Raikkonen leads dominant Ferrari 1-2 in Spa
Flying Finn now just 13 pts behind Hamilton
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen triumphed at the Spa grand prix this afternoon after a lonely race at the front. He was never challenged by second-placed team mate Felipe Massa or the McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who kept their grid positions in third and fourth.
The result means Alonso is now two points behind Hamilton at the head of the drivers’ championship and Raikkonen, in third, has boosted his championship hopes by narrowed the gap to Hamilton by five points.to 13 with three races to go and 30 points to fight for.
All the grid made a clean get away at the start with Raikkonen untroubled by Massa, but the McLaren drivers battled wheel to wheel for position, drawing gasps in the McLaren garage. Alonso just managing to stay ahead of Hamilton, who was forced to run wide at the first corner but still kept fourth place.
Renault’s Kovalainen moved to sixth from ninth and Heidfeld lost two places to eighth. Trulli, who was in eighth, fell back to 12th.
Syker’s Adrian Sutil, one of only two drivers on soft tyres at the start, moved from the back to 15th. Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella started from the pits after an engine change overnight, but his race only lasted a lap and a returned to the garage.
Mark Webber (Red Bull) passed the similarly powered Kovalainen on lap six, an indication that the Finn was on a one stop strategy. (That was later shown to be the case).
Kovalainen was also passed by Heidfeld (BMW). BMW team mate Kubica was also busy, climbing from 14th to 10th by lap 4. Soon he passed Ralf Schumacher to ninth and started an exciting battle with Kovalainen for eighth but the Finn defended well for a number of laps before, finally, the Pole get the better of him at the inside of the Bus Stop curve.
At the front Ferrari appeared comfortable, at times gaining a second per lap on the McLarens with Raikkonen also easing away from Massa.
Sebastain Vettel (Toro Rosso) drove into the garage on lap 10.
By this time Alonso (third) was just over seven seconds behind leader Raikkonen. Rosberg (Williams) in fifth was already 32 seconds behind the lead Ferrari.
Raikkonen and Alonso went into the pits together on lap 15 and appeared to take the same amount of fuel. They also stayed on the hard tyres. Yet Raikkonen was almost a second faster than the Spaniard as they returned to the track. The McLarens were simply a shadow of their showing in Monza. Or were they worried that their engines would not last? Finishing was the most important for the McLarens at this stage of the championship.
Massa and Hamilton also followed into the pits together a lap later and the race order was unchanged except for Heidfeld who found himself between the Ferraris and the McLarens, but had not refuelled yet.He did so a few laps later and settled in seventh.
The order behind the top four now was Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Schumacher, Rosberg, Webber and Coulthard (Red Bull) in tenth under pressure from Kubica.
By lap 24 in the 44 lap race Raikkonen was five seconds ahead of Massa and 17.3 seconds ahead of third placed Alonso and the gap was widening. Hamilton was 21 seconds behind the leader.
At the back Takuma Sato in the Honda powered Super Aguri was pressuring Jenson Button in the Honda for P14. He eventually managed to find a way past. Not a good sign for Honda.
Raikkonen was the first of the leaders to make his second pit stop, briefly handing the lead to Massa on lap 32. David Coulthard retired with technical problems in his Red Bull.
Massa went in on lap 33 and Alonso on lap 34. Raikkonen was back in the lead. Hamilton stayed out longer and put in some fast laps in an effort to narrow the gap to Alonso before his stop. Hamilton came in on lap 38 but Alonso managed to stay comfortably ahead in third.
Alexander Wurz (Williams)retired on lap 37. Button also bowed out with technical problems.
Near the end of the race Kubica, one of the busiest drivers in this race, pressured Kovalainen for eighth and a point. The BMW was clearly faster but Kovalainen defended well.
Massa closed up to Raikkonen in the final laps of the race but Raikkonen finished some four seconds in front with Alonso some 18 seconds from the lead. Hamilton had a moment with a lap to go, running wide and into a run-off area, but managed to return.
The final points finishers were Raikkonen, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Webber and Kovalainen.
Massa set the fastest lap,1:48.036 on lap 34.
This race means Ferrari have won the Constructors' championship after the elimination of McLaren by the FIA on Thursday.
