The race started out great for the two McLaren drivers, with Alonso taking the lead after a sweeping start and Hamilton overtaking both Räikkönen and Massa after the first two corners. It was then very clear that Hamilton's mission was to keep the Ferrari drivers as far from Alonso as possible. In the meantime, the Spaniard started building a comfortable lead up front and gained almost a second/lap as compared to his Ferrari rivals.
Hamilton proved once again that he is Formula One material and managed to keep Massa and Räikkönen on his trails until the first pit stops. More, only 5 laps into the race, Massa threw himself into the gravel after trying to overtake the young Briton. It was his second attempt to gain 2nd place, as he did the same maneuver one lap earlier but was re-passed by Hamilton on the exit of Turn 4. The second time, though, Massa went out and lost 2 places, as he re-entered the race after BMW's Nick Heidfeld.
The remaining 36 laps of the race didn't have as much history as the first 20. Fernando Alonso was not to be denied a well-deserved victory, while Lewis Hamilton had to really struggle for his 2nd place finish. After visiting the pits for one last time, Hamilton started losing second after second to Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn was clearly feeling more comfortable on the harder tires and closed the gap on Hamilton to less than a second by the last lap. Still, the Englishman didn't make a single mistake and crossed the finish line 0.7 seconds ahead of the Finn.
Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa maintained their 4th and 5th places by the end of the race, as Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen got the rest of the point-scoring positions. The Renault rookie managed to score his first point in Formula One, as he gained 3 places as compared to his qualifying performance (11th place on grid). Honda ended another disappointing weekend in Malaysia, with both its drivers finishing the race outside the Top 10 (Barrichello - 11th place, Button - 12th place).
"To win today after coming second in Australia with my new team is like a dream come true. We knew the key to victory today was to make a good start and get in front to control the race which we achieved. To have Lewis in second place makes today’s result even better. We will now continue our preparations for Bahrain and I can’t wait”, said an overwhelmed Fernando Alonso after the race.
Hamilton, who out-bettered his previous performance in Australia (3rd place) was also excited about carrying over his most difficult race in career: “That was the toughest race of my career. I was defending my position for a lot of the time, and I’m so pleased that I managed to keep both Felipe and Kimi behind me. However it was hard work and it was just so hot inside the cockpit. A big "thank you" to the team, who have worked so hard both with the car, but also preparing me for the past months”.
As for the former Point Standings' leader, Kimi Räikkönen admitted both joy and disappointment in Sunday's performance: “A day of mixed feelings. On the one hand I am happy to have picked up six points, on the other, I am disappointed that the race did not live up to my expectations. This weekend we had to make some compromises on the car and that meant we were unable to exploit its full potential. Today we lacked a bit of speed when up against our main rivals”.
Fernando Alonso gained 1st place in Drivers' Point Standings, building a 2-point advantage over Ferrari rival Kimi Räikkönen. Lewis Hamilton is 3rd, with a total of 14 points (and an incredible 2 podiums out of 2 races performance in his rookie season). McLaren Mercedes also extended their lead in the Constructors' Point Standings, as Ferrari is now 9 points behind Ron Dennis' team. BMW ranks an encouraging 3rd place thanks to Nick Heidfeld's 4th place both in Australia and Malaysia.
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