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Raikkonen Wins Chaotic, Rain-Swept Brazilian Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen won todas action-packed Brazilian Grand Prix. He was declared the winner after two large accidents saw the race stopped with more than ten laps to go. Itals Giancarlo Fisichella finished second. Third place man, Fernando Alonso was unable to take his place on the podium as he injured his leg in the crash that ended the race. Both Ferrari cars failed to finish, despite running at the head of the field for a large part of the race.

It was a very disappointing result for us where the weather and external circumstances played a large part said Mike Copson of Shell Global SolutionsThe strength of the performance of the Ferraris before they retired continues to show the excellence of Shell products and naturally, we are already looking forward to the start of the European season where hopefully our luck will change

The tropical storm that hit the circuit on Sunday morning brought Formula One to a standstill, as teams, drivers and guests ran for cover. As the rain continued to fall for the next few hours and the condition of the track became more and more treacherous, questions were asked as to whether the race would be able to start on time.

Sure enough the start of the race was delayed to see if the latest downpour would clear and when it did get underway, the first few laps were run with the safety car leading the way.

When racing began, pole sitter Rubens Barrichello soon found himself under attack from the Michelin-shod McLarens, Juan Montoys Williams and Mark Webbes Jaguar. He fell down the order and past Michael Schumacher in fifth place. That was until the track began to dry. With less standing water, the Ferraris began to fly. By lap 13, Michael Schumacher was setting fastest laps with Rubens Barrichello not far behind.

Michael had passed Mark Webbes Jaguar for fourth place when Ralph Firmas Jordan hit a piece of debris at full speed. He spun at the end of the straight, collecting Olivier Pani Toyota along the way. The resultant debris brought out the safety car again. With that, the race leaders dived into the pits for fuel and tyres.

Come the restart and the Ferrari cars were straight back on the pace. Michael Schumacher was chasing the leading McLarens hard and was the fastest man on the track until he spun his F2002 coming out of the Senna S at the beginning of the lap. He spun off the circuit, just missing Antonio Pizzonis Jaguar and Juan Montoys Williams that had crashed there a few laps earlier.

With Michael Schumacher out, Rubens was driving the sole Ferrari. With the chants of his supporters all around the circuit, he began to drive magnificently. He worked his way up to second, passing Kimi Raikkonen along the way and set his sights on David Coulthars McLaren for the lead.

After several laps in hot pursuit of the silver car, Barrichello chased Coulthard into Turn One where the McLaren ran wide. Rubens pounced to take the lead of the race. He quickly disappeared into the distance, pulling out over 2 seconds a lap on Coulthard. His, and the joy of the thousands of fans around the track was short lived however as he pulled over onto the side of the track and retired from the race with a technical problem.

In the tricky conditions, fans were treated to sublime driving from the remaining drivers who chopped and changed positions for the next two laps. One driver who had been having a great race was Mark Webber who was running as high as fourth until his Jaguar began to run wide at the final corner of the track. He slammed into the wall, destroying his car and scattering debris all over the track in the process. Webber was uninjured and the safety car was deployed for the fifth time this afternoon to allow the marshals a chance to clear up the mess. Worse was to come however as Fernando Alonso rounded the same corner in his Renault and hit one of the Jaguas tyres that was laying in the middle of the track. The impact pitched his car around into the wall at speed, injuring Alonso in the process. He left his car unaided but had visibly hurt his left leg and was airlifted to hospital.

Meanwhile confusion reigned back in the paddock. As the race had been stopped with so few laps to go, the results stood. The question was who had won. Giancarlo Fisichella passed Raikkonen for the lead on the lap in which Webber crashed. While the Jordan team celebrated a win, race stewards consulted the regulations that state that if a race is stopped due to incident, the winner is the driver who leads the race two laps before that incident - Raikkonen in this case.

So Kimi wins his second ever race and second race in succession. Fisichella was a grateful but disconsolate second with Fernando Alonso third. Coulthard was fourth, Frentzen drove a quiet race to bring the Sauber home fifth ahead of Villenuevs B.A.R., Ralf Schumaches Williams and Trulls Renault.

Formula One has had the breath knocked out of it by this race. The first time neither Ferrari has finished a race in living memory and a vivid reminder of how fast and dangerous this sport can be. The teams travel to back to Europe in two weeks to Imola where everyone hopes that Fernando Alonso will be back in action once again.