Spa was the final race in Europe. The teams now head for a test in Jerez, Spain before heading for the next race in Japan.
The result means Alonso is now two points behind Hamilton at the head of the drivers’ championship and Raikkonen, in third, has boosted his championship hopes by narrowed the gap to Hamilton by five points.to 13 with three races to go and 30 points to fight for.
All the grid made a clean get away at the start with Raikkonen untroubled by Massa, but the McLaren drivers battled wheel to wheel for position, drawing gasps in the McLaren garage. Alonso just managing to stay ahead of Hamilton, who was forced to run wide at the first corner but still kept fourth place.
Renault’s Kovalainen moved to sixth from ninth and Heidfeld lost two places to eighth. Trulli, who was in eighth, fell back to 12th.
Syker’s Adrian Sutil, one of only two drivers on soft tyres at the start, moved from the back to 15th. Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella started from the pits after an engine change overnight, but his race only lasted a lap and a returned to the garage.
Mark Webber (Red Bull) passed the similarly powered Kovalainen on lap six, an indication that the Finn was on a one stop strategy. (That was later shown to be the case).
Kovalainen was also passed by Heidfeld (BMW). BMW team mate Kubica was also busy, climbing from 14th to 10th by lap 4. Soon he passed Ralf Schumacher to ninth and started an exciting battle with Kovalainen for eighth but the Finn defended well for a number of laps before, finally, the Pole get the better of him at the inside of the Bus Stop curve.
At the front Ferrari appeared comfortable, at times gaining a second per lap on the McLarens with Raikkonen also easing away from Massa.
Sebastain Vettel (Toro Rosso) drove into the garage on lap 10.
By this time Alonso (third) was just over seven seconds behind leader Raikkonen. Rosberg (Williams) in fifth was already 32 seconds behind the lead Ferrari.
Raikkonen and Alonso went into the pits together on lap 15 and appeared to take the same amount of fuel. They also stayed on the hard tyres. Yet Raikkonen was almost a second faster than the Spaniard as they returned to the track. The McLarens were simply a shadow of their showing in Monza. Or were they worried that their engines would not last? Finishing was the most important for the McLarens at this stage of the championship.
Massa and Hamilton also followed into the pits together a lap later and the race order was unchanged except for Heidfeld who found himself between the Ferraris and the McLarens, but had not refuelled yet.He did so a few laps later and settled in seventh.
The order behind the top four now was Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Schumacher, Rosberg, Webber and Coulthard (Red Bull) in tenth under pressure from Kubica.
By lap 24 in the 44 lap race Raikkonen was five seconds ahead of Massa and 17.3 seconds ahead of third placed Alonso and the gap was widening. Hamilton was 21 seconds behind the leader.
At the back Takuma Sato in the Honda powered Super Aguri was pressuring Jenson Button in the Honda for P14. He eventually managed to find a way past. Not a good sign for Honda.
Raikkonen was the first of the leaders to make his second pit stop, briefly handing the lead to Massa on lap 32. David Coulthard retired with technical problems in his Red Bull.
Massa went in on lap 33 and Alonso on lap 34. Raikkonen was back in the lead. Hamilton stayed out longer and put in some fast laps in an effort to narrow the gap to Alonso before his stop. Hamilton came in on lap 38 but Alonso managed to stay comfortably ahead in third.
Alexander Wurz (Williams)retired on lap 37. Button also bowed out with technical problems.
Near the end of the race Kubica, one of the busiest drivers in this race, pressured Kovalainen for eighth and a point. The BMW was clearly faster but Kovalainen defended well.
Massa closed up to Raikkonen in the final laps of the race but Raikkonen finished some four seconds in front with Alonso some 18 seconds from the lead. Hamilton had a moment with a lap to go, running wide and into a run-off area, but managed to return.
The final points finishers were Raikkonen, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Webber and Kovalainen.
Massa set the fastest lap,1:48.036 on lap 34.
This race means Ferrari have won the Constructors' championship after the elimination of McLaren by the FIA on Thursday.
Spa was the final race in Europe. The teams now head for a test in Jerez, Spain before heading for the next race in Japan.