Raikkonen wins Japanese Grand Prix

SUZUKA—McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen charged from 17th place on the starting grid to seize victory on the last lap of a thrilling Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. Yet, on another bittersweet afternoon for his team, the Finn’s heroics failed to prevent rivals Renault from recapturing the lead in the Formula One constructors’ championship with one race remaining.
Renault took second and third place with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and newly-crowned champion Fernando Alonso respectively to move two points clear of McLaren after starting the day two points behind. Alonso has 123 points to Raikkonen’s 104 but the Finn now has seven victories to the Spaniard’s six. Renault have 176 to McLaren’s 174.
Australian Mark Webber was fourth in a Williams, ahead of Briton Jenson Button for BAR and compatriot David Coulthard in a Red Bull. Ferrari’s seven-times champion Michael Schumacher was seventh with brother Ralf, who started on pole for Toyota, taking the final point.
McLaren’s sixth win in a row followed a nail-biting finale with ‘The Iceman’ emerging from his final pitstop to hunt down Fisichella’s Renault and power past on the last lap. “It was a much more difficult win than any of my others, but it’s nicer when you really have to fight for it,” said Raikkonen of a victory that ended Ferrari’s run of five in a row at Suzuka. “It was one of the best for sure”.
The afternoon, with bright sunshine, turned into a show of strength from a team fighting a rearguard action after heavy rain in Saturday qualifying wrecked their hopes of starting from the front. They suffered a further blow after one lap when Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, the winner in Brazil, piled into the tyre barrier.
The incident, which stewards placed under investigation with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve also seemingly involved, brought out the safety car for seven laps as marshals cleared Montoya’s wrecked car from the edge of the track. In an action-packed race, BAR’s Japanese driver Takuma Sato also prompted a stewards’ investigation after colliding with the Toyota of Italian Jarno Trulli while Alonso twice had to overtake Schumacher’s Ferrari.
Raikkonen stayed out of trouble, but only just. The Finn said he and Montoya touched rear tyres at the first corner as the Colombian muscled through.—Agencies