Kimi Raikkonen wins British Grand Prix
(AP)Updated: 2007-07-09 08:38
SILVERSTONE, England - Kimi Raikkonen won his second straight race and rookie star Lewis Hamilton made his ninth podium in a row.
Raikkonen's win in the British Grand Prix was his third of the season. He won the opener in Australia, then struggled before becoming the only driver to win three times this year.
 McLaren Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, right, who finished third, sprays champagne on his teammate Fernando Alonso of Spain, left, who finished second on the podium of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England, Sunday July 8, 2007. Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen from Finland won the race. [Reuters] |
He's still third in the standings to Hamilton. Racing in his home country, Hamilton came in third, finishing in the top three - just like he has in every Formula One race he's been in.
Hamilton joined Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso as the only drivers with nine straight podium finishes. Schumacher had 19 for Ferrari in 2001-02, and Alonso had 15 for Renault in 2005-06.
On Sunday, Raikkonen finished 2.4 seconds ahead of Alonso, putting him third in the standings behind the two McLaren drivers with eight races remaining. Hamilton has 70 points, Alsonso 58 and Raikkonen 52.
"It is important we gained some points on the other guys," Raikkonen said. "It is still a long season, but right now it is looking good for me."
The Finn turned 59 laps around the 3.2-mile circuit in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 43.074 seconds for his 12th career F1 victory.
After starting from the pole, Hamilton finished 39.373 seconds back from Raikkonen, who came over to Ferrari from McLaren this season to replace the retired Schumacher.
"We seemed to get the car a bit better for me," he said. "It seems to go a bit better for me."
Felipe Massa, fourth in the standings with 51 points, stalled his Ferrari on the grid and had to start from the pits, forcing one lap to be cut from the race.
Robert Kubica of BMW-Sauber was fourth for the second straight race since his horrific accident at the Canadian GP in June. Massa was fifth. Both were nearly a minute behind Raikkonen.
Alonso went in for his second stop after the 37th lap, enabling Raikkonen to take the lead by not pitting until the 43rd. Last week at the French GP, Raikkonen moved ahead of Massa after the second stop.
"I spent two laps overtaking cars, but I don't think the result would have changed," Alonso said. "I am happy with second place," Alonso said. "It's better to win, but today was not possible."
Raikkonen decided against trying to overtake Hamilton in the opening laps because of his refueling strategy.
"I was able to close the gap fairly easily, but I didn't want to take risk," Raikkonen said. "We knew we would run longer. We just saved fuel."
Hamilton wasn't helped at his first pit stop when he started moving, had to stop momentarily, then restarted.
"We just lacked the pace today," Hamilton said. "I have had a wicked season so far. I have no complaints to make. Nine podiums in a row, I don't think anyone has done that."
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