Massa wins Bahrain GP; Hamilton earns another spot on podium

SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Felipe Massa of Ferrari won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished second, becoming the first driver to start his Formula One career with three consecutive top three finishes.

Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was third, and Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber was fourth.

Hamilton, Formula One's first black driver, finished third at the Australian GP and second at the Malaysian GP. The previous best start to an F1 career was Peter Arundell with two podiums in two starts in 1964.

"I think it is a fantastic achievement, another to add to my career," Hamilton said. "I am extremely proud."

The next challenge for the 22-year-old rookie is to become one of the few F1 drivers to win a race in his first season. The last driver to do so was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001.

Massa won in 1 hour, 33 minutes, 27.515 seconds. Hamilton was 2.360 seconds behind.

"I really enjoyed the race today and with a few more laps I might have been able to challenge Felipe for the lead," Hamilton said.

After dominating testing and taking two consecutive pole positions, Massa gained his first victory of the season and third of his career. He was the third winner in three races this season.

Felipe Massa earns a big bottle of bubbly after picking up his first win of the season. (AP)

"The results of first two races was not what I expected," Massa said. "Something was missing. ... I had a bit of mistakes. This time we put everything together."

Two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso was fifth, creating a three-way tie in the drivers' standings. Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen each have 22 points, but Alonso and Raikkonen have already won this season. Massa is next with 17 points.

"This was not a great race for me but these things happen. I was struggling for pace and overall grip, which means you can't drive the car as well as you would like," Alonso said. "You always start the race believing you can win but after six or seven laps I knew that would be tough."

On a hazy day with swirling winds changing track conditions, Massa led virtually all the way, just dropping out of first on the two pit stops.

Massa had made mistakes from the pole in the last race. He was beat into the first turn by Alonso and Hamilton, then dropped to fifth when he went off the track trying to pass Hamilton on the sixth lap.