Ferrari 1-2 in Spain
by Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen.
To quote an apt repeated and overused cliché, it was like deja-vu all over again. Ferrari has solidified their position as the team to beat this year with the duo of Raikkonen and Massa making it almost look easy. Scuderia Ferrari Malboro made a successful return back to the home continent and kept the Italian media focused on how bad Alitalia is being managed, rather than how poor the hired guns are doing. Kimi Raikkonen cruised from pole to finish and would have had an even larger margin of victory if the safety car didn’t end up making more laps than the Toro Rossos did. Massa didn’t seem to challenge his team mate this race for the lead, but he wasn’t going to be left in the dust. The Brazilian played what almost looked like team orders and protected the win, but more importantly, allowed the red cars to take maximum points for the weekend.
Aldo Costa, Juan Carlos I King of Spain, Felipe Massa,
Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton picked up another podium, but the McLaren was off the pace all weekend and the team panicked when Heikki Kovalainen had a spectacular wheel failure and crashed into the tire barrier in at the Campsa corner at nearly max speed. The MP4-23 speared the barrier and everyone held their collective breathe, but the Finn escaped major injury and was taken to a local hospital for observation. Needless to say, Hamilton didn’t push the car nearly as hard after the extended safety car period until the team could determine the cause of the failure.
Kimi Raikkonen.
The driver that received the worst of this incident was Nick Heidfeld who needed to pit when the safety car did come out or run out of fuel. The BMW driver ended up with a stop and go penalty after the race went green and was relegated to ninth place and no points. His Polish team mate was hot on the heels of Hamilton and finished fourth, but the Munich message was that both cars needed to finish in the points, preferably on the podium.
Rob Smedley and Felipe Massa.
Mark Webber finished in fifth place which was another great finish for the drink maker’s senior varsity team. They don’t talk about the second tier team all that much anymore. Honda finally made the points table with Jenson Button’s sixth place finish