Sakhir, Bahrain - Felipe Massa of Brazil led a Ferrari one- two on Sunday as he won the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix from world champion team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Massa, who failed to finish in the first two races of the season, took over the lead in the first lap from pole-position holder Robert Kubica of Poland.

Kubica and his BMW-Sauber team-mate Nick Heidfeld went on to finish finish third and fourth, respectively.

McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton met disaster in the form of a bad start and an accident as he had to settle for 13th place.

As a result, Raikkonen took first place in the drivers standings from the Briton Hamilton with 19 points. Heidfeld has 16, with Hamilton, his Finnish team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and Kubica on 14 each.

Massa admitted that the two previous season races, in which he failed to finish after mistakes, were on his mind.

"I have not had very easy weeks. But that is life. It was not the first time and it will not be the last time that I have a difficult time.

"I had two bad days in the previous races and that was in my mind as I was driving, but the car was very good and I did not have to push all the way."

Massa said that he enjoyed racing in Bahrain where he also won last year.

"I love this circuit and am always strong. I am now looking forward to Barcelona, where we are also always strong. Hopefully when we get to Monaco, we will see if the car has improved in the slow corners," he said.

Massa finished the 57 laps of 5.412 kilometres for a race distance of 308.238 kilometres in one hour 31 minutes 6.970 seconds.

Kubica, who finished second in Malaysia two weeks ago, said that he was not unhappy with his start despite being overtaken by Massa.

"Only Massa had a better start than I did.

"I then ran into some oil and debris and was thinking that I would have to go into the pits and that is when Raikkonen overtook me. But it was a good weekend for me and the team and we are now leading the constructors' standings," he said.

BMW has a one-point lead in the constructors' standings with 30 points from Ferrari who have 29. McLaren are third with 28 points.

"To be leading the standings is unbelievable. We did not expect that at this stage," said BMW team principal Mario Theissen.

McLaren-Mercedes, who have yet to win a Grand Prix in Bahrain, had to settle for fifth through Kovalainen, while Jarno Trulli in a Toyota took sixth place.

While Kovalainen at least salvaged some points, Hamilton had a terrible start due to wrong settings and had to allow seven cars to pull past him and dropped down to tenth by the end of the first lap.

As the McLaren driver attempted to push forward to improve his position, he crashed into the back of the Renault of Fernando Alonso and had to come into the pits for a new nose and resumed the race in 18th place. He managed no better than moving up to 13th.

Upfront, the two Ferraris continued dominating the pack and put some distance between themselves and the chasing BMWs. The four leading positions were never really under threat, giving Ferrari a one-two, followed by the two BMWs.

Raikkonen said that he was pleased to have finished second even though it had been another difficult weekend in Bahrain where was third the previous three years.

"I had a bad weekend, but still finished second and that must be good. I have never been really too happy at this circuit and am now very happy to be leading the standings as we head to Europe."

The two final point positions went to Mark Webber in a Red Bull and Germany's Nico Rosberg in a Williams, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

The 2008 F1 season continues on April 27 with the Spanish GP in Barcelona. (dpa)