Raikkonen wins first Turkish Grand Prix
Pakistan Times Sports Desk

ISTANBUL (Turkey): Kimi Raikkonen won the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix from the pole Sunday to increase the pressure on Formula One points leader Fernando Alonso.

The Finn’s fifth victory of the season and seventh of his career left him 24 points behind Alonso in the season standings with five races left, the next Sept. 4 in Monza, Italy.

Raikkonen, who won the previous race three weeks ago in Hungary, was followed by Alonso in a Renault on Formula One’s newest course. Juan Pablo Montoya, Raikkonen’s McLaren-Mercedes, teammate, was third.

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who started 19th on the 20-car grid, went off the track after 16 laps following a minor collision with Mark Webber of Williams-BMW.

The Ferrari star sat out 19 laps while mechanics fixed his damaged steering. He returned for about 15 laps more before retiring again.

“In the end it was not a surprise to us,” Schumacher said. “We did not expect to be really competitive all weekend.”

McLaren was denied a 1-2 finish when Montoya drove wide on a turn on the next to last of 58 laps and Alonso slipped by. Montoya nearly lost a second on the previous lap, spinning after a bump from behind by Jordan driver Tiago Monteiro.

Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth, followed by BAR-Honda’s Jenson Button and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli.

“It could have been a 1-2,” Raikkonen said. “We just need to keep working hard and win more races and see where we wind up.”

Renault leads McLaren 130-121 in the constructors’ championship.

The 3.3-mile Istanbul Park circuit was mostly free of trouble after sand and dirt on the track created slick conditions during qualifying and practice. Off the track, traffic was jammed for several miles leading to the course, which is 25 miles on Istanbul’s Asian side.

Raikkonen finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 34.454. seconds and averaged 136.417 mph. He lost the lead briefly during the first lap, when Renault’s Giancarlo Fishicella surged ahead from his No. 2 spot on the grid. But the Finn passed him on the initial lap and never trailed from that point.

“You better go for it when you have a chance and trust your feelings,” Raikkonen said. “It paid off well. I was quite confident we would have the speed, but you never know.”

Alonso started from third on the grid and was unable to challenge the two McLarens. McLaren has won three of the last four races, with the other win going to Alonso.

“It was a nice surprise at the end,” Alonso said. “But it was a little bit disappointing that we were not fighting with the McLarens.”

Officials were expecting a crowd of 75,000. Among the fans at the race were Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Erdogan apologized for minor problems leading to the race.

“Next year, we will be even more successful,” Erdogan said. “We have some shortfalls which we will improve, and in the coming years ours will be considered the No. 1 event.”●