Kimi Raikkonen leads Spanish Grand Prix

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - Reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen led the Spanish Grand Prix in his Ferrari on Sunday at the halfway stage which also saw compatriot Heikki Kovalainen exit in a spectacular crash.

Raikkonen was leading on lap 33 of 66 ahead of stablemate Felipe Massa while British pilot Lewis Hamilton - team-mate of Kovalainen - was in third and the 132,000 mainly Spanish crowd's hopes of a home victory ended with 32 laps remaining as two-time champion Fernando Alonso had to pull out when in fifth place.

Kovalainen was the most spectacular of the casualties as something appeared to come off his McLaren and he drove straight onto the gravel and into the protective tyre barrier.
The safety cart came out but more worryingly the medical car also came onto the track to attend to the Finnish driver.

Thankfully Kovalainen, who is in his first season at this level, was seen being stretchered away but was able to give a thumbs up sign to register that he was alright.
McLaren said that he was conscious and stable.

The first lap was marred when German driver Sebastien Vettel in his Torro Rosso exited with his third collision of the season - which also involved David Coulthard and Adrian Suttil - leaving him still to complete a Grand Prix on four outings.

Nelson Piquet Junior, son of the former world champion, was moving smoothly in 10th when he made an error and went off but managed to regain the circuit having lost several places.
Piquet Junior never recovered from that error and stopped after just five laps of the race having baulked French driver Sebastien Bourdais, who had to come into the pits for serious repairs and also had to eventually call it a day.