Maiden win for Raikkonen at Malaysian Grand Prix

Sepang, Malaysia (Agence France-Presse): Kimi Raikkonen took full advantage of a spectacular blunder by Michael Schumacher to claim his maiden Formula One win at the Malaysian Grand Prix here Sunday.

The 23-year-old Finn produced a superb two-stop race to earn McLaren's second win of the season following David Coulthard's victory in the Australian Grand Prix earlier this month.

In sizzling heat and humidity at the 5.543km (3.444mile) Sepang circuit, Raikkonen took advantage of a first-lap pile-up caused by Ferrari's five-time world champion Schumacher to win.

raikkonen took all 10 points ahead of Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello in second and Spain's 21-year-old Renault ace Fernando Alonso in third.

The win saw Raikkonen move to the top of the drivers standings with 16 points following his third place in Melbourne.

"I'm very pleased with my first win but I'm not sure it's really going to sink in until tomorrow. I wasn't expecting to win because I hadn't done that well in qualifying," said Raikkonen, who had started the race on the fourth row after qualifying seventh fastest.

"But on the warm-up lap the car felt really good and the race opened up for me. Our strategy was perfect and for the last 20 laps I was just bringing home the car," the softly spoken Raikkonen said.

The flashpoint of a frenzied race came at only the second turn, with Schumacher at the center of a dramatic shunt.

Schumacher, who had started third on the grid, attempted to beat Jarno Trulli on the inside and smashed the Italian off the track when the Renault driver rightly cut across to slam the door.

Schumacher came off worst in the incident, though, damaging a front wing, which needed to be replaced with an early pit-stop, and picking up a deserved drive-through penalty from stewards for causing the accident.

Schumacher later admitted he was to blame for the prang.

"It was a tough race with an unfortunate start. I made a mistake and hit Jarno and I have apologized to him," added Schumacher, who nevertheless was able to weave through the backmarkers to finish sixth.

"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'm happy enough in the circumstances."

Third-olaced Alonso — who had caused an upset after becoming the youngest driver to win pole in Fl history on Saturday — was delighted with his maiden podium finish

Ralf Schumacher salvaged a disappointing weekend Williams with a fourth place finish, but team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya never got going after being caught in the skirmish at turn two early on. The Colombian finished 12th, one lap off the pace.

A miserable week for BAR-Honda's Jacques Villeneuve ended when his car was stranded on the formation lap, forcing the former world champion to retire before the race proper had started.

Villeneuve's woes would have been compounded by the success of his British teammate Jenson Button, who he had branded weak and two-faced in a bitter row earlier this week.