SEPANG, Malaysia -- Kimi Raikkonen of Finland won the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday for his first Formula One victory, and five-time world champion Michael Schumacher again failed to place among the top three.

	Kimi Raikkonen sailed to his first career win Sunday at Malaysia.

Rubens Barrichello of Brazil was second, 39 seconds behind, giving Ferrari a podium finish after an absence of one race. Pole-sitter Fernando Alonso of Spain, driving a Renault, was third.

The McLaren team has won both races this season, and Raikkonen leads the drivers' standings with 16 points following a win and a third-place showing.

"It's difficult to say how I feel now," Raikkonen said. "It's tomorrow morning when I will know what it feels like to win my first Grand Prix."

Schumacher was sixth after finishing fourth in the season opener in Australia. The last time he had such a bad spell in two consecutive races was in 2000, when he was bumped out of the German and Austrian races on the first lap.

"Let's hope the next race will be better," he said.

The German star finished more than a lap behind and was penalized for causing a collision with Jarno Trulli on the third turn. Trulli spun and Schumacher was left on the grass for a few seconds. Schumacher re-entered the race after dropping to about 12th.

"It was clearly my mistake and I have apologized to Jarno," Schumacher said. "The accident was a decisive moment."

Brother Ralf Schumacher of Williams-BMW, who won last year's race, was fourth, and Trulli of Renault was fifth.

Raikkonen almost won the French Grand Prix last year but slid out of the lead with less than five laps to go, giving Michael Schumacher the victory and his latest world title.

Raikkonen finished sixth in the standings last year after replacing two-time world champion Mika Hakkinnen in 2002 after a year with Sauber.

Teammate David Coulthard, who won in Australia, lasted less than three laps because of electrical problems. Juan Pablo Montoya, second in the opener, had to spend more than three minutes repairing a rear wing after a first-lap crash and was 12th of 13 finishers.

New rules for car technology and qualifying were introduced this season in an effort to increase competition after Ferrari dominated the series last season and television ratings dropped.

"The new rules are proving positive," Ralf Schumacher said. "They mix up the field so much that a lot goes on in the race."

In the opener, Ferrari missed the top three for the first time in 53 races, although it was a series of mishaps rather than the new rules that contributed to the result.

Ferrari won the first three years in Malaysia before Ralf Schumacher broke the streak with his victory. That race and the Monaco Grand Prix were the only losses for Ferrari last year.

There was heightened security while the U.S.-led forces continued their attack on Iraq. The Minardi cars raced with a "Malaysia for Peace" logo, and a coalition of government-backed rights groups put up banners at the entrance of the track saying "Stop War on Iraq" and "Say No to Bush." They were later removed on police instructions.