Raikkonen wins the French Grand Prix

MAGNY-COURS, France, July 1 (UPI) -- Kimi Raikkonen Sunday captured the Formula One French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, France.

Raikkonen ended the two-race winning streak of rookie Lewis Hamilton, whose McLaren finished more than half a minute behind Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

"Finally the start worked for me," Raikkonen said.

He crossed the finish line 2.414 seconds ahead of teammate Massa, while capturing the checkered flag for the second time this season and 11th time in his F1 career.

"I expected to go through difficult times and people always think you have lost it if you're not winning," Raikkonen said.

Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld grabbed another nine points for BMW Sauber with fourth and fifth place finishes.

Jenson Button put Toyota in the points column for the first time in 2007 with his eighth-place finish.

Button and teammate Rubens Barrichello had grabbed the 12th and 13th starting positions at Saturday's qualifying session.

Hamilton will have a 14-point lead over Alonso (64-50) before next Sunday's race at Silverstone, England.