By Andrew Benson
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen extended his championship lead with a comfortable win at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Finn is nine points clear of Lewis Hamilton, whose McLaren was third behind Felipe Massa's Ferrari.
Raikkonen controlled the race, while Massa held off a late challenge from Hamilton, who himself had race-long pressure from Robert Kubica's BMW.
Fernando Alonso's Renault, which had qualified second to Raikkonen, retired from fifth place with engine failure.
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The Finn lost control of his car following a breakage somewhere in the left front wheel area heading into the 150mph Campsa corner.
The McLaren speared straight over the gravel trap and was embedded in the tyre barrier.
It took the medical team 10 minutes to extract Kovalainen from his damaged car, but he was conscious as he was taken away on a stretcher and could be seen giving a thumbs up to the crowd.
It is believed he has no injuries, but he was taken to hospital in Barcelona for medical checks
McLaren believe a stone became lodged between the tyre and the wheel rim, causing a sudden tyre deflation.
Raikkonen was in a league of his own at the front, as the Finn built a lead in the first stint and then paced himself to Massa for the rest of the race.
But Massa was never that far clear of Hamilton, who pressed the Brazilian hard to the end of the race, while at the same time conscious that Kubica was less than three seconds adrift of the McLaren in fourth place.
The second BMW driver Nick Heidfeld would probably have taken fifth place, but the German suffered a penalty for making a stop for fuel and tyres when the pit lane was closed during the safety car period.
Alonso's Renault was not fast enough to battle with the McLaren and BMW Sauber, but following Heidfeld's penalty the double world champion was heading for fifth place on merit before an engine failure on lap 35.
Cheered on by the partisan crowd, he lost a place to Massa on the run to the first corner, but held on to the Brazilian well until his first pit stop on lap 16.
As expected, Alonso was the first driver to pit but his strategy was not as outlandish as some had suspected it could be - Massa came in only three laps later.
Judging by Alonso's pace in the race, Renault appear now to be best of the rest behind the top three teams, which is a huge step forward from their lacklustre showing in the first three races.
"We had an engine problem - we blew up," he said. "Unfortunately, it is not the right place as it's my home Grand Prix, but I am very happy.
"We saw Massa stopping three laps later than us, so our qualifying was quite OK, and in the race we were close to BMW so I can enjoy racing again."
Alonso's retirement handed fifth place to Mark Webber, whose Red Bull team have also made a step forward with their car.
The Australian was comfortably clear of Honda's Jenson Button, who was the fastest man on the track in the final stint of the race.
The Englishman was himself some way ahead of the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima, with Jarno Trulli's Toyota taking the final points position.
Nakajima's team-mate Nico Rosberg was ahead of the Japanese when he retired with an engine failure on lap 42.
(BBC)
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