Raikkonen sinks the Spanish Armada.

Kimi Raikkonen, the young Finnish talent, finally seems to have ended his unlucky stint with a stupendous ambush on the Spanish Armada, an attack laced with the same agression that a Matador has when it takes on its old foe - the Spaniard clad in his suit of light. Raikonnen, dubbed as the next "ice man" seemed too cold to handle for the fiery Spaniard who was looking to take a fourth consecutive victory. The Spaniard was the favorite, not that he knew his home track like the back of his hand, but rightly because he had won three races in a row and his team had proved that it was the one to beat this season.

With a crowd of one hundred and fifteen thousand cheering him right from the word go, Alonso was indeed a confident man. But unfortunately, this was not to be his day. The day belonged to one Mr. Kimi Raikkonen who was unfazed by the sea of blue around him and went on to take the third victory of his career. And team boss Ron Dennis was only too happy to receive the constructor's trophy. For once, things seem to have gone the right way for the British constructor. Raikkonen must have been frustrated at Imola, where he took pole position in style, only to lose it eight laps into the race when his car had a mechanical problem. But come Catalunya, there were only two classifications. Raikkonen and the rest.

Trulli and Ralf Schumacher of Toyota's have now made it a habit to land up in the points. Only too good for the team that spends almost as much as the Maranello outfit does. Coming third and fourth for Toyota followed by the other Renault of Fissichella who never seemed to have regained form after that early display of finesse at Albert Park,Melbourne. Montoya, the other McLaren driver who had a bad crash on friday practice, came back from a fuel nozzle problem to gain a couple of points for himself and more importantly his constructor. Mark Webber, who did not have a car during friday practice came in sixth for BMW Williams, a team that has been struggling with car control for some time now. Coulthard grabbed the only other point that was left ahead of the Ferrari of Rubens Barichello who nursed his car to the finish line despite all odds.

As for Michael Schumacher, the seven time champion, things couldnt have gone worser. A perfect plan was in place, as the master pit strategists drew a daring one stop strategy for Michael and Barichello. But a blown tyre late into the race spoilt the plan as Michael Schumacher tottered into the pits, only to retire the race a lap later due to a blown front outside tyre and a spoilt suspension. A dissapointing show for the Ferrari team, and especially Michael Schumacher who had not lost a race at the Catalunya circuit in this decade.

Among others, Heidfeld and Massa came in ninth and tenth for Williams and Sauber respectively. Narain Karthikeyan, the Jordan driver was the last to finish, after making a mistake early into the race. Monteiro, his team mate over took him, albiet trimming some grass while doing so. Villeneuve, who like Schumcher showed signs of a come back at Imola retired due to a faulty engine. The Minardi team also suffered the ignominy of seeing both its cars get stuck on the starting grid like clock work. The team has failed to finish a majority of the races this year.

With the fifth race of the year completed, the lines are becoming clearer. This year seems like a three way title challenge, with Renault, the leaders on one side, the McLaren's on the other and the prancing horse completing the triad, although the horse can now be rated a dark horse in comparison to the galloping one that we have been seeing since the fag end of the last decade.

The next race is scheduled to happen at Monte Carlo and is one of the most glamorous events on the Formula One calendar. A street race, contested not on a circuit but on the roads of the small city-state of Monte-Carlo, it should be an interesting watch, since it is a track that involves more maneuverability than speed and over-taking maneuvers should be spectacularly accurate since the track breadth by itself is really narrow!

Adios till Monaco!