UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Race: Kimi claims win

Finn takes third victory

Kimi Raikkonen will feel justice is done after he emerged from the carnage to claim victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The McLaren ace retired from a sure-win at the European Grand Prix two weeks ago due to a last-lap suspension failure, but this time around it was his rivals who were in the wars.

Renault had originally looked headed for the win with Giancarlo Fisichella leading Fernando Alonso in a gallant charge off the line.

However, midway through the afternoon in Montreal it all went wrong for the French squad with a hydraulic failure causing the retirement of Fisichella then Alonso clipping a barrier and damaging his rear suspension.

Raikkonen though still had work to do. It was his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya leading the race and, at that stage, building a solid lead.

But there was to be another twist in the Canadian tale as Jenson Button ran wide in the final chicane, hit the opposing barrier and left the race stewards with no choice but to deploy the safety car.

The pit lane was to become a flurry of activity and it was Raikkonen who got in first.

His team-mate was stuck on the circuit and, after stopping the next time around, handed the lead to his Finnish offsider.

Montoya rejoined in second but was soon to become the fourth big-name causality when he was controversially black flagged for exiting the pit lane through a red light.

With just 12 laps to run Raikkonen was the undisputed leader and, despite a last minute challenge from a resurgent Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), cruised home to his third victory of the season.

At the conclusion of the event Kimi stood alone on the podium’s top step, taking in the moment. He looked over the crowd, swigged his champagne and savoured the sweetness as his championship challenge took on a renewed vigour.

The 10 points scored had put a major dent in Alonso’s title lead and with the in-form Finn now just 22 behind, the fight is certainly back on.

Schumacher also appeared pleased with his podium finish, but the same dreams of the ultimate success have all but slipped away for the seven-time champion.

Second position flattered the pace of his Ferrari, which never threatened the lead runners. It was reliability and precision driving that secured another eight points for the German.

In third place was his Brazilian team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, who impressively recovered from a pit-lane start to follow home the leaders.

His race was largely anonymous as he laid in wait with a heavy fuel load and, as others stopped, gradually moved up the order.

Sauber’s Felipe Massa finished a valuable fourth, ahead of Williams’ Mark Webber, who Massa passed in the final stages.

Webber’s race, despite the strong result, was largely disappointing with a number of mistakes costing vital positions and possibly even a podium.

Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher was sixth. Red Bull Racing’s latest pairing of David Coulthard and Christian Klien rounded out the points in seventh and eighth.

Sauber’s Jacques Villeneuve had started his home event from eighth but his afternoon quickly went wrong after an early shunt saw him stop for a new nose and he never returned to the fight in ninth.

Jordan’s Tiago Monteiro and Minardi’s Christian Klien were the only other finishers.

RACE SHORTS

* Double retirement. Takuma Sato managed to retire twice from the Canadian Grand Prix.

On the first occasion a gearbox problem saw him pull into the garage, only for his BAR team to fit a new unit and send him back out 24 laps later.

However, Sato’s second foray wasn’t too last long as, what appeared to be, a transmission failure soon saw him drop out for a final time at the hairpin.

* Missed opportunity. Jarno Trulli was cursing his luck after a brake failure at the final chicane saw him retire from the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Toyota ace was just five laps from another podium finish.

* Other retirements. Nick Heidfeld (Williams), Patrick Friesacher (Minardi), and Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan) were the other retirements in Cananda.

An expired BMW was the reason for Heidfeld’s departure, Karthikeyan due to broken suspension and Friesacher’s problem is currently unknown.

* Indy worries. A double retirement in Montreal has Renault worried ahead of next week’s United States Grand Prix.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso will be the second and third cars on the circuit for qualifying at Indy due to the current reverse-race-order positioning.

Such early slots are said to cost up to two seconds off the final qualifying time.

Written: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 18:49:55