Raikkonen wins incident-marred Spanish Grand Prix

Apr 27, 2008, 15:41 GMT

Finnish F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari reacts after he won the Formula One Grand Prix of Spain at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona, Spain, 27 April 2008. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

Barcelona - Kimi Raikkonen led a Ferrari one-two at an incident-marred Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on Sunday as he won from team-mate Felipe Massa.

McLaren-Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton finished third.

The race saw two safety car phases, as well as several crashes, one of which resulted in McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen having to be airlifted to hospital after a high-speed crash into a wall of tyres.

He was conscious and gave the crowd a thumbs-up as he was stretchered from his smashed car to the medical centre. Team officials said he had no broken bones, but was being examined for concussion.

BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica was fourth, ahead of Mark Webber in a Red Bull. The final positions in the points went to Jenson Button in a Honda, who finished sixth, Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima and Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.

Raikkonen, who started from pole, managed to win the start from Renault's Fernando Alonso, who lost a place as Massa pushed ahead of him to take second place by the first corner behind his team-mate.

However, Raikkonen said that he did not have a perfect start. 'But it was good enough to stay in front. It was important to start from pole, that is always the best place to win a race from.'

Also on the first lap, German Torro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel collided with his compatriot Adrian Sutil in a Spyker-Ferrari, who had earlier touched another car and then turned. This prompted the safety car to come out for the first time.

Local hero Alonso was the first to pit for fuel on the 17th lap, allowing Raikkonen and Massa to extend their lead at the top. Surprisingly Massa was the first of the Ferrari's to come in for a fuel stop, even though the Brazilian was slower than his team-mate.

'I had a good start, which is something that I needed after the qualifying, where things did not go all that well,' Massa said.

'We had a bit of a scare after Hamilton came close after the safety car, but then things went well. Finishing first and second is very important for us, but we must not forget that the competitors are very close.'

On the 22nd lap, the safety car and the medical car were called out after Kovalainen, who was leading at that stage, seemed to have a problem with his left front alloy rim and flew out of the course, crashing into a wall of tyres.

Kovalainen was stretchered to the medical centre on the course and later airlifted to hospital by helicopter.

Kovalainen's team-mate Hamilton said he had been informed during the race that the Finn was not badly injured. 'It was a terrible day for Heikki, I am just so happy that he was not badly injured.

'I came past the corner and saw a red car in the wall, but did not know if it was a Ferrari or a McLaren. It reminded me of a similar situation last year, when the same thing happened to me.'

The young Briton said he was glad to be back on the podium, after having failed to finish in the top three in the last two races.

'After qualifying fifth, I knew it would be difficult, so I am glad to have finished third,' he said.

'I was never really worried about Alonso, as I thought that he was much lighter than I was.'

German BMW driver Nick Heidfeld had to pit for fuel during the safety car phase and was given a 10 seconds stop and go penalty, pushing him from sixth to 16th.

Shortly afterwards Alonso had to retire with what looked like a blown engine, prompting another yellow-flag phase.

German Williams driver Nico Rosberg followed the two-time world champion in the 42nd lap as he also had to pull off the track with an engine problem.

Raikkonen and Massa then enjoyed a comfortable drive at the front, with Hamilton and Kubica not having the pace to challenge them.

On the 54th lap Toyota's Timo Glock drove into the back of the Red Bull of David Coulthard, forcing both cars to go into the pits. Race stewards said they would investigate the incident after the race.

Raikkonen's start to finish victory sees the Finn extend his lead at the top of the drivers' standings to nine points from Hamilton. Raikkonen has 29, Hamilton 20, while Kubica is third on 19, one point ahead of Massa.

The Finn said that he was surprised how close the race was.

'It was much closer than we expected, but possibly if there had not been two safety car phases, it would have been different,' he said.

'I am very glad that Heikki is fine, now I am looking forward to the next race in Turkey, where I think we should also be strong.'

The next race is the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul on May 11.