World champion Michael Schumacher strolled to victory in the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix here Sunday to preserve his 100 percent start to the season with his third successive victory.

Ferrari driver Schumacher led team-mate Rubens Barrichello off the front row of the grid and the pair were never troubled as they scored the perfect result in the first-ever race in the Middle East.

Schumacher came home 1.3sec ahead of Barrichello to add to his wins in Australia and Malaysia this year as he recorded the 73rd win of his career.

BAR-Honda driver Jenson Button claimed his second successive podium after snatching third from Juan Pablo Montoya in the closing stages of the race.

Montoya nursed his car home with brake problems but was left without points as car after car overtook him and left him in 13th place. Renault's Jarno Trulli was fourth ahead of BAR's Takuma Sato and Fernando Alonso, in the second Renault.

Ralf Schumacher completed a troubled race in seventh place after benefiting from Montoya's problems and the retirement of McLaren's David Coulthard late in the race, while Jaguar's Mark Webber took eighth.

McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen's start to the season also went from bad to worse as he retired once again when his Mercedes engine failed after just seven laps.

The McLarens were two of only three cars to retire from the race, leaving the team with four points from the opening three races. Minardi's Zsolt Baumgartner was the other to exit the race.

Pole-sitter Schumacher made a good start and led team-mate Barrichello off the grid, with Montoya retaining third place.

Sato made a quick start to move up to fourth ahead of Ralf Schumacher, while at the back Raikkonen made up five places to run 14th at the end of the first lap.

Alonso was forced to pit for a new nose cone after a collision in the pack and was left only ahead of Minardi's Gianmaria Bruni, who started the race late after encountering a problem.

Ralf Schumacher was shunted off the track attempting to pass Sato, but was able to continue in the race after a pit-stop to assess the damage to his Williams car.

But Raikkonen's miserable start to the season continued when his engine blew up with fire blazing from the back of his McLaren as he retired for the third race in succession.

Trulli moved up to fourth after the first pit-stops behind Schumacher, Barrichello and Montoya with Button going past Sato for fifth place after the Japanese driver made a mistake and pitted with damage to his front wing.

Ralf Schumacher attempted to leave his pit-box early after his second stop and ran down two of his crew, although they were not seriously hurt.

McLaren's Coulthard moved up to sixth ahead of Sato after the second round of stops with Mark Webber holding the final points-scoring position.

The quick Alonso finally found a way past on lap 31 after an intense battle to take eighth spot from the Jaguar driver.

And Sato then muscled his way into sixth at the expense of Coulthard as they went wheel-to-wheel.

Button grabbed fourth position from Trulli after a quick final stop and he closed in on third-placed Montoya as Schumacher and Barrichello continued to stroll towards a one-two finish.

Alonso, meanwhile, was also quick into the pit-lane as he jumped up to seventh place ahead of Coulthard.

Button then moved up to third as Montoya struggled, and Trulli also glided past and into fourth place.

Coulthard was a late retirement when his car stopped in the pit-lane to hand eighth place to Ralf Schumacher.