CANBERRA, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Finn Kimi Raikkonen won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday for Ferrari, while defending world champion Fernando Alonso from Spain finished second for his McLaren.

    Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain was third in another McLaren.

    Raikkonen, in his first drive for Ferrari as a replacement for retired seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, dominated the opening race of the season.

    Ferrari employed a two-stop pits strategy throughout the 58 laps to beat Alonso by 7.2 seconds with rookie Hamilton, driving in his first GP, coming in third another 11.3 seconds away.

    German Nick Heidfeld in a BMW-Sauber was fourth with Renault's Giancarlo Fischella of Italy fifth.

    Brazilian Felipe Massa, who started off the eighth row on the grid in the second Ferrari car, finished sixth.