Kimi Raikkonen may have strengthened his world championship credentials by triumphing in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, but the real joy of the race was that of countryman
Heikki Kovalainen, who emerged heavily shaken but thankfully otherwise seemingly unscathed from a terrifyingly high-speed accident when his McLaren-Mercedes broke just after he had taken the lead of the race.
Raikkonen's practically unchallenged victory in a race of attrition has further extended his drivers' world championship lead – albeit now over
Lewis Hamilton rather than
Nick Heidfeld, who endured a nightmare weekend – with
Ferrari team-mate
Felipe Massa shadowing the Finn race-long, but never truly threatening the defending title-winner's superiority.
Hamilton did what he had vowed to do by hauling his
McLaren up onto the podium, with
Robert Kubica finishing where he had started closely behind in fourth. The points' finishers were completed by
Mark Webber,
Jenson Button a superb sixth,
Kazuki Nakajima and
Jarno Trulli. The unfortunate Italian found himself mistakenly called into the pits for a phantom stop towards the end of the race in the wake of team-mate
Timo Glock's coming-together with
David Coulthard, costing him a couple of places.
There was heartbreak, however, for fans' favourite
Fernando Alonso, who after stunning the paddock with an inspired charge to the front row of the grid in qualifying, ran towards the front of the pack in the race too and was lying in fifth place when his engine cruelly went bang midway through.
Full report and result to follow...
