Schumacher first to congratulate Ferrari newcomer Raikkonen

By Peter Auf der Heyde Mar 18, 2007, 9:07 GMT

Melbourne - Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was the first to congratulate Ferrari newcomer Kimi Raikkonen after winning Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The Finn led from start to finish to clock one hour 25 minutes and 28.770 seconds over the 58 laps of 5.303 kilometres for a total of 307.574 kilometres, beating world champion Fernando Alonso in a McLaren-Mercedes into second place by 7.2 seconds.

Raikkonen, who won his tenth career victory, was given a mobile phone by team principal Jean Todt shortly after alighting from the car.

'It was Michael, but the line was not very good, so I could not understand,' Raikkonen said.

But even though he led from start to finish, the winner did not have it all his own way. The former McLaren driver said that the radio broke down shortly before the start of the race and that it had not been an easy race as a result.

'I did not have to push too much, but even though I knew that if everything went well we should win, I was a bit worried because of the radio.'

He had a slight problem towards the end of the race as he slipped of the track for a brief moment. 'It was totally my fault. I was not concentrating and I looked at something else. That happens if one is not too worried about what is happening.'

Third place went to Grand Prix rookie Lewis Hamilton in the second McLaren, while German BMW-Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld finished fourth. Giancarlo Fisichella in a Renault was fifth.

The second Ferrari of Brazilian Felipe Massa, who started from last place on the grid after having to change his engine, was sixth while Germans Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Toyota's Ralf Schumacher finished in seventh and eighth place respectively to pick up the final world championship points.

The podium was the youngest-ever in Grand Prix history, with an average age of 24,6 years (Raikkonen 27, Alonso 25 and Lewis 22), while Hamilton's performance is the best-ever of a Grand Prix rookie in the last ten years.

It came close to equalling Jacques Villeneuve's performance from 1996, when the Canadian took second place in a Williams at the Australian Grand Prix.

'I am feeling ecstatic. It is a fantastic feeling and then to be able to finish with a podium place in my first race is just unbelievable.'

Raikkonen had no problems winning the start, but Alonso slipped back to fourth as he was put under pressure by Heidfeld and was also passed by team-mate Hamilton as he had to hold back to avoid a collision with Heidfeld's BMW.

Heidfeld was the first to go into the pits for fuel, followed by Raikkonen shortly afterwards. This allowed Hamilton to lead the race in his first-ever Grand Prix.

Raikkonen regained the lead shortly afterwards when the two McLaren's of Hamilton and Alonso had to refuel and then cruised to victory.

Alonso managed to overtake Hamilton during their second pit stop. 'I am not quite sure what went wrong at the second stop. I got a decent start, but was then later held up by slower cars. I made a few mistakes during the race and I will just need to keep on learning,' Lewis said.

Raikkonen is the first championship leader of the season with ten points, while Alonso and Hamilton follow with eight and six points respectively.

McLaren lead the constructor's championship with 14 points - one more than Ferrari.

The race was the first of 17 season races, with the next one being on April 8 in Malaysia.