Kovalainen smash mars Ferrari one-two in Spain
KIMI RAIKKONEN cruised to
victory in a Spanish Grand Prix
that was marred by an horrendous
accident involving Heikki
Kovalainen.
The Finn miraculously suffered
nothing more than concussion
after ploughing into a tyre
wall nose first at 150mph at the
Circuit de Catalunya in
Barcelona.
The McLaren driver was eventually
airlifted to a nearby hospital
with his neck in a brace to undergo
a series of precautionary
checks.
Raikkonen, meanwhile, led
from pole to flag, the eighth successive
occasion that has occurred
at this track to strengthen
his lead at the top of the
drivers' standings.
The main concern, though,
surrounded Kovalainen who was
heading the race on lap 21, although
he had yet to pit compared
to the leading trio at that
stage.
Suddenly, Kovalainen flew off
the track at turn nine before
burying the front half of
his car in a tyre wall.
On-board camera
footage showed what
appeared to be a part
of the car breaking
off, which instantly
led to the front-left
tyre deflating, and
with Kovalainen
unable to turn
out of the smash.
Not only was
the safety car immediately
deployed,
but also
the medical car
such was the
severity of the
impact.
When Kovalainen's
car
was eventually
hauled out of the
tyres by a tractor,
there was
nothing left of
the front of the
McLaren.
Kovalainen at
least gave a
thumbs-up sign as
he was taken away
on a stretcher to the
track medical centre
before being moved to the hospital.
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren
F1 CEO, remarked: He banged
his head and has concussion, so
as a precaution will undergo
tests.
There are no other visible
signs of injury, although he says
he is aware he has hurt his
elbow.''
When asked as to what caused
the accident, Whitmarsh added:
There was a sudden deflation of
his tyre.
Part of the rim was machined
off, potentially by some debris or
by something that got lodged inside
the wheel.
Until we get the data back
then we don't really know at this
stage.''
Either side of Kovalainen's accident,
it was a race of attrition
such was the casualty rate as a
spinning Adrian Sutil took the
Toro Rosso of Sebastian
Vettel out of the race on lap
one.
That led to the first introduction
of the safety
car as marshals cleared
debris off the circuit.
The second Toro
Rosso of Sebastien
Bourdais was bundled
off the track on lap six
by the Renault of Nelson
Piquet who had tried to
dive down the inside at
turn ten.
Piquet, who had
dropped towards the
rear of the field due to an
earlier spin, retired immediately,
and although
Bourdais made it back to
the pits, his race was also
run.
Anthony Davidson
then retired after a stone
punctured the radiator
of his Super Aguri,
which was a sad way to
exit in what may be his
last race if the cashstrapped
team are unable
to saved from their
financial crisis over the next few
days.
Rubens Barrichello suffered a
collision with the Force India of
Giancarlo Fisichella as they exited
the pit lane, dislodging the
Honda's nose cone.
For an entire lap, and with the
safety car on track in the wake of
Kovalainen's smash, Barrichello
was forced to trundle back to the
pits again with the nose lodged
under his front-right suspension.
Although the veteran Brazilian
was given another new nose,
it was clear his car had also suffered
further damage as he too retired
soon after.
The biggest disappointment
for the majority of the 120,00
crowd was the sight of Fernando
Alonso's Renault engine blowing
on lap 35.
Alonso had started second on
the grid, but off the line was unable
to defend his position as
Massa passed him.
Although he was also predictably
running light on fuel, he
was on course for a decent points
finish as he was running in fifth
when he pulled off the track, as
did Nico Rosberg in his Williams
that also sustained a blown engine.
At the head of affairs it at least
proved a close run thing, but on
a track where it is notoriously difficult
to overtake there was never
a chance for the top order to be
reversed in any way.
Raikkonen now has a ninepoint
lead over Hamilton, with
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica a
further point back in third after
he came home fourth.
Red Bull's Mark Webber was
fifth, with Jenson Button picking
up Honda's first points of the season
in sixth.
A happy Raikkonen said: I
didn't make the perfect start, but
I did enough to stay in front.
After that it was closer than
we expected, although we had
two safety cars and without those
it might have been different."
9:17am Monday 28th April 2008
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