Ferrari buoyed by F1 win as McLaren rivals scrap

By Ronald Freeman Sep 17, 2007, 11:34 GMT

Hamburg - Kimi Raikkonen's victory at the Belgian Grand Prix has kept the Formula One championship alive with three races remaining and put Ferrari back on the front foot.

The Ferrari one-two - with Raikkonen beating team-mate Felipe Massa - has raised the Italian team's hopes that they can indeed wrench the drivers' title from McLaren-Mercedes.

McLaren is very much licking its wounds after the defeat on the Spa-Francorchamps track on Sunday came on the heels of the loss of its constructors' points and a fine of 100 million dollars as a result of the 'spygate' affair.

Ferrari's domination at Spa in a race in which it clinched the constructors' title was seen in Italy Monday as only a fair outcome following McLaren's sanctions by the motorsport federation FIA for possessing leaked Ferrari technical data.

'We have a result which at least brings a bit of justice,' said Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Ferrari owner Fiat.

'Ferrari proved on the track that it is stronger than McLaren,' wrote Corriere dello Sport daily.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemola said the victory was for all fans who 'believe in a fair sport.'

He said he was devoting the win to 'the English gentleman in the copy shop without whom it would not have been possible to shed light on one of the worst chapters in the history of motorsport.'

It was information from the copy shop's proprietor which led to Ferrari's complaints after it was revealed that the since-suspended McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan had been in possession of hundreds of pages of the Italian team's technical data.

McLaren are thought unlikely either to appeal to the FIA or take the matter to a civil court. Team boss Ron Dennis said Sunday that as long as McLaren's shareholders were comfortable with dealing with the fine, he wished to see the matter closed.

Finnish driver Raikkonen is meanwhile now only 13 points behind Britain's Lewis Hamilton going into the next race, the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji on September 30.

Yet if the McLaren cars stay reliable, Hamilton and team-mate Fernando Alonso, who is seeking a third successive title, remain favourites for the championship.

Alonso has cut Hamilton's overall lead to two points and he has had the better of his 22-year-old team-mate over the last two races.

With the Grand Prix circus now moving to Japan, China and Brazil, experience could tip the title race the way of 26-year-old Alonso against F1 novice Hamilton, despite the brilliance of his first season.

'It's come down a bit closer but we've still got three tracks that are a bit fresh and new to me,' Hamilton said.

'On some tracks he'll be faster than me and on some I'll be faster than him, so, fingers crossed, the last three are better for me.'

However relations between the pair have soured, with Hamilton upset after Sunday's race at the way he was barged wide by Alonso at the first corner.

Without constructors points to consider for their team and with no team orders, the two title rivals are now off the leash.

'For someone that's always complaining about people doing unfair manoeuvres, he has gone and swiped me and pushed me as wide as he could,' Hamilton complained, but Alonso was unapologetic.

Alonso's loyalty to McLaren and his future at the team has also been questioned. The Spaniard, who has complained this season that Hamilton was getting preferential treatment within the team, refused to comment at Spa-Francorchamps on reports he 'threatened' McLaren over his possession of incriminating emails in the spy affair.