Highlights

Alonso leads McLaren one-two in Malaysia

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-04-09 08:56

Double world champion Fernando Alonso celebrated an emphatic victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, while British rookie Lewis Hamilton finished second to hand McLaren their first one-two since 2005.

The Spaniard's runaway success ended McLaren's drought, with that team's first win since October 2005, and gave him the championship lead with 18 points to Kimi Raikkonen's 16 for Ferrari.

Former McLaren driver Raikkonen, who dominated the season-opening Grand Prix in Australia on his Ferrari debut, finished third ahead of BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in fourth.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who started on pole position, could manage no better than fifth after skidding onto the grass during a dogfight with Hamilton early in the race.

Alonso, who left Renault for Mercedes-powered McLaren at the end of last season after winning the last two titles, was full of praise for his "perfect" new team.

"To win a formula one grand prix with two different teams is something special...a dream come true and part of history," Alonso told a news conference.

"We knew our chance was to overtake the Ferraris at the start, and to see Lewis in second was even better."

The 25-year-old said the McLarens had got much closer to Ferrari since the opening race of the season but he had not expected such a decisive result.

"We learned some lessons (in Australia) that for sure we will be using in every race," he said.

"Over here we have some developments in the car but it's a surprise we are here."