Redbull’s German driver Sebastien Vettel came in more than four seconds ahead of Räikkönen’s Lotus, the victory placing him on the brink of his fourth consecutive Grand Prix win.
The steel nerved Finn known as "Iceman" took off from ninth position, but was twice able to capitalize on the appearance of the safety car in order to zoom up the ranks. He is now ranked third in the 2013 standings.
"It was OK. I think I lost a place on the first straight,” Räikkönen told BBC. “I got stuck in traffic but even without the safety car we could have finished on podium."
The Finn’s Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean came in third.
The other Finn in the series, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, managed to fight his way up from 17 position at the gates to finish 12th, pipping at the post his teammate Pastor Maldonado who drove into 13th place.
