (did not finish): Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Jaguar 42 laps completed Justin Wilson (Britain) Minardi 41 Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 35 Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 12 David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 2 Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 0 Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 0
Fastest lap: Michael Schumacher 1:36.412 (lap 45).—Reuters
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