By Erik Neilsen
Images by Ferrari Media
Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen.
Felipe Massa made sure that there was not going to be any negative press in this week’s Gazzetta della Sport, and that he really is worth everything that Marlboro is subsidizing the Scuderia for his services this year.
The Brazilian just missed the pole, which was captured by the Pole who was playing around with fuel loads, but managed to keep the Italian press off his back by winning at what is now becoming his favorite track on the circuit. The result gave him much needed points for his return to Europe.
Felipe Massa badly needed to win, and he did.
To the rest of us, Bahrain is as exciting as watching cars go around a parking lot. The track has no really interesting corners, run-off areas that a 747 would be comfortable in, and then they put the whole thing in the middle of nowhere. People still criticize the decision made years ago to run F1 in a Las Vegas casino’s parking lot. I’ll make the argument that that situation was better. It gave you lights and excitement to look at for those that weren’t die hard Formula 1 fans. If you got bored in Bahrain this weekend, well, there were some interesting rocks. And sand. And not a whole lot else. Even a run down of the press pictures of the pit babes was disappointing. And my wife agreed with me on this point.
Felipe Massa.
Kimi Räikkönen also did well this weekend and was able to finish in second, giving Ferrari a much needed 1-2 finish, putting them neck and neck with both BMW and McLaren heading back to Europe. The Finn is now leading the driver’s championship after finishing in the points all three rounds to date.
BMW proved to the entire pit lane that they do have speed and that this isn’t going to be a McLaren/Ferrari steamroll this season. Robert Kubica drove a fantastic lap to capture the pole, but wasn’t able to fully capitalize on it. Ferrari did have their act together this weekend with no dropped stops, and BMW needed the red cars to make a mistake to do better than third. Nick Heidfeld was also right in the hunt this round, and we finally have a different team that seems to be a real challenger for the title.
Felipe Massa, pensive before the start.
McLaren, on the other hand made, it look like the wheels had fallen off the Woking based team this weekend. Lewis Hamilton was all but passed by the medical car at the start. It seems that someone was never taught how to effectively start an F1 car on the grid without launch control. For everyone that thinks he is the second coming, once he was caught in traffic, he was stuck in traffic. We saw none of the talent that we see in other drivers that get caught out in the start, battling their way back to the front. Mr. Hamilton seemed to be quite content doing moderate-timed laps. Kovalainen tried to create some contrast to his performance, but while the other Finn finished in fifth place, the silver arrow was well off the pace.
Jarno Trulli brought the Toyota home in sixth place, which is saying quite a bit as there weren’t a tremendous amount of retirements this race. The millions that the Japanese team has thrown at the sport are starting to make some difference, but logic dictates that they can’t keep this up forever.
Kimi Räikkönen. World Champion.
Mark Webber finished in seventh place, just seconds adrift of the Toyota in the perennial also ran Red-Bull chassis. And Nico Rosberg finished in the points to try and bring a smile to Sir Frank’s face. Williams still is nowhere near were they were in the 90’s.
After the first three rounds, it does look like we’re going to get a three way race for the manufacturing championship, and probably a six way race for the driver’s championship. BMW Sauber is finally an official member of the usual suspects for this season and we don’t see any extreme competitive advantage from anyone. The championship is coming back to the continent in three weeks time with the Spanish Grand Prix, but with the local favorite failing miserably this weekend and finishing in tenth, ticket sales will probably not be as strong this year.
The winner’s circle.
Race Results
| 1 | MASSA | Ferrari | 1h31m06.970s |
| 2 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | + 3.3s |
| 3 | KUBICA | BMW | + 4.9s |
| 4 | HEIDFELD | BMW | + 8.4s |
| 5 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | + 26.7s |
| 6 | TRULLI | Toyota | + 41.3s |
| 7 | WEBBER | Red Bull-Renault | + 45.4s |
| 8 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | + 55.8s |
| 9 | GLOCK | Toyota | + 69.5s |
| 10 | ALONSO | Renault | + 77.1s |
| 11 | BARRICHELLO | Honda | + 77.8s |
| 12 | FISICHELLA | Force India-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 13 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 14 | NAKAJIMA | Williams-Toyota | + 1 lap |
| 15 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 16 | DAVIDSON | Super Aguri-Honda | + 1 lap |
| 17 | SATO | Super Aguri-Honda | + 1 lap |
| 18 | COULTHARD | Red Bull-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 19 | SUTIL | Ferrari | + 2 lap |
| 20 | PIQUET | Renault | + 17 laps, gearbox |
| 21 | BUTTON | Honda | + 38 laps, accident damage |
| 23 | VETTEL | STR-Ferrari | + 57 laps, accident damage |
| Fastest Lap |
KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m33.193s |
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | 19 Points |
| 2 | HEIDFELD | BMW | 15 Points |
| 3 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 14 Points |
| 4 | KUBICA | BMW | 14 Points |
| 5 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | 14 Points |
| 6 | MASSA | Ferrari | 10 Points |
| 7 | TRULLI | Toyota | 8 Points |
| 8 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | 7 Points |
| 9 | ALONSO | Renault | 6 Points |
| 10 | WEBBER | Red Bull-Renault | 4 Points |
| 11 | NAKAJIMA | Williams-Toyota | 3 Points |
| 12 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | 2 Points |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | BMW | 30 Points |
| 2 | FERRARI | 29 Points |
| 3 | MCLAREN-MERCEDES | 28 Points |
| 4 | WILLIAMS-TOYOTA | 10 Points |
| 5 | TOYOTA | 8 Points |
| 6 | RENAULT | 6 Points |
| 7 | RED BULL-RENAULT | 4 Points |
| 8 | STR-FERRARI | 2 Points |