LAST YEAR’S rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton, who missed out on the title last year by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, won with a pole-to-flag victory in a crash-strewn Australian Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old Briton finished 5.4 seconds ahead of Germany's Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber. Nico Rosberg for Germany, was on the podium for the first time in his Formula One career with third place for Williams in a sweltering race that saw only seven of the 22 starters still running at the finish and neither Ferrari reach the chequered flag.

According to Hamilton, his team has come into a new season and turned over a new leaf as they really wanted to get off on the right foot. He explained that this was quite different to his first win in Montreal because that was really not expected. He added that this win feels even better to him than any because he feels he has improved in many areas. Although it wasn’t the perfect win, Hamilton feels he has improved in the management of his tyres, controlling pace and confidence and he feels comfortable in the car.

With traction control and electronic driver aids now banned, the safety car was deployed three times. Through it all, Hamilton lapped in a league of his own to chalk up his fifth win in just 18 starts.

Kimi Raikkonen, however suffered an engine problem after a torrid afternoon at the wheel and retired five laps from the end. The Finn also skidded off on lap 31 after overtaking McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen for second place and rejoined at the back. Honda's Rubens Barrichello, who had finished sixth, was excluded for exiting the pit lane when the lights were still red.

This resulted in Kazuki Nakajima being raised to sixth place for Williams, despite the Japanese tangling with Red Bull's Mark Webber at the start and again with the BMW Sauber of Poland's Robert Kubica, nine laps from the end. Stewards gave the rookie a 10-place penalty on the starting grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend.

Brazilian Barrichello also sent a mechanic flying when he accelerated away before the fuel hose was detached.

Fernando Alonso, Hamilton's team mate at McLaren last season, was fourth on his return to the Renault team with which he won his two titles. Hamilton's team mate, Heikki Kovalainen was fifth - his hopes of a one-two on his McLaren debut dashed by a late pit-stop - and set the fastest lap of the race.