Formula One: Ruthless Raikkonen Lays Down the Gauntlet

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen delivered a stirring message of intent to current world champion Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team after dominating the season-opening Australian grand prix in Melbourne.

After taking pole position in Saturday's qualifying session, Raikkonen was never under pressure throughout the 58 laps at Albert Park and eventually lead Alonso home by 7.2 seconds. Equally impressive was rookie British driver Lewis Hamilton's superb drive in claiming the final podium position on his formula one debut. However, it was a grim day for the rest of the British contingent as David Coulthard's Red Bull collided with Alex Wurz nine laps from the end, while Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson finished 15th and 16th, respectively.

Nick Heidfeld finished fourth for BMW Sauber, Giancarlo Fisichella fifth for Renault, Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa claimed a superb sixth after starting at the back of the grid due to an engine change, Williams' Nico Rosberg came in seventh and Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher rounded out the top eight.

Raikkonen got away cleanly at the start and headed into the first corner in the lead, with Heidfeld sneaking into second after going round the outside of Alonso, who had also started on the front row. Hamilton moved up to third after the Brit took advantage of the Alonso-Heidfeld scrap. However, Raikkonen had extended his lead to 1.4 seconds by the end of the first lap, while team-mate Massa was cutting through the field.

The Finn dominated the early stages and put in the fastest lap of the race on lap 10 to pull out a commanding nine-second lead over Heidfeld. Hamilton and Alonso were holding station in third and fourth, while Heidfeld's team-mate Robert Kubica was fifth and Fisichella was running sixth. Massa was charging hard in the other Ferrari and was up to 15th by lap five, only to be held up by Honda duo of Button and Rubens Barrichello. Super Aguri's Davidson, who had driven superbly to claim 11th place in qualifying, stalled his car on the grid to fall to the back of the field and ran into further trouble when he was forced into the gravel after tangling with a Spyker on lap two, precipitating a trip to the pits.

Amazingly, Hamilton was leading his maiden grand prix on lap 18 after Raikkonen stopped for tyres and fuel. Heidfeld was the first of the front runners to come in as he dived into the pits on lap 14 to change from soft to hard compound tyres, rejoining in seventh place ahead of the two Toyotas but behind Red Bull's Mark Webber, meaning Hamilton took over second place. That soon became first as the debutant assumed leadership of the race as Raikkonen rejoined in fourth place behind Kubica.

Fisichella shoved Jarno Trulli on to the grass at the first corner when he exited the pits on lap 21 at the same time as the Toyota driver was coming down the back straight. Kubica and Alonso both came in on lap 22, the BMW Sauber driver rejoining one place behind the Spaniard in fourth. Hamilton looked to have been compromised by a Spyker on his in-lap but a brilliant stop of 8.7 seconds by the McLaren team saw him come out in second, ahead of Alonso. Button was handed a drive-through penalty on lap 30 for speeding in the pit lane and Scott Speed went out after beaching his Toro Rosso in the gravel.

The majority of teams had brought their cars in for pit stops as the field started to take on a more realistic running order, Raikkonen regaining his lead and opening up a 17-second advantage by lap 30 while Heidfeld proved to be the biggest loser as he slipped down to fifth. Kubica was forced to limp back to the pits on lap 36 to bring a sad end to what had been a promising afternoon for the BMW Sauber driver, Heidfeld benefiting from his team-mate's misfortune.

Raikkonen continued to hammer home his advantage, setting three consecutive fastest laps to open up a 17 and a half second lead over second-placed Hamilton by lap 40, lapping team-mate Massa in the process. He made his second stop on lap 41, a routine 7.6-second effort as he rejoined behind Alonso in third.

Race leader Hamilton pitted on lap 43 and filed back in in third place and when Alonso came in two laps later, Raikkonen was set for a clear run to the chequered flag, though he did lock up on lap 46 and nearly slid off the track. However, a short stop by Alonso meant the Spaniard claimed second place ahead of Hamilton, while Massa had climbed to sixth as a one-stop strategy paid off.