FORMULA ONE
2008 Spanish Grand Prix
Kimi Raikkonen captured another win but the big story from Saturday’s qualifying was the return to the sharp end of Fernando Alonso and Renault.
Raikkonen clinched pole from Alonso with a time of 1minute 21. 813 seconds just a tenth quicker.
However as the cars launched off the grid Raikkonen held the lead but behind him his team-mate Felipe Massa got past, home favourite Alonso. Lewis Hamilton managed to get past Robert Kubica before the first corner as well.
The safety car came out after a coming together between Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel and these cars were the first retirees of the event. After that the safety car returned to the pit lane, until it was called out again after Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren speared off the track and straight across the gravel trap before stopping submerged in the tyre wall.
Kovalainen was conscious and signalled a thumbs up to the crowd after some worrying moments due to the fact that the car had slid under the tyre barrier. Just 13 laps after Kovalainen’s retirement it was local star Fernando Alonso’s turn to retire with an engine failure.
Alonso and Renault had served notice of their return to the front of the grid and only Felipe Massa managed to get past the Renault and despite the engine failure the Renault team seemed pleased to have made vast improvements and will look to move forward again in the next grand prix in Turkey.
While all this was happening behind him, Raikkonen continued his serene march towards another victory in 2008 and has now extended the gap to his nearest challenger Lewis Hamilton, to nine points who came in third behind Felipe Massa as the Ferrari team secured a second consecutive one two in as many races.
The other drivers who secured points and therefore completed the top eight were Robert Kubica who was fourth, fifth was taken by Mark Webber, sixth by Jenson Button, seventh was Kazuki Nakajima who was followed by Jarno Trulli in eighth.
| 1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) | Ferrari | 1h 38m 19.051 s |
| 2 Felipe Massa (Brz | Ferrari | +3.228s |
| 3 Lewis Hamilton (GB | McLaren | +4.187s |
| 4 Robert Kubica (Pol | BMW-Sauber | +5.694s |
| 5 Mark Webber (Aus | Red Bull | +35.938s |
| 6 Jenson Button (GB | Honda | +53.010s |
| 7 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn | Williams | +58.244s |
| 8 Jarno Trulli (Ita) | Toyota | +59.435s |
| 9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) | BMW-Sauber | +1:03.073s |
| 10 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) | Force India | + 1 lap |
| 11 Timo Glock (Ger | Toyota | + 1 lap |
| 12 David Coulthard (GB) | Red Bull | + 1 lap |
| 13 Takuma Sato (Jpn) | Super Aguri | + 1 lap |
| R Nico Rosberg (Ger) | Williams | 41 laps |
| R Fernando Alonso (Spa) | Renault | 34 laps |
| R Rubens Barrichello (Brz) | Honda | 34 laps |
| R Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) | McLaren | 21 laps |
| R Anthony Davidson (GB) | Super Aguri | 8 laps |
| R Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) | Toro Rosso | 7 laps |
| R Nelson Piquet Jnr (Brz) | Renault | 6 laps |
| R Adrian Sutil (Ger) | Force India | 0 laps |
| R Sebastian Vettel (Ger) | Toro Rosso | 0 laps |
All results subject to FIA confirmation.
Ciarán McBride