Results of the Malaysia 2007 F1 Grand Prix

On the hot tropical tarmac of Sepang, McLaren broke their 15 month victory drought in spectacular fashion with a one-two finish that confined Ferrari's impressive season start to also rans. For the second race in row they occupied two places on the podium to upstage Ferrari in the early championship stakes.

Fernando Alonso lead from the start, supported brilliantly by exciting newcomer Lewis Hamilton. Melbourne winner and title chaser Kimi Raikkonen had to settle for third, while pole sitter Felipe Massa threw it all away to finish fifth. Sandwiched between them was another solid performance from BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

The two Italians, Giancarlo Fisichella in Renault, and Jarno Trulli in his Toyota finished sixth and seventh, with the second Renault of newcomer Heikki Kovalainen collecting the last of the point for the 2006 constructors' champions.

There was action right from the start as Massa first saw Alonso snatch the lead from him and then realise that the other McLaren of British upstart Lewis Hamilton had brilliantly come around both Ferraris to leapfrog from fourth to second. With the quicker Ferraris both on his tail F1s first black driver skillfully fought off two challenges from Massa, forcing the Brazilian to twice brake too late. On the second occasion the Ferrari found itself on the gravel momentarily as Raikkonen and then Heidfeld flew by. He never recovered.

Two pit stops later, with all drivers leaving the more difficult hard compound compulsory tyre set until last, and the order was little changed except for another unlucky set back for BMW-Sauber, with Robert Kubica needing a new nose cone in an unsheduled stop that placed him well back in the field. The Swiss-based team have twice shown themselves to be the next strongest contender this season, while Renault struggles for pace.

Jenson Button was again conspicuous by his absense in the top 10, fighting it out at the back of the field with his under-performing Honda, he eventually finished 12 th behind teammate Rubens Barrichello. For the Williams team it was a welcome improvement as Alexander Wurz finished just outside the points.

After two races Alonso has now taken a slight lead on Raikkonen, while Hamilton has proved to be a surprise package and possible title contender, a further two points back on 14. Felipe Mass has just 7 points in fifth place. In the Constructors' Championship the damage so far is more obvious, as Ferrari's bid to return to the top is nine points adrift of McLaren after two races. Renault have just 8, one quarter of the leader's, and languish in fourth behind BMW-Sauber.

Results from the Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang:

1. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:32:14.930
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren +00:17.557
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 00:18.339
4. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 00:33.777
5. Felipe Massa (Bzl) Ferrari 00:36.705
6. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 01:05.638
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 01:10.132
8. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 01:12.015
9. Alexander Wurz (Aus) Williams-Toyota 01:29.924
10. Mark Webber (Aus) RedBull-Renault 01:33.500
11. Rubens Barrichello (Bzl) Honda 1 lap
12. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1 lap
13. Takuma Sato (Jap) Super Aguri-Honda 1 lap
14. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
15. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1 lap
16. Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 1 lap
17. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
18. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1 lap

R. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 13 laps
R. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Renault 19 laps
R. Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari 48 laps
R. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker-Ferrari 56 laps