Kimi Raikkonen won his first race of the year today at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Local hero and Championship-leader Alonso was second ahead of Trulli in the Toyota. The Ferrari team had an unlucky race with Schumacher retiring after problems with his tyres and Rubens Barrichello paying the price for having to change an engine on Saturday afternoon by having to start from the back of the grid. Â

‘Looking positively at a day like today is no easy task,’ said Mike Copson of Shell Global Solutions. ‘We have been very unlucky this weekend - there is no doubt about it. To have tyre problems like that and to lose an engine in a weekend is hard luck but we have to move on and prepare for Monaco. We have several new developments that are nearly ready to race and we are looking forward to seeing them in action on the track soon.’ Â

Raikkonen grabbed pole in the qualifying session this morning, ahead of Webber and Alonso whilst the Ferrari cars were further back with Schumacher starting eighth and Rubens electing not to run and start from the back - his engine having been changed yesterday afternoon. Â

Come the start, the McLaren capitalised on its pole to lead the field into the first corner. Alonso jumped Webber, as did Ralf Schumacher. Meanwhile, both Minardi cars had problems of their own as they stalled on the grid, prompting the safety car to come out as they were removed. Montoya dived ahead of Michael Schumacher at the restart two laps later, but the lead remained unchanged.

By lap six, Barrichello was up to 14th position having started at the back in 18th (the BAR’s having being excluded from the race on Friday morning) whilst Michael Schumacher was being harried by Coulthard’s Red Bull Racing car for 8th. If the Ferraris were struggling to make their impression on the race, all was not going well for the local hero either. With Raikkonen out ahead, Alonso started to slow in second and Ralf Schumacher drastically closed the gap, with team mate Trulli following shortly afterwards. Try as they may, they couldn’t pass the Renault that was struggling and so began a dash for the pits. Raikkonen, Ralf and Trulli all pitted within a lap, leaving Alonso out to pit a lap later and rejoin the race in second place. Â

Meanwhile the Ferrari cars were still running. Heavily fuelled, they both stayed out and as fuel levels dropped lower, they became the fastest cars on the track. In fact, when Michael eventually pitted on lap 32, he exited ahead of the Toyotas in fourth place. Two laps later, Barrichello stopped (the last man to do so) and rejoined in 12th - with enough fuel to go to the end of the race. Â

With 25 laps to go, Fisichella was in second but was caught by his team mate Alonso as he developed a problem with his front wing. A lengthy pit stop for a new nose cost him his second place and also promoted Schumacher’s Ferrari to third. Just when things were starting to look good for the Ferrari team though, Schumacher had to pit again when he lost pressure in his left rear tyre and had to pit for new rubber, relegating him to eighth position again. That done and back on track fighting with Montoya, the Ferrari had more tyre problems, this time with the front left which ended any hopes of a points finish and the German parked the car in the garage. Â

Rubens brought his Ferrari home in 9th position an improvement on his 18th from the grid, but just short of a points finish. Â

So Raikkonen won, ahead of Alonso and Trulli who joined him on the podium. Ralf Schumacher made it a double points finish for Toyota ahead of Webber, Fisichella, Montoya and Coulthard. Alonso now leads the Driver’s Championship by 18 points ahead of Trulli and is 34 ahead of the nearest Ferrari driver, Michael Schumacher. Meanwhile Renault is 18 points clear of Toyota in the Constructors’ battle. Â

Monaco is next, in two weeks time.