SEPANG, Malaysia, March 23, 2008 (AFP) - Ferrari started out at the front of the grid at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, looking to give their Formula One season a boost after a sensational penalty handed to rivals McLaren.

On a brutally hot day at the Sepang circuit, McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen stuck to the team´s line after being pushed back five places in the grid Saturday for blocking other drivers.

"We broke the rules and we have been penalised for it," said Hamilton. "It was not deliberate and it was just an unfortunate thing, but there is nothing else to be said."

It started when BMW´s German driver Nick Heidfeld complained that both Hamilton and Kovalainen had impeded him during qualifying and cost him a top four spot in the grid.

He and his team were backed up by protests from another driver whose late charge was foiled -- double champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault. Both teams, BMW and Renault, took their complaints to the stewards.

The stewards may well have been reminded of events at Monza in 2006, when in similar circumstances Alonso was accused of blocking, also inadvertently, and spoiling a fast lap by Ferrari´s Brazilian driver Felipe Massa.

Ironically, it was Massa on pole with his Ferrari teammate, defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen, alongside him at Sepang, making them favourites to bounce back with a win after their desperate opening outing in Melbourne.

As Hamilton prepared himself under a parasol close to his father and manager Anthony before the race, the air temperature was recorded at 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) with the track at 44 Celsius (111 Fahrenheit).