The visibly upset Raikkonen ended up in 3rd after an unfortunate spate of events that had one of the wheels on his no.5 car come tumbling off during Friday’s practice session.

He opened the season with a superb run at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne when he won the race in his Ferrari. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, together with the McLarens, tailed behind and took both the second and third spot.

The tables have turned this time round as Alonso easily emerged victor while Hamilton’s second placing ensures McLaren takes home their first one-two finish since 2005.

Both the Team McLaren drivers look determined to show the F1 fraternity what they’re made of after their 2nd-3rd place finish Melbourne.

Putting pressure on Hamilton throughout the race, Kimi Raikkonen had many Ferrari fans holding their breath every time he dramatically closed the gap between him and Hamilton, but it was never close enough to provoke the battle for 2nd place.

A surprising Nick Heidfeld from the BMW Sauber team took matters into his own hands, spurring ahead of Felipe Massa of the Ferrari team. The Brazilian, who was overtaken by both Alonso and Hamilton in the first three corners, was in hot pursuit to make up for lost ground.

He was however, repeatedly outwitted by Hamilton in his attempts to regain 2nd place. Finally, on the 5th lap, the ongoing battle resulted in a huge bout of understeer, causing Massa to go off the circuit, letting Heidfeld, and his team mate Raikkonen get ahead of him in the process.

It is this chain of events that would fix the Alonso-Hamilton-Raikkonen-Heidfeld-Massa lineup that ensued till race’s end.

In Melbourne, Massa began the race in last place, but amazingly, pulled a Michael Schumacher and finished sixth overall.

His hard push continued in Sepang when he secured pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session, clocking an impressive 1:35.043s.

It was disappointing then, that Massa was unable to exploit what advantage he had like how he did in the Brazilian race last season.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking of all was the fact that the Honda team was performing badly, with their R107 car giving Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button a hard time on the circuit.

The Honda team has made a decision to scrap the R107 after the Grand Prix in Monaco next month, where they might introduce their revamped racer at the Montreal Grand Prix.

Team Spyker Ferrari wasn’t too lucky with the stakes either. Their decision to forgo thorough testing at Sepang was a risky one, and resulted in engine failure halfway through the race on Sunday.

About 115,000 spectators came to watch the race. And all of them clearly realised that McLaren – who last tasted sweet victory in October 2005 at the Japan Grand prix – is finally back to give the rest of the competition a good run for their money.

Will Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa be able to pressure Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 15th? As of now, it seems like the race at Bahrain will see a fierce battle between the McLarens and the Ferraris.