Mon, Mar 24, 2003 page20

• 'Iceman' cometh to land first grand prix

  COOL KID Finn kimi Raikkonen kept his head to claim the flag at the Malaysia Grand Prix as a misfiring Schumacher could only manage sixth

  • REUTERS
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  McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen cruised to the first win of his Formula One career in Malaysia yesterday 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.

  "It was not too bad actually, I was expecting it to be more difficult," he said of the conditions, the excitement of winning yet to sink in.

  

  PHOTO: AFP

  "I didn't need to push so hard for the last 20 laps, I was just driving around and it was just like any other race."

  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.

  

  Kimi Raikkonen raises his trophy on the podium after his victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang yesterday.

  PHOTO: AP

  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.

  "It is the best weekend of my life probably," said the Spaniard, who had been fighting a fever since Saturday and was also slowed by a faulty gearbox.

  "I had my fingers crossed for the last 10 laps. The last 20 or 25 laps I felt quite bad and quite sick but you keep concentrated and pushing like crazy," he said.

  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 will be a lot easier now as people will not be asking me all the time when am I going to win my first race," he said.

  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.

  "It was a tough race with an unfortunate start," said the German, who had never before finished off the podium in Malaysia.

  "I made a mistake and hit Jarno and I have apologized to him. That was the decisive moment of my race. It came as a big surprise that I was still able to fight for points after I pitted for the drive-through penalty.

  "So I am happy enough in the circumstances," he said

  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 an excellent fourth place ahead of Trulli.

  "This race was as demanding as 56 laps of qualifying," he commented. "Driving at the front as I did last year was obviously much easier ... the new rules are proving positive, they mix up the field so much that a lot goes on in the race."

  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-publicized 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.

  Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, second last year, found himself running around at the rear after his Williams was hit by Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia's Jaguar and lost its rear wing in the first lap mayhem.
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