Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (My Sportsbook) - Following a workmanlike performance by Ferrari's new driver Kimi Raikkonen in winning the season opener in Australia the Formula One Series makes the trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for round two of the championship.

Under the hot Malaysian sun, Ferrari and all the F1 teams will test the limits of both man and machine. Most of the teams tested at Malaysia last week in preparations for the blazing conditions.

In addition, Raikkonen is worried about his engine making it all the way through the race.

"There is some concern," Raikkonen told the official Ferrari website. "We had a slight leakage of water during the last part of the race (in Australia) and the team told me to slow down. Obviously we hope that the engine will make it through the whole weekend and that we don't have to change it before the qualifying."

If the team is forced to replace the engine (engines are required to last for two events), Raikkonen would be dropped 10 places on the starting grid.

Behind Raikkonen in Australia, but clearly the "best of the rest" was two-time defending World Champion Fernando Alonso and his rookie teammate at McLaren- Mercedes Lewis Hamilton.

"It was a solid start to the season in Australia," said Alonso. "We knew we were not as quick as the Ferrari so we had a good result in light of this. In the early part of the season it is important to keep scoring points and finishing on the podium as we push forward with our development program.

"I have always gone well at Sepang, winning there in 2005 and finishing second there last year."

For the rookie, it was a great start, but he knows there is a lot to learn.

"The four days of testing this week were really useful on two counts," said Hamilton, the 2006 GP2 champion. "We had a number of developments to the car that we ran and will now bring to the race, and I was able to learn the track prior to the event.

Felipe Massa, Raikkonen's teammate at Ferrari, had a solid showing on the Albert Park Circuit in Australia despite just a sixth-place finish. That was because he started at the back of the field after slowing during qualifying with a transmission problem. The Brazilian started 16th and still managed to collect a few points which might come in handy late in the season.

After two straight championships, Renault looked a little out of sorts with their lineup of Giancarlo Fisichella and rookie Heikki Kovalainen. They could only manage to finish fifth and 10th, respectively.

"It was a tough race for me," said Fisichella. "We weren't on the pace of the leaders.

"Without a doubt, this (Malaysia) is the toughest race of the season - not just physically, but mentally too. The high temperatures and humidity make things very tough for the drivers and the cars too. For me personally, though, there are very good memories from my win last year, and I am prepared for the race this time round."

Fisichella will try to repeat last year when he won both the pole and the race. He controlled the race from start to finish while his then teammate Alonso had to work much harder to get around Jenson Button and earn the runner-up spot.

For those in the United States who wish to watch the race live, it begins very early Sunday morning (2 a.m.) on the east coast.