Raikkonen rekindles Ferrari's winning ways

By Peter Rutherford

SEPANG, Malaysia (Reuters) - Kimi Raikkonen proved Ferrari remained the team to beat by cruising to an almost effortless win at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

After a nightmare start to the Formula One campaign in Australia, where neither Raikkonen nor team mate Felipe Massa made it to the finish line, Ferrari had pace in abundance at the Sepang Circuit while rivals McLaren scrapped for points.

Raikkonen's 16th career Formula One victory cut Lewis Hamilton's lead in the drivers championship to three points and the Finn will be looking to build on his momentum in Bahrain on April 6.

"It's been a perfect week," said world champion Raikkonen.

"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.

"Overall we would have been happier if Felipe had been in second place but things go wrong sometimes."

Things do seem to be going wrong for Massa.

After hitting the wall on the opening lap in Melbourne, pitching David Coulthard off the track on lap 25 and retiring four laps later, the Brazilian had been lightning quick in Malaysia qualifying and started from pole position.