Raikkonen leads ‘careful’ Schu after rain-hit qualifier

FINN Kimi Raikkonen led the times on the opening day of the European Grand Prix when he beat world championship rival Michael Schumacher in a rain-hit first qualifying session at the Nurburgring, Germany, yesterday.

Raikkonen, who went out second after championship leader Schumacher on their one-lap runs, kept his cool to outpace his German rival before rain fell midway through the session to leave their times unbeatable.

McLaren driver Raikkonen’s lap of 1min 29.989 sec beat Schumacher’s 1:30.353 effort by 0.364 sec with the Williams pair of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finishing third and fourth.