For those still yawning after the absolute bore that was the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago, this race could not have been more of an antidote.
Granted, Felipe Massa won – again – from pole position for Ferrari, but it was not the easiest of victories, and nor was it the most conventional of challenges from rivals McLaren.
The front few rows got away without incident – after a notably long wait for the lights to come on – but at the back Giancarlo Fisichella misjudged things in a manner that a veteran of almost 200 Grands Prix should not, and simply rammed his Force India into the back of Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams.
The safety car was deployed immediately, and while the retirees took a walk back and the debris was cleared it gave us a moment to look at the start again.
Massa made a perfect start, and Hamilton cleared both Kimi Raikkonen and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen to slot in behind the Ferrari. In the melee the two Finns appeared to touch briefly, and this not only allowed Robert Kubica – starting from fifth in the BMW to pass Raikkonen, but Fernando Alonso in the Renault also made the most of the situation and slotted in ahead of the World Champion.
Visitors to the pits while the race was under the safety car included Adrian Sutil – for a new front wing after being tagged in the back of the grid fracas – and, you guessed it, Sebastian Vettel, whose Toro Rosso endured a puncture thought to have stemmed from the first corner debut.
More significant was the appearance of Kovalainen in the pits just as the safety car withdrew, the McLaren with a puncture that came either from the touch with Raikkonen or the debris on track. Whichever, Kovalainen’s race was effectively over, although he would provide a good amount of entertainment as he repeatedly clawed his way back through the field – notably great fights with nelson Piquet and Timo Glock along the way – on his way to an eventual 12th position.
At the restart Massa got away nicely from Hamilton, and it did not take long for Raikkonen to dispatch with Alonso – with astonishing ease – by virtue of the Ferrari’s superior top speed. Massa led Hamilton at this point, with Kubica and Raikkonen behind.
Mark Webber had lost a position to Alonso at the start and ran in seventh place, and the field settled down into order.
Strategy wise Ferrari and McLaren had clearly different thoughts, with the Italian cars both starting on the ‘option’ medium tyre, and the McLaren’s on the harder ‘prime’ rubber. This would prove significant, and it was evidently a good move by McLaren as Massa failed to shake Hamilton by any clear distance.
In fact, Hamilton began to claw back time from the Brazilian – a tenth here, two tenths there – as the two pulled clear of Kubica and Raikkonen.
Further back Nelson Piquet was having his best race of the season, engaging in a great battle with Timo Glock in the Toyota that saw the two at it hard, and later tussles with Kovalainen and Jenson Button would cement this as his finest effort of the season, even if 15th position was probably the best he could expect when starting from the second to last row.
It was something of a surprise to see Alonso pit as early as lap 15, and things were clearly taking a different turn when Hamilton - from second place, remember, - made his first stop just a lap later than the Spaniard.
McLaren were exemplary in the pits (as they were all afternoon) and turned the car around in little over six seconds, Hamilton moving off in perfectly choreographed fashion as the signal was given. Notably, another set of hard tyres went on to the number 22 McLaren.
Mark Webber was next to pit a couple of laps later – the Australian in the Red Bull emerging not far behind Alonso, as he had been before – and race leader Felipe Massa took on another set of medium boots at the close of lap19. Robert Kubica pitted at this point, too, and left Kimi Raikkonen to capitalise with the fastest lap of the race so far in clean air.
Raikkonen would pit two laps after Massa – as did Nick Heidfeld, who had started a frustrated ninth in the BMW – and in the process the Finn jumped Kubica and came out in third place, behind Massa and Hamilton. Heidfeld, too, had made up places at the stops, somehow managing to clear both Alonso and Webber, and the BMW pair settled down into fourth and fifth positions that they would hold until the end.
The action was just unfolding, however, as it became clear at this point that Hamilton had the upper hand, and was reeling in Massa hand over fist. Sure enough, the silver car stormed up behind the Ferrari, and in a typically bullish and aggressive move, Hamilton forced his way down the inside of the Brazilians mount, leaving Massa with no option but to give him room. This was great stuff – when was the last time one car took another for the lead, on track?
Hamilton immediately asserted his advantage and began to pull away at a second or so each lap, but we were sure by now the McLaren had opted for a radical three stop strategy; even a second a lap was not going to be enough to lead Massa at the flag.
Sebastien Bourdais was retirement at this juncture, the luckless Frenchman spinning onto the gravel and bringing out the yellow flags (but thankfully, in these ‘trigger happy days’, not the safety car.)
The out of synch Hamilton pitted again on lap 32 and was stationary for just over six seconds while the team fitted more of the hard tyres – thus confirming the three stop strategy. This was a brave effort by McLaren to at least split the Ferraris – but would it pay off?
Lewis came out in third place, not far from Raikkonen, and with the two cars ahead of him also needing a final stop. The hope was that Hamilton would need a shorter stop than Raikkonen on his final visit, and would be able to get ahead by virtue of this.
Massa – now clearly on for another victory – made his final visit to the pits on lap 40 – again along with Kubica – and came out behind both Raikkonen and Hamilton, but not by much. Raikkonen ran a few more laps, and duly slotted in some seven seconds behind Massa.
Hamilton did not leave it too long, pitting just a lap after Raikkonen, but again the team were lightning quick, and it was enough to put Hamilton ahead of Raikkonen, and just five seconds down the road from Massa.
The problem for Hamilton was that he carried the option tyre, and the Ferrari pair the favoured prime, and with but 12 laps left and five seconds left – it simply was not enough. Indeed, the bigger worry for Hamilton in the closing laps was Raikkonen behind him, for Kimi was never less than a second behind and easily quicker in the latter stages of the lap. Both men drove perfect closing stages, however, and the equilibrium was enough for Hamilton to come home second, behind a serenely victorious Massa, and ahead of Raikkonen.
Fourth and fifth went to the ‘best of the rest’ BMW’s – Kubica driving another fine race to fourth and Heidfeld again showing his credentials a one of the canniest operators in the business with a climb from ninth place on the grid – and sixth to Alonso, who extracted the utmost from the Renault again. If this is the utmost, however, it is clearly not enough for a double World Champion.
Mark Webber may well be disappointed with seventh, but realistically this is about the best Red Bull can hope for; the Australian put not a foot wrong, drove an excellent race, but simply could not compete with those ahead. With all his talk of wanting a new contract, he may like to note that his mount finished over a minute behind the leader – he deserves better than that.
The final point went to Nico Rosberg in the Williams after another determined and gutsy drive, and this was one he had to fight for, too, and ninth – just a few seconds back – to David Coulthard, the veteran Scot showing yet again that while he may falter in qualifying too often, there is nothing lacking in terms of race-craft. Notable that the gap between him and team mate Webber measured only ten seconds at the close of play.
Jarno Trulli was the final top ten finisher after a difficult race, Jenson Button had another afternoon of hard graft in the Honda to come home 11th –three places ahead of Rubens Barrichello, here in his record breaking 257th appearance in a Grand Prix – and was followed by Kovalainen and Timo Glock.
Nelson Piquet, Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel made up the remaining finishers.
The result adds interest to the championship race, with Raikkonen now seven points ahead of both Hamilton and Massa. There is a suspicion that the next race – the Monaco Grand Prix – may favour the McLaren, although on today’s form there is very little between they and Ferrari.
Let’s hope the race is as good as this one, and Updatef1 will be bringing you full coverage in two weeks time.
Written: Sun, 11 May 2008 14:26:02
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