KIMI Raikkonen's emphatic win at Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix has illustrated just how becoming world champion last year has made him an even stronger contender in 2008.

His team-mate Felipe Massa is sensationally fast too. The Brazilian's pole position lap in Saturday qualifying was a joy to watch but, when it comes to race strategy, Raikkonen has a clear edge.

Even as Massa was claiming pole position, the Finn had taken second on the grid, half a second a lap slower than his team-mate.

But Raikkonen was happy to let Massa claim the glory, for the Finn had about 5 litres more fuel in his car, good for an extra lap or more when it came to the first pit stop.

As soon as the lights extinguished, Raikkonen was up alongside Massa, but the Brazilian did not hesitate to move across and "close the door".

Not so long ago, Raikkonen's determination would have meant a clash and a probable disaster.

Instead, he backed off, holding second place until Massa made his pit stop. He then put in some stunning laps while the Brazilian was heading into and out of the pits. And this allowed him to come out just ahead of his teammate once he had completed his own pit stop.

Massa, who drives with his heart as much as his head, also seemed to let the pressure get to him for the second race in succession, when he slid off the track in a seemingly unforced error.

The Brazilian will now have to dig deep into his reserves of self-confidence prior to the Bahrain GP on April 6. We said that of him last year too, and he came through to win.

No problems of self-confidence for Robert Kubica, who again demonstrated that BMW are building on their 2007 credentials as the best of the rest, behind Ferrari and McLaren.

McLaren were dogged by problems through the weekend, leaving Heikki Kovalainen claiming third and Lewis Hamilton fifth place.

First, they were penalised when they slowed at the end of qualifying. It was not intentional, they were merely trying to save fuel on the cruise back to the pits.

However, both stayed on the racing line rather than pulling to the side of the track and clearly impeded BMW's Nick Heidfeld and Renault's Fernando Alonso on their qualifying laps.

The five-place penalty was well merited, but it meant Hamilton started from ninth place. He did well to move up to fifth by the end of the first lap, but his efforts were negated by a jammed wheel at his first pit stop.

The McLaren was stuck in the pits for 20 seconds, dropping him down to 12th, before he fought back to claim four championship points.

One good thing about such an action-packed race was that he later admitted to not noticing his lack of hydration owing to a problem with the tube that fed through his crash helmet.

His performance in the heat of Sepang also demonstrated just how much he, like Raikkonen, has grown in performance between the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

A year ago, the 23-year-old admitted to being "exhausted" after the Malaysian GP. This year, he was surprised to discover that even without any drinks, he felt fine.

In other words, Hamilton and Raikkonen are starting to raise their game in clear competition with one another.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Mar 25, 2008.