KIMI Raikkonen banished the memory of last Sunday's disastrous start to the season by claiming a comfortable victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver cruised home 19.5 seconds ahead of Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber with Heikki Kovalainen finishing third for McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton finished fifth behind Jarno Trulli's Toyota after a bungled pit stop cost the Brit a chance of a podium, while pole-sitter Felipe Massa saw his race end after 30 laps when he beached his Ferrari in the gravel.

A Ferrari victory had looked odds-on before the race as chief rivals Kovalainen and Hamilton had both been hit by five-place grid penalties for impeding Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso at the end of Saturday's qualifying session, meaning they lined up eighth and ninth respectively.

An excellent start from Hamilton saw the McLaren driver jump to fifth after the first lap but Timo Glock was unable to continue after his Toyota collided with Nico Rosberg's Williams, while Adrian Sutil's race also ended in retirement on lap six.

The Ferraris proved dominant in the early stages as Massa established a slight advantage over Raikkonen, the pair leaving Kubica trailing in the distance.

Disaster struck for Hamilton when he pitted from second as a problem with the right front wheel saw him stationary for 20 seconds and scuppered any hopes of a podium. He rejoined in 11th behind Webber.

Raikkonen continued to forge ahead once Kubica pitted from the lead and had established a five-second gap over Massa when his afternoon suddenly became considerably less stressful after the Brazilian spun at turn eight and ended up in the gravel, his race over after 30 laps.

That pushed Kubica up to second but 22 seconds behind the leader, while Kovalainen had crept up to third, a further 17 seconds adrift.

But once Kubica had again handed the lead to Raikkonen after pitting for a second time, there was no stopping the Finn and he cruised to victory by 19.5 seconds.

10:35am Sunday 23rd March 2008

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