Raikkonen Loses Tire, Then German F1 Race

NUERBURGRING, Germany May 29, 2005; Salvatore Zanca writing for the AP reported that Fernando Alonso recovered from a first-corner bump Sunday and then was handed a gift -- a spectacular tire blowout by Kimi Raikkonen on the last lap in a riveting finish to the European Grand Prix.

It was the fourth victory of the season for Alsonso, the Formula One leader, and fifth of his career in a Renault.

Raikkonen's tire began to bend with two laps left in a race Raikkonen led from the first curve. But as he gunned across the line to start the last lap, the tire flew into the air and bounced on his hood while Raikkonen spun and hit a retaining wall.

"We were very lucky today, but we were very strong also," Alonso said.

Nick Heidfeld, on the pole, was 16.5 seconds behind in a Williams-BMW, his second straight runner-up finish. Rubens Barrichello was in third in a Ferrari, 18.5 seconds back, his first top-three result since the season opener.

Michael Schumacher was fifth, his second-best finish this season. Last year, Schumacher led Ferrari to a 1-2 finish. The seven-time world champion has won the European GP at Nuerburgring four times and once when it was run at Jerez, Spain, in 1994.

Alonso got off to a rough start when Ralf Schumacher's Toyota bumped him in the first turn.

"I thought the car might have been damaged and that I would have to retire," Alonso said. "After a few corners, though, it was clear everything was OK so then it was a case of pushing hard."

He pushed so hard he caused Raikkonen problems that eventually led to suspension failure caused by a flat tire on his McLaren.

"We were pushing so hard that at some point McLaren and Kimi made a mistake with the tire," Alonso said.

While Alonso built his lead in the driver standings, Raikkonen's two-race winning streak ended.

"This is just a sad result," Raikkonen said.

Alonso has 59 points in the standings, followed by Raikkonen and Jarno Trulli with 27 each. The Spaniard finished fourth at Monaco, the only time he was out of the top three in seven races.

"If we keep this consistency every time we will have more and more points," said Alonso, who is bidding to become the youngest driver to win the world title. He turns 24 in July.

Raikkonen overtook Heidfeld at the start and appeared headed for his third straight victory. He had the lead most of the race, losing it only when he pitted twice and yielded to Alonso or Heidfeld.

With 10 laps to go, Raikkonen led Alonso by about five seconds. But Raikkonen's front right tire started to wear down and he started losing time to the Spaniard. With five laps to go, the lead was 4.4 seconds and shrinking. Raikkonen entered the last lap with a 1.5-second lead and the tire went, sending Raikkonen skidding off the track before the first turn.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth. His Renault stalled on the starting grid, causing the race to be reduced to 59 laps and giving him a starting spot in pit lane.

For the first time this season there was no Sunday morning qualifying, a session voted out by the teams and the governing body. The starting grid was determined by a one-lap-only qualifying on Saturday.

The Formula One season now shifts to North America, with the Canadian GP on June 12 and the United States GP a week later.