Raikkonen Takes Spanish Grand Prix

The April 27, 2008 Grand Prix was quite an adrenalineKubica maintained a less-than-three-second following
rush for Formula One fans around the world. Closebehind Hamilton and finished the race in fourth position.
calls, one potentially-serious accident and pressure toRace fans cheered their favourite drivers on, as the
perform dominated the Barcelona race.race for second and third was quite an event in itself.
During the race, Raikkonen followed a well-built'We did our homework and we brought home two
strategy and emerged victorious. Sunday's successFerraris first and second, which is a great position for
was his 17th career win. In a post-race interviewthe championships', said Massa.
Raikkonen said, 'I didn't make the perfect start but didHeikki Kovalainen was unable to complete the race
enough to stay in front.' He went on to say, 'If weafter the 21st lap due to a nasty accident that
wanted, we could have gone a bit faster, but thereembedded his car in the tyre barrier. A breakage in the
was no point in pushing more than we need to.'left front wheel area is believed to have caused the
This steady speed and exceptional use of commonaccident. Kovalainen gave a thumbs up to the crowd
sense likely had a great positive impact on the endafter it took the on-site medical team 10 minutes to
result. Raikkonen's win on Sunday placed him nineremove him from the car. He was taken to the
points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in driver standings.hospital for a medical check-up, but no injuries have
Hamilton had a rocky start in this year's championshipbeen reported.
standings. The Australian Grand Prix, the first FormulaIn response to the accident involving Kovalainen, fellow
One race of the season, was Hamilton's best race todrivers have expressed concern for his well-being.
date. He was able to dominate the track and take theHamilton said, 'It was a bad day for Heikki, but I'm glad
checkered flag with relative ease. The following twohe's OK. Ron [Dennis] came on the radio and told me
races, however, saw very different endings for thehe was OK. I'm sure he'll bounce back and we will
McLaren-Mercedes driver.keep pushing forwards.'
In Malaysia, he finished 5th and then 13th in Bahrain,Early pit stops seem to be a growing strategy among
causing quite a setback in championship standings.Formula One drivers. Alonso made a pit stop much
Hamilton said in a post-race interview, 'After two badearlier than expected, with Felipe Massa making his
races, to be back on the podium is fantastic. It's afirst pit stop only three laps later. Alonso was forced to
great relief.' He also said, 'When we qualified fifth, weretire from the race on lap 34 after serious engine
knew it would be very difficult to match the Ferraris.'problems. 'We had an engine problem; we blew up.
The race for second position was hard-won forUnfortunately, it was not the right place, as it's my
Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton wasn'thome Grand Prix, but I am very happy', said Alonso.
backing down in his quest for another win. In turn,