BARCELONA, Spain — Kimi Raikkonen led all but five laps on his way to winning the Spanish Grand Prix, scoring his second win of the season and the third-consecutive victory for Ferrari. Felipe Massa took second place to give Ferrari its second-consecutive one-two of the season.
Every team arrived in Barcelona with an upgraded package, and the results of the race show that Ferrari is still ahead. But the Prancing Horse’s advantage is slim.
After 190 miles of racing, Lewis Hamilton finished third in his McLaren Mercedes, just 4.187 seconds behind the winner. And Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber crossed the line in fourth place just 5.694 seconds behind Raikkonen.
Because the teams test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya incessantly and had done so again the week before the race, the Spanish Grand Prix is not always the most thrilling of races. Everybody has their cars perfectly tuned into the track, so there are rarely any surprises.
But this year’s race will be remembered for Heikki Kovalainen’s frightening accident in which his McLaren speared into a tire-lined barrier at more than 125 miles per hour.

DEEP IMPACT: Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren is buried deep into the tire barrier during Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. (Steve Etherington Photo)

REMOVED: Safety workers remove Heikki Kovalainen from his McLaren after a wheel failure sent the car into a turn-nine tire barrier at more than 125 miles per hour. (Steve Etherington Photo)

Kovalainen was braking from 160 mph for turn nine when the left-front tire suddenly deflated.
“It was a wheel failure,” McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh said. “There was some debris inside the rim, but we have to analyze that. We don’t think it was a structural failure.”
The car buried itself deep into the stacks of tires of the barrier and hit the inner steel guardrail with such force that about 20 inches of the front of the chassis broke off.
“The duration of the event was around 100 milli-seconds,” Whitmarsh said. “Normally an accident lasts 20 to 30 milli-seconds. He had 26 Gs. He did bang his head, but the great news is that after a full head scan there is no sign of bruising. He was in good humor and lucid.”
Starting from the pole, Raikkonen took the lead and he was still in front 66 laps later.
Fernando Alonso had thrilled the Spanish fans by qualifying his Renault second and missing the pole by .091 of a second. He was on a light fuel load, obviously, but he was also on the dirty side of the track.
Massa, starting third, slipped ahead to grab second place just after the start.
Hamilton, meanwhile, dodged by Kubica to snatch fourth place while Kovalainen maintained sixth.
Raikkonen controlled the race from the front ahead of Massa, Alonso, Hamilton and Kubica. Everybody chased after him, but no one got near enough to challenge him. With the exception of pit stops and Alonso’s retirement, the order remained unchanged to the finish.
As expected, Alonso pitted early, coming in after 15 laps and five laps before Raikkonen. Still, it is obvious that Renault has made a significant step with its car. Much to the disappointment of the Spanish fans, however, Alonso’s engine went up in flames on lap 35.