Lewis Hamilton banished the memory of disappointing races in Malaysia and Bahrain as he returned to the podium at the end of an incident-filled Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona yesterday at which the Ferraris reigned supreme.

Kimi Raikkonen, the world champion, produced a masterclass from pole to secure his second win of the season before a packed house at the Circuit de Catalunya to take a firm grip on this year's world championship. Behind him Felipe Massa, the “Iceman's” team-mate, claimed second place.

Hamilton, who started fifth on the grid, had to settle for third in a race that underlined the performance edge enjoyed at present by the Italian cars. Even so the 23-year-old British driver was back to his best at the start as he showed lightning quick reactions and pin-point precision to get past BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica in the charge to the first corner.

The most dramatic moment of the afternoon, however, befell Heikki Kovalainen, Hamilton’s McLaren Mercedes teammate, whose car suffered a front left tyre explosion that sent the Finn into the tyre wall at close to 140 mph at the fast and sweeping Turn 9 on lap 22. Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren chief executive, revealed that Kovalainen experienced a force of 26Gs during the impact, which lasted 100 milliseconds, five times as long as a normal crash.

There were anxious moments as the marshalls rushed to extricate the 27-year-old before the car, which lost its nose and both its front wheels in the impact, was dragged out. Kovalainen, who suffered concussion and a bruised elbow, was able to wave a thumbs-up to the relief of the crowd, as he was carried away on a stretcher before being flown by helicopter to hospital for precautionary checks.

Hamilton said afterwards that he saw footage of the crash on the trackside screens as he drove around behind the safety car. He said it reminded him of a similar incident he had experienced in qualifying at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring last year. “I was a bit terrified for whoever it was,” Hamilton said. “I saw the impact was quite heavy and then the team told me it was Heikki.”

Hamilton said it had not occurred to him that the same failure, which may have been caused by a stone getting caught in the wheel, could afflict his car. “If you have those problems, if you let those things get to your mind, then you are in trouble,” he said. “You end up making mistakes or put yourself in the wrong position. It never crossed my mind once. I was confident and sure that we have done a great job and the car was reliable.”

Before the race there was little expectation that anything other than a dominant Ferrari performance was on the cards after a convincing display by Raikkonen and Massa in qualifying. An intriguing element was the unexpected presence of Fernando Alonso, the Spanish hero, in second place on the grid in an improved but still uncompetitive Renault that his faithful have unkindly dubbed a “bicycle”, a “donkey” or a “family car”.

Alonso drove well on Saturday to get to the front row but it looked like a “low fuel job” and so it proved as he became the first of the leaders to stop on lap 16 and dropped out of contention. His race ended 19 laps later with him in fifth place when his engine caught fire, having just inherited the position from Nick Heidfeld in the BMW, who was penalised for refuelling when the pitlane was closed.

Alonso and Hamilton are huge rivals after their falling-out last season and there was an interesting phase early in the race when, having got past Kubica at the start, Hamilton was running behind Alonso. In the past we have seen the young Briton lose his cool around Alonso - think of the start of last year's Brazilian Grand Prix for example - but this time he bided his time, confident that he had more fuel on board for a longer first stint, and waited for Alonso to pit.

The race had nine retirements. Among those who did not finish were Nico Rosberg, who was in seventh in the Williams when his engine failed, and Rubens Barrichello in his 256th Grand Prix - a total that equals Riccardo Patrese's record for most starts in Formula One - who drove a lap with the front wing of his Honda trapped underneath his car after he was hit by Giancarlo Fisichella's Force India as he left the pits.

Jenson Button, Barrichello's team-mate, fared better, bringing his Honda home in sixth place for his first points of the season.

Result

(66 laps):

1, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 1hr 38min 19.051sec; 2, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1:38:22.251; 3, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 1:38:23.151; 4, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 1:38:24.651; 5, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull Renault) 1:38:54.951; 6, J Button (GB, Honda) 1:39:12.051; 7, K Nakajima (Japan, Williams Toyota) 1:39:17.251; 8, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 1:39:18.451; 9, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 1:39:22.051; 10, G Fisichella (It, Force India Ferrari); 11, T Glock (Ger, Toyota); 12, D Coulthard(GB, Red Bull Renault); 13, T Sato (Japan, Super Aguri Honda) all one lap behind.

Retired: 14, N Rosberg (Ger, Williams Toyota) 41 laps completed; 15, F Alonso (Sp, Renault) 34; 16, R Barrichello (Br, Honda) 34; 17, H Kovalainen (Fin, McLaren Mercedes) 21; 18, A Davidson (GB, Super Aguri Honda) 8; 19, S Bourdais (Fr, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari) 7; 20, N Piquet Jr. (Br, Renault) 6; 21, A Sutil (Ger, Force India Ferrari); 22, S Vettel (Ger, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari) both 0.

Qualifying positions

1, Raikkonen 1min 21.813sec; 2, Alonso 1:21.904; 3, Massa 1:22.058; 4, Kubica 1:22.065; 5, Hamilton 1:22.096; 6, Kovalainen 1:22.231; 7, Webber 1:22.429; 8, Trulli 1:22.529; 9, Heidfeld 1:22.542; 10, Piquet Jr. 1:22.699; 11, Barrichello 1:21.049, Nakajima 1:21.117; 13, Button 1:21.211; 14, Glock 1:21.230; 15, Rosberg 1:21.349; 16, Bourdais 1:21.724; 17, Coulthard 1:21.810; 18, Vettel 1:22.108; 19, Fisichella 1:22.516; 20, Sutil 1:23.224; 21, Davidson 1:23.318; 22, Sato 1:23.496.

Championship positions

Drivers: 1, Raikkonen 29pts; 2, Hamilton 20; 3, Kubica 19; 4, Massa 18; 5, Heidfeld 16; 6, Kovalainen 14; 7, Trulli 9; 8, Webber 8; 9, Rosberg 7; 10, Alonso 6; 11, Nakajima 5; 12, Button 3; 13, Bourdais 2.

Constructors: 1, Ferrari 47pts; 2, BMW Sauber 35; 3, McLaren Mercedes 34; 4, Williams Toyota 12; 5, Toyota 9; 6, Red Bull Renault 8; 7, Renault 6; 8, Honda 3; 9, Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari 2.

Grands prix to come

May 11: Turkish (Istanbul). May 25: Monaco (Monte Carlo). June 8: Canadian (Montreal). June 22: French (Magny-Cours). July 6: British (Silverstone). July 20: German (Hockenheim). Aug 3: Hungarian (Budapest). Aug 24: European (Valencia). Sept 7: Belgian (Spa-Francorchamps). Sept 14: Italian (Monza). Sept 28: Singapore (Singapore). Oct 12: Japanese (Fuji). Oct 19: Chinese (Shanghai). Nov 2: Brazilian (Interlagos).