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After the disappointing season start in Melbourne a week ago, Kimi Räikkönen punished all his critics today. The Finn drove to his first victory of the season with a sovereign performance at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

Kimi had a hard fight with his team mate Felipe Massa at the start of the race. The Braszilian was successful at this move and Kimi remained on the second positio. Up to lap 17, when Felipe Massa absolved his first pit stop, the Finn followed his team mate with a gap of almost two seconds. Kimi remained on the track for one more lap before he came into the pits for his own first stop in lap 18. After this he returned to the track shortly before Massa and took over the lead of the race. Kimi then was able to extend his lead on Massa in the second part of the race. The Brazilian still had a gap of about 4.5 seconds on Kimi in lap 31, when he spun his Ferrari into retirement. Kimi then made his second pit stop in lap 38 and returned to the track on the second postion behind Robert Kubica. Five laps later the BMW driver came into the pits for his second stop and Kimi was again the leader of the race. He defended his position and took the checkered flag for his first victory of the season. Robert Kubice finished second in the race, followed by McLaren Merceded driver Heikki Kovalainen on the third place.

"I am very happy with this win, for me and for the team. It's a shame that Felipe was unable to let us bring home a result that was within our grasp. At the start I came alongside Felipe, but I did not take any risks, knowing I was stopping one lap later than him at the end of the first stint. When that time came, I pushed to the maximum and I managed to come out of my pit stop ahead of him. 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 tyres. We are struggling a little bit in qualifying, but in the race we have a very high potential. 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."

Race results: