Raikkonen’s power play secures win in Belgium
World champion Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button crashed out early on, although the Brawn man’s championship lead was cut by only two points to 16.
The incident saw the safety car come out, after which Raikkonen used his power-boost button to take the lead.
The German started in eighth but posted the fastest lap of the race and leapfrogged team-mate Mark Webber in the drivers’ championship into third place behind Button’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who limped over the line in seventh place with a Mercedes engine that was close to blowing up.
Raikkonen was hounded all the way by pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella, who gave Force India their first points in F1 after 30 races, with a second-place finish.
Raikkonen, after his 18th career win, said: “We haven’t brought new parts for the last few races as we are looking at next year.
“But my aim was always still to win a race because we are aiming for third in the (constructors’) championship.
“We probably weren’t the fastest in terms of lap time, but we were able to keep everybody behind us.”
Fisichella was delighted and disappointed in equal measure as he said: “It’s a great result for us.
“It’s a great day but I was quicker than Kimi and I’m a little bit sad because maybe I could have won the race as I was keeping pace with his car.”
Vettel concedes anything is possible now over the remaining five races as he, Webber and Barrichello continue to reel in Button.
“If you look at the championship, it’s a good result,” remarked Vettel.
“We lost too much ground in the first stint because of the guys ahead, but in the second and third the car was fantastic. It was a pleasure to drive.”
Given Saturday’s remarkable qualifying session that culminated in Fisichella claiming his team’s maiden pole, a chaotic race was expected, and so it proved.
Reigning world champion Hamilton, though, and current championship leader Button would not have expected to have been involved in such chaos, with their grand prix over after less than half a lap.
From 12th and 14th on the grid, and after avoiding the stalled Brawn GP of Rubens Barrichello and a shunt at the first corner involving Toyota’s Timo Glock and the Force India of Adrian Sutil, Hamilton and Button both crashed out three kilometres later at Les Combes. Approaching the right-left hander at the top of the hill and at the end of the long, fast Kemmel Straight, Hamilton initially appeared to be caught by Alguersuari, sending both into the wall.
In close attendance behind, and braking given the mayhem ahead of him, Button was hit from behind by the Renault of another rookie in Romain Grosjean, sending both spinning out.
The stewards announced they would investigate both incidents after the race, with the likelihood being that Alguersuari and Grosjean – should blame be apportioned – will be deemed the more guilty parties.
It naturally resulted in the deployment of the safety car come the end of the first lap, with Raikkonen directly behind Fisichella.
The Finn had used the power boost to strike going up the hill, running wide and onto the grass at Les Combes at one stage prior to the accident unfolding behind him.
The power boost also allowed Raikkonen to pass Fisichella down the straight on lap five after the safety car had departed after three laps.
Behind the leading trio, the BMW Sauber duo of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished fourth and fifth for the team’s best result of the year.
Heikki Kovalainen was sixth from 15th on the grid after McLaren adopted a one-stop strategy for the Finn to at least collect three points.
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