Motor Sport/ Formula One Championship: Two weeks ago at the Nurburgring, Kimi Raikkonen was denied an almost certain victory when, cruelly, his suspension collapsed as he turned toward the first corner of his final lap in the lead of the European Grand Prix.

Yesterday, in Montreal, justice was served as Raikkonen took victory at the Canadian - though at the expense of a host of likely challengers, all of whom had led the Finn into the first corner.

Raikkonen's weekend here had been a slow burn, the Finn qualifying seventh, two spots adrift of team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, the Colombian who has come in for heavy criticism in recent weeks as Raikkonen's star has ascended and Montoya's has flamed out in a flurry of accusations that he is unmotivated and intemperate in his racing.

But it was Montoya who leapt forward at the start, chasing down the fast-starting Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando, who had stolen to the front ahead of pole winner Jenson Button and front-row companion Michael Schumacher, both of whom got away poorly despite both being on light fuel loads.

At the end of lap one, it was already shaping up to be another battle between the Mercedes-powered McLaren and the French rivals at Renault, with Fisichella setting the pace ahead of Alonso, Montoya and Raikkonen. Schumacher had dropped to sixth and would retreat further as his three-stop strategy took him to an early pit stop.

Given Ferrari's travails, his absence went unmarked. His later resurgence would not.

At the front, though, Fisichella was blasting forward, though not without pressure from his team-mate, so much so that by lap 30, the Spaniard was howling into his car-to-pit radio demanding to know "just what do I have to do?" as his team held him at bay.

The order that came down the line was curt: "If you feel you're quick enough, pass him."

The Spaniard undoubtedly had the pace to claim Fisichella's scalp, but in the end he was gifted the lead as the Italian suddenly slowed dramatically on lap 33.

As he cruised toward the pits he was informed his oil pressure was plummeting. He pulled into the Renault garage, climbed from his car and stormed away to curse yet another dose of bad luck.

Now Alonso was in command, but while that has, in recent races, been a situation that will brook no challenge yesterday the Spaniard's only enemy was himself. Pressed by a hard-charging Montoya, Alonso erred into the first complex of corners and clipped the wall with his rear right wheel. Montoya flashed past and into the lead.

Renault's remaining challenger limped to the pits for a replacement wheel only to be greeted by a Renault engineer who drew his finger slowly across his throat indicating the suspension was too damaged for Alonso to carry on.

Raikkonen, quietly going about his business, was now second and closing on Juan Pablo Montoya.

As the gap narrowed, the pivotal moment of McLaren's race arrived. As others met problems farther back, Ferrari had been making their three-stop strategy work. Michael Schumacher had clawed his way back from 12th to a startling fourth and was forcing Button to defend vigorously.

The defence ended at the so-called Champions Corner, the final chicane where in 1999 Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, champions all, took themselves out of the race in collisions. Now it was Button's turn.

The kerbs on the left-hand side of the chicane had been built up for this weekend - dangerously so, said some observers - and Button was the victim yesterday, outbraking slightly, clipping the raised kerb and being propelled into the wall on the right-hand side. Schumacher was third.

Button's accident brought out the safety car and as the field pitted, Montoya was left out. He took his pit stop under the safety car the next time round but didn't have time to exit before the field passed. Under such circumstances the pitlane red light is lit and no exit is permitted. Montoya ignored the instruction and muscled his way back into the pack, forcing the stewards to black flag him from the race.

So it was down to Raikkonen and Schumacher, with the German's team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, putting in an amazing drive from the very back of the field to claim third place.

As the laps ticked it away it became apparent Raikkonen was suffering a handling problem as he jerkily ran through the curves of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. But his nerve held and he took his third win of the season.

"The team could see I had a problem in the last few laps," said Raikkonen later. "The steering was pulling to left quite badly at the end. It was just as well nothing happened like last time. Everything worked out right."

Schumacher admitted that while he had been closing on the Finn he didn't feel there was an opportunity for victory and was pleased with second.

"He did make a small mistake but unfortunately he didn't hang around long enough for me to try to pass. The encouraging thing though is that the car was very good. There's still a lot to do but it was good today."

Canadian Grand Prix

MONTREAL, CANADA 70 LAPS:

1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1hr 32mins 09.290secs

2 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:32:10.291

3 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:32:49.294

4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1:33:04.291

5 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams BMW 1:33:04.297

6 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota at 1 lap

7 David Coulthard (Brit) Red Bull at 1 lap

8 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull at 1 lap

9 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber Petronas at 1 lap

10 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan Toyota at 3 laps

11 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi Cosworth at 3 laps

Not Classified: 12 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 62 laps completed, 13 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren Mercedes 52 laps completed, 14 Jenson Button (Brit) BAR Honda 46 laps completed, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams BMW 43 laps completed, 16 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 40 laps completed, 17 Patrick Friesacher (Ger) Minardi Cosworth 39 laps completed, 18 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 38 laps completed, 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 32 laps completed, 20 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan Toyota 24 laps completed.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers' Championship: 1 Alonso 59pts, 2 Raikkonen 37, 3 Trulli 27, 4 Heidfeld 25, 5 Michael Schumacher 24, 6 Webber 22, 7 Barrichello 21, 8 Ralf Schumacher 20, 9 Coulthard 17, 10 Fisichella 17, 11 Montoya 16, 12 Massa, Sauber 7, 13 Alexander Wurz (Aut) McLaren 6, 14 Villeneuve 5, 15 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren 4, 16 Klien 4, 17 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita), Red Bull 1.

Manufacturers' Championship: 1 Renault 76pts, 2 McLaren 63, 3 Toyota 47, 4 Williams 47, 5 Ferrari 45, 6 Red Bull 22, 7 Sauber 12.