Raikkonen wins Formula One points title

SAO PAULO -- Kimi Raikkonen won Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo to earn Formula One's drivers championship.

To capture his surprise title, the native of Finland, driving a Ferrari, came from seven points back of the lead to overtake points front-runner Lewis Hamilton of England and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Brazil.

"We always believed that we could recover and do a better job," Raikkonen said. "Even in the hard times, everyone stuck together and we didn't give up."

Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil finished second, with Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes) third, Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) fourth and Robert Kubica (BMW) fifth.

In the points standings, Raikkonen had 110, Hamilton and Alonso shared second place with 109 points, Massa was fourth with 94 and Nick Heidfield (BMW) was fifth with 61 points.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International