Raikkonen escapes unhurt

Kimi Raikkonen walked away from a 200mph smash in final practice ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

Ferrari star survives high-speed crash unharmed

Kimi Raikkonen walked away unharmed from a 200mph smash in final practice ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. The Ferrari star destroyed his car on impact into a wall along the Curva del Serraglio, one of the fastest parts of the legendary Monza circuit. Raikkonen, who trails Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings by 16 points with five races remaining, was approaching the left-hand Curva del Vialone. The Ferrari veered into a wall along the straight and his momentum propelled him a full 70 metres before he ploughed into a tyre barrier.

Composure

Two marshals standing in a small gap in the wall narrowly avoided being hit by Raikkonen's battered Ferrari and flying debris. After a few moments to gather his composure, Raikkonen emerged from his car unaided before walking back to the garage. Raikkonen will almost certainly use the spare car for qualifying given the time constraints to carry out repairs. The accident took place 25 minutes into the hour-long session that was held up for 20 minutes for marshals to undertake repairs to the barriers.

Resumption

The final practice session did eventually resume with 16 minutes left on the clock. The two McLarens were immediately on the pace, as they fought for supremacy on the track. Fernando Alonso eventually ended quickest, after clocking a 1:22.054, which put him 0.146s ahead of his team-mate Leiws Hamilton. Felipe Massa finished in third place, however, the Ferrari driver was over half a second down on Alonso's P1 time. The BMWs of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were best of the rest, finishing fourth and fifth, ahead of Nico Rosberg, Alex Wurz and Jarno Trulli. Times
01 F. Alonso McLaren 1:22.054 10 laps
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:22.200 11 laps
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:22.615 11 laps
04 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:22.855 15 laps
05 R. Kubica BMW 1:23.287 14 laps
06 N. Rosberg Williams 1:23.454 13 laps
07 A. Wurz Williams 1:23.596 15 laps
08 J. Trulli Toyota 1:23.672 16 laps
09 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:23.672 12 laps
10 M. Webber Red Bull 1:23.708 13 laps
11 J. Button Honda 1:23.803 15 laps
12 R. Barrichello Honda 1:23.830 14 laps
13 S. Vettel Toro Rosso 1:23.853 14 laps
14 G. Fisichella Renault 1:23.877 12 laps
15 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:23.942 12 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:24.022 16 laps
17 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:24.055 12 laps
18 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:24.167 13 laps
19 V. Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1:24.208 15 laps
20 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:24.442 3 laps
21 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:24.736 17 laps
22 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:24.943 18 laps