Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen laid down a marker to current world champion Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team after dominating the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
However, the biggest story of the day was rookie British driver Lewis Hamilton's superb drive in claiming the final podium position on his Formula One debut.
After taking pole position in Saturday's qualifying session, Raikkonen was never under pressure throughout the 58 laps at Albert Park and eventually led Alonso home by 7.2 seconds.
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 Jensen 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 staring 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 at the end of the first lap and went on to dominate the early stages, putting in the fastest lap of the race on lap ten to pull out a commanding nine-second lead over Heidfeld.
Hamilton and Alonso were holding station in third and fourth respectively, 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 debutante assumed leadership of the race as Raikkonen rejoined in fourth place behind Kubica.
Fisichella shoved Jarno Trulli onto 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 then 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.
Jensen 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 opened up a 17-second advantage by the 30th lap, 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.
The Finn made his second stop on lap 41, a routine 7.6 second effort as he rejoined behind Alonso in third.
Hamilton pitted on lap 43 and returned to the track 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 stayed in second place ahead of Hamilton, while Massa had climbed to sixth as a one-stop strategy paid off.
Raikkonen eased off in the finals stages as Alonso closed the gap, with Hamilton trailing the Finnish driver by 18.5 seconds in third.
MELBOURNE, March 18 (FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix)
1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1hr 25mins 28.770secs,
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:25:36.012,
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:25:47.365,
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:26:07.533,
5 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:26:35.239,
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:26:35.575,
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams at 1 lap,
8 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota at 1 lap,
9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 1 lap,
10 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault at 1 lap,
11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda at 1 lap,
12 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri at 1 lap,
13 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull at 1 lap,
14 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap,
15 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda at 1 lap,
16 Anthony Davidson (Gbr) Super Aguri at 2 laps,
17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker at 2 laps
Not Classified:
18 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams 48 laps completed,
19 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 48 laps completed,
20 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 36 laps completed,
21 Scott Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso 28 laps completed,
22 Christijan Albers (Ned) Spyker 10 laps completed
Fastest Laps: Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1min 25.235secs on lap 41
World Championship Standings
Drivers' Championship:
1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 10pts,
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 8,
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 6,
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 5,
5 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 4,
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 3,
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 2,
8 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1
Manufacturers' Championship:
1 McLaren 14pts,
2 Ferrari 13,
3 BMW Sauber 5,
4 Renault 4,
5 Williams 2,
6 Toyota 1
