Iceman gets back in the game.

"We're still waiting for the real Raikkonen, the one that everyone fears,” That was Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo last week at Ferrari's 60th anniversary. When your big boss says things like it really is time to start getting the results in or risk looking for a new job. With the media and myself asking why he isn't delivering the goods so it typical that Kimi would win after several races in the wilderness.

Ferrari had a heavy testing schedule at silverstone in order to find those missing tenths of a second they'd lost to Mclaren, with both race drivers attending. Despite several spins the Ferrari's ended the week fastest with Massa happy with the cars new aero teaks and Kimi even happier seemingly found a set up break through that suites his style more.

This pace carried on into Friday practice with Kimi then Massa sharing top spots in both sessions. Title leaders Mclaren were also on the pace with Lewis Hamilton taking fastest time in the final practice. Though realiability gremlins a seemed to be creeping in. Lewis stopping on the track on Friday and Alonso lost nearly all the Saturday session due to a break sensor problem. At Renault Fisichella claimed that Renault had improved so much in recent weeks it was now quicker than Bmw who this weekend welcomed back Robert Kubica after his horror shunt in Canada. He showed no ill effect from the accident ether being on the pace straightaway. Honda had new front wing and suspension which they claimed was worth up to 4 tenths of a second.

Onto qualifying and there were no real surprises in the first knockout session with both Spykers both Super Aguris who were struggling Wurz in the Williams and Liuzzi in the Torro Rosso. Quali 2 saw Coulthard not get a lap in due to his gearbox failing the sister Red Bull of Mark Webber only managing 14th Scot Speed in 15th Both Hondas just missing the top ten shoot out too and Ralf Schumacher managing 11th. Come Quali 3 and Mclarens race and Alonso title hunt was to take a blow. Maybe sitting at the end of the pit lane for over 3 minutes didn't help but whatever happened it destroyed a bearing in the gearbox bring Alonso in not even setting a lap time. 10th. This left Alonso hoping for rain. Up front Massa managed to string his sectors together to take pole Lewis 2nd Raikkonen 3rd Kubica in a fine comeback 4th next up was Fisichella then Kovalainen Heidfeld 7th and Trulli 8th.

There was a 60% chance of rain for the race the weather forecasts said. This never materialised as per usual. From the start maybe the fact Kimi had upped his game showed instantly. He gained a place out dragging Lewis to the first corner taking 2nd. Massa Kept the lead at the back Davidson and Liuzzi clashed both retiring. Further up into the Trulli ended his race and ruined Kovalainens race Trulli going into the back of the Renault damaging his own car and spinning Kovalainen to the back of the field. This benefited Alonso started on the soft tires moving up to 8th and attacking 7th place Rosberg soon getting past. He soon closed on Heidfeld in 6th but out braked himself in a failed passing attempt. This would halt his progress and hold him back. Up front Massa had managed to extend his lead to 4 second by the time the first stops were due. But both Mclarens had already pitted by the time the first Ferrari of Massa had stopped. On the same lap the Mclaren mechanics were able to get both stops turned round quickly despite there only being 30 seconds between the two. Crucially at this stage Kimi stayed out a few laps longer and got the gap down to 2 second once the stops were sorted out. Alonso was still stuck behind Heidfeld who was running a heavier fuel load than the Mclaren. Alonso tried many different lines to try and pass including a lot of different lines through the Adelaide but ether blocked by the Bmw or out braking himself. Eventually Alonso pulled a brave move into the Imola chicane forcing Heidfeld to take to the green concrete in order to avoid the world champ. It was a hard but fair move. But annoyingly for Alonso he would no further progress up the field and instead fall back.

With the Ferrari's out in front Mclaren tried different strategies they switched Alonso to a two stop and Lewis kept Lewis to 3 stops. While Mclarens plans didnt pay off Kimi's Slightly heavier fuel load did work. With 2 laps extra fuel and Massa stuck in traffic Kimi was able to close the 2 second lead Massa had and was Able to Jump him in his Final stop. This must of been disheartening for Massa after leading most the race. Lewis managed to hold third. But Alonso was passed in the pit stops not only by Heidfeld but Fisichella as well. Alonso had a ragged race running wide and being on he edge a lot. But the better fuel strategies and tire choices of the Renault and Bmw seemed to be the what had helped them beat Alonso. Who now lies 14 points behind Hamilton in the title chase.

So final results were Kimi Raikkonen won from Massa with Hamilton in 3rd Kubica a fine 4th His teammate Heldfeld in 5th Fisichella in 6th Alonso 7th and a first point of the season for Honda and Jenson Button. The Honda was as high as 5th at one stage and has shown progress. But they are still behind Honda powered Super Aguri. Though this may not be for long as the independent team struggled this weekend. Maybe the team have reached the maximum potential with the car, after all this car is last years Honda.

Race Bits

• Spyker say they will have a new chassis for the last part of the season. They will need this but also a possible driver replacement. In a bizarre accident in the pits Christian Albers drove off before the lollypop was lifted knocking some of his mechanics over but also ripping out the fuel hose as he was still being refuelled. He pulled over to retire just outside of the pits. His teammate Sutil started from the pit lane in the spare car just moments before the start, he also picked up a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, ending up being last of the finishers in 17th



• Renault did show more pace this weekend but not on the level of Bmw as Fisichella had boasted. But it was progress with Fisichella finishing ahead of his old teammate Alonso. Kovalainens race was ruined by the clash with Trulli. The Toyota driver claiming full responsibility for the crash. The rookie driver was calm about the situation though, "I came into the corner and Trulli came from behind Nick and I think he just braked too late and hit me. But that's racing, sometimes it happens like that. No point worrying any more about that."



• The pre race test at Silverstone paid off for Ferrari, but it will be interesting to see if this form is carried over to Silverstone. This track has been good to Ferrari in recent years and the team usually has done well. And is this finally where Kimi leads the way? Only the next few races will tell.

Move of the race: Alonso on Heidfeld at the Adelaide chicane, too bad it didnt pay off in the end.

Chump of the race: Albers pit stop. Really when the mechanic raises the Lollypop you go, not before. Luckily none of his team was badly injured, but you owe them a beer to say sorry.