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Raikkonen leads Ferrari domination in Spain

Massa and Hamilton finish on the podium as Alonso retires

— PHOTO: AP

BUBBLY BATH: Kimi Raikkonen is generous with the champagne while celebrating the win at the Circuit de Catalunya.

BARCELONA: Kimi Raikkonen won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, leading Ferrari to a third straight win in the Formula One championship this season. Raikkonen, the defending world champion, captured his 17th race win after starting from the pole position.

Teammate Felipe Massa came second. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was third. Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber was fourth and Mark Webber of Red Bull rounded out the top five.

“We didn’t have the perfect start, but it was good enough to stay in front,” Raikkonen said.

Raikkonen leads the overall standings with 29 points, nine more than Hamilton. Massa is next with 19.

Jenson Button of Honda was sixth, followed by Kazuki Nakajima of Williams and Jarno Trulli of Toyota in the final positions to earn points.

Pole counts

The 28-year-old Finn had topped both of Friday’s practice sessions before taking his 15th career pole. That makes it eight straight winners here to have won from the pole.

Heikki Kovalainen was taken to hospital after a high-speed crash.

The Finn was in stable condition. McLaren said that a loss of pressure caused Kovalainen’s front left tire to explode and send him skidding into the wall at turn No. 9. Stewards needed almost 10 minutes to pry his mangled car out. The Finn was sent to a Barcelona hospital by helicopter after being evacuated from the track wearing a neck brace, but he gave a thumbs-up sign to spectators.

In all, nine drivers retired due to mechanical problems or accidents.

Hamilton, who finished more than four seconds back from Raikkonen, returned to the podium for the first time since winning the Australian GP.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Renault, who started second, retired with engine problems after 34 laps.

“The motor broke, I think,” said Alonso.

“It’s tough because we’re here in Spain. But I think in the next race we can do a better performance.”

Alonso almost didn’t make the start after running off the track while working his tires on the formation lap.

Massa moved past Alonso on the straightaway leading into the first corner to leave Ferrari in control. Hamilton passed Kubica into fourth place to trail Alonso after being pushed up the inside.

All cars were immediately behind the safety car after Adrian Sutil of Force India and Sebastian Vettel of Toro Rosso collided.

The field was bunched after Kovalainen’s accident with BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, who started ninth, moving up to fifth.

But the German, who was second in the championship coming in, was forced to do a stop-and-go penalty after pitting to refuel with the safety car out.

Heidfeld was last in 14th place when he re-emerged, before eventually placing back where he started.

The results: 1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1 hour 38 minutes 19.051 seconds; 2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, +00:03.228; 3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, +00:04.187; 4. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, +00:05.694; 5. Mark Webber, RedBull- Renault, +00:35.938; 6. Jenson Button, Honda, +00:53.010; 7. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota, +00:58.244; 8. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, +00:59.435; 9. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, +01:03.073; 10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India- Ferrari, +1 lap. — AP

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