Räikkönen's gamble for European GP victory ends in bitter disappointment

Last-lap crash sees Alonso increase lead in F1 Drivers' Championship

print this

With just one lap left to go, Kimi Räikkönen held a slender lead in Sunday's European GP at Nürburgring in Germany, but then things went terribly pear-shaped.
      In fact "square-shaped" might be a better term for it, since that was the condition of the Finnish driver's front offside tyre for much of the latter part of the race. On the first bend of the last lap, the tyre and the front suspension on his McLaren-Mercedes finally collapsed, spinning him dangerously off the track and into the crash barriers.
      It was a colossal disappointment at the end of a weekend in which nearly everything had gone right. Räikkönen was second-fastest in qualifying and had taken the lead from the start, losing it only briefly during regular stops for fuel.
     
Problems with the car emerged, however, on Lap 34, when Räikkönen was forced to brake hard while lapping Jacques Villeneuve, and he damaged his front tyre.
      The resulting vibration eventually led to the total collapse of the front right suspension unit. Things could have been appreciably worse for the driver: new F1 regulations require that even in such circumstances the actual wheel must remain attached to the car, or it is possible the wheel could have flown with devastating force into the driver's cockpit or off the track and into the crowd.
      Nevertheless, the disappointment in the McLaren-Mercedes camp was immense. Räikkönen's fate allowed Fernando Alonso (Renault) to grab his fourth GP win of the season and extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to a commanding 32 points.
     
The McLaren team had gambled that the car would hold up for the final few kilometres and that the Finn would be able to hold off the charge from Alonso to reach the chequered flag first.
      Räikkönen himself was surprisingly unruffled by the accident, but commented that in the final moments the vibration had been so violent that he had barely been able to see where he was going.
      Nick Heidfeld, who had taken pole position on Saturday, brought his Williams-BMW home in 2nd, and the last place on the podium was taken by Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello. The only points for McLaren-Mercedes came from Juan Pablo Montoya's 7th place finish.
     
The Formula One circus now heads across the Atlantic, with the Canadian GP in Montreal as the next event on the calendar, on June 12th.
      Despite a fruitless weekend, Kimi Räikkönen remains in 2nd place in the drivers' table, level on 27 points with Jarno Trulli (Toyota). McLaren-Mercedes are also in 2nd place in the manufacturers' standings, with 53 points to the 76 of Renault.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Räikkönen makes it two in a row in Monaco (23.5.2005)

Links:
  Formula One

Helsingin Sanomat