Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Mar. 31 - Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the Malaysian Grand Prix with a pole-to-flag victory ahead of Nico Rosberg on Sunday.

The 2008 Formula One world champion easily pulled away from his rivals on a dry track with a three-stop strategy to win the race by 17.3 seconds, his 23rd career victory and first in Malaysia at the eighth attempt, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Rosberg, who won the season opener in Australia two weeks ago, started in third place, but squeezed past quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel into the first corner and was able to keep the Red Bull at bay and stay top of the driver standings.

The BBC reports Hamilton as praising Mercedes after his Malaysia GP win. He praised his Mercedes team for producing a "spectacular" car.

Hamilton said he was really, really happy with just a great performance by the team.

Hamilton's victory puts him second in the world championship, 18 points behind Rosberg. (ANI)