Kimi Raikkonen claimed a dominant victory for McLaren in the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul on Sunday to turn the heat up on championship leader Fernando Alonso.
The Finn was the class act of the field as he coolly claimed his fifth win of the year, but he could only close the gap in the title race by two points after Alonso passed McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya on the penultimate lap.
Montoya’s late race troubles meant McLaren missed out on their first one-two finish for more than five years, and Alonso’s fortunate second place enabled him to limit the damage to his title campaign.
Raikkonen had to fend off the Renault cars at the start, but then took it easy for the rest of the race and said: ”I was quite confident that we would have the speed, but you never know.
”I didn’t get the best start, I got a bit of wheel spin and was passed by Fisichella, but he ran wide at the exit of turn nine and got it back. You have to go for it if you have the chance and it paid off well.
”We had been quick all weekend and we had a big advantage on speed. The circuit was not bad and I was able to just take it easy, so otherwise it was pretty easy.”
It had been a McLaren master class in Asian Istanbul, bathed in sunshine following unexpected morning rain, and the result still leaves the title race tantalisingly balanced.
But fate turned a hand once again as Alonso snatched a slice of luck when Montoya’s car was damaged when it was hit by back marker Tiago Monteiro’s Jordan at the end.
Alonso said: ”It was a nice surprise at the end. I saw the yellow flags on the straight but you cannot see the corner. It surprised me when I saw Montoya and the Jordan there and that they had spun.
”I thought overtaking was not possible but he had damaged his car, went wide and I overtook him, so it was a nice surprise at the end, but it is a bit disappointing because we were a bit slower than them.”
Raikkonen lies 24 points behind Alonso with five races left to run, but McLaren’s strong showing enabled them to close the gap to leaders Renault in the constructors’ championship to nine points.
And Montoya said: ”I didn’t have to push, I passed Monteiro and under braking he hit me. I was shocked but, you know, I looked in the mirror and everything was there.
”It looked alright, but when I went into turn eight it was not and when I came into the pits at the end I found out that the rear diffuser was completely broken. It was disappointing because it would have been an easy one-two.”
Raikkonen, who started the race from pole position, had to fend off challenges from his Renault rivals at the start, but after finishing the first lap in front he was always in control.
And the mechanical gremlins that have hampered Raikkonen’s title campaign appeared to have been shaken off as he secured his second successive comfortable win.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella came home fourth for Renault, and Briton Jenson Button surprised even himself when he claimed fifth place for BAR-Honda, his fifth successive points finish, having climbed up from 13th place on the grid.
Italian Jarno Trulli had an uneventful race and finished sixth for Toyota, while Scot David Coulthard and Austrian Christian Klien put in a solid performance once again to claim the final points for Red Bull Racing.
The race started badly for Raikkonen when he was bogged down at the start and Fisichella shot past him into the blind first corner with Alonso tucking up right behind the Finn after trying to pass on the outside.
But Raikkonen was quick to get on the attack and made a crucial first-lap move when he pounced on a small mistake from Fisichella and reclaimed the lead at the end of the back straight.
Michael Schumacher, who started from 19th after a spin in qualifying, was lucky to avoid debris from the Sauber of Massa, who careered off the track at turn one and ripped off his car’s front wing.
Alonso was then told by his engineers to overtake teammate Fisichella on lap two and the Italian, who had promised to help in Alonso’s quest for the title, put up no resistance at the end of the back straight.
Alonso stopped for fuel early, at the end of lap 13, and then Schumacher, who had climbed up to 10th place, was pitched into a spin when he tried to overtake Mark Webber and put the Australian a lap down at the end of lap 14.
Both drivers dived straight into the pits where Webber had his car’s nosecone replaced and Schumacher’s car was checked over, but the world champion returned to his garage for repairs one lap later.
Montoya knocked over a mechanic when he pitted at the end of lap 21 after he was released from his pit with the fuel hose in and suffered a minor delay before returning to the track.
Leader Raikkonen pitted on the same lap for his first fuel fill and came out with a 13,2-second lead over Montoya, who was just ahead of third-placed Alonso, having made it past the Renault through the stops.
But Montoya’s hard work was spoiled when he was pitched into a spin at turn 12, three laps from the end, and then went off at turn eight on the next lap to hand Alonso second place and a vital two points in the title race.
Webber, Massa and Michael Schumacher all failed to finish. — Sapa-AFP