Kimi Raikonnen was denied victory on the final lap of the European Grand Prix as his crippled car spun off the track, allowing Fernando Alonso to snatch the win.
Kimi Raikonnen was denied victory on the final lap of the European Grand Prix as his crippled car spun off the track, allowing Fernando Alonso to snatch the win.
Raikonnen had been leading for most of the race and was set to record his third win in a row when his front suspension failed, sending him spinning out of the lead.
Nick Heidfeld, who had started the race from pole position, finished second and Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello finished the race in third position. David Coulthard finished fourth for Red Bull Racing and Michael Schumacher finished fifth after starting the race in tenth position on the grid.
Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella drove impressively to finish sixth after starting from the pit lane when his car stalled on the grid. Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) and Jarno Trulli (Toyota) finished in seventh and eighth positions respectively, to collect the final available points.
The Williams’ of Heidfeld and team-mate Mark Webber made good dashes off the start line, but Raikkonen squeezed into first place while Heidfeld held on to second. Webber braked late into the first corner and the charging Montoya collided with him, sending the McLaren spinning and Webber out of the race.
Coulthard benefited most from the collision and ended the first lap in fourth place. He moved into third when Jarno Trulli was given a drive-through penalty after his mechanics had failed to clear the grid in time for the first start.
Alonso spent most of the first part of the race behind Coulthard and only passed him by making a late first stop. Coulthard lost another place to Barrichello when he was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits.
Both the BAR-Hondas of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato were uncompetitive on the team’s returned to racing after a two-race ban.
Meanwhile, Heidfeld and Raikkonen continued to match each other’s lap times and soon broke away from the rest of the field.
The final ten laps provided nail-biting action after Raikkonen’s front-right tyre developed a flat spot and the Finn had to struggle to control his car. Alonso charged round the Nurburgring circuit and closed the gap between the lead car to 1,5 seconds when the McLaren’s suspension failed (as a result of the excessive vibrations caused by the flat-spotted tyre) at the start of the final lap .
Raikkonen, who had been confident of a win, was denied the honour just one lap from victory, and a clearly ecstatic Alonso went on to take his fourth win of the season.
Race results:
1.Fernando Alonso (Renault)
2.Nick Heidfeld (Williams-BMW)
3.Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)
4.David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing)
5.Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
6.Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault)
7.Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes)
8.Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
9.Vitantonio Liuzzi (Red Bull Racing)
10.Jenson Button (BAR-Honda)
11.Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes)
12.Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda)
13.Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas)
14.Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
15.Tiago Monteiro (Jordan-Toyota)
16.Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan-Toyota)
17.Christijan Albers (Minardi-Cosworth)
18.Patrick Friesacher (Minardi-Cosworth)
Ret.Ralf Schumacher (Toyota)
Ret.Mark Webber (Williams-BMW)
