Fisichella dedicates 'perfect race' to friend.

Giancarlo Fisichella has dedicated his Malaysian Grand Prix win to a friend who died last week in a road accident.

The Italian was in top form as he made the most of his pole position and the problems of others, including team mate Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, to move into a lead he would not lose for the entire 56 laps, with exception of the pit stop periods.

After his prediction following a disastrous Bahrain Grand Prix that his season would start badly and go on to improve, Fisichella seemed to be proving his claim when he established a comfortable lead over Jenson Button, who seemed to be struggling with his race pace.

Indeed, Fisichella's only real competition came from Alonso, who's lightening start that vaulted him from seventh to third made him a genuine contender despite his questionable heavy fuel load, following a rig problem in qualifying.

When indications that Alonso would do a one-stop strategy failed to come to fruition, Fisichella was left to cruise over the final few laps, leading home Renault's first one-two result in 24 years.

After dedicating his pole position to his friend Pietro Siatta, Fisichella also chose to the same his third career victory. "It was a perfect race for me," Italian the said, "but it was very tough physically and mentally. It was really, really hot out there and I began to feel it from mid-race onwards. I knew it would be hard but there was no choice but to push all the way to the end. So I did. I didn't want to lose concentration in the last laps, and everything went well, the car and engine were perfect too. I am really so happy for this win.

"And I am especially pleased because I am dedicating the win to a friend who died last week, Pietro. To have my race engineer Alan Permane on the podium alongside me was special too. Thank you to the whole team, this is a brilliant result."

"What a fantastic result this was for Giancarlo," Pat Symonds beamed. "We saw yesterday that he has real strength of character, as he bounced back from a disappointing weekend in Bahrain, and this just reinforces that. It was a controlling and compelling performance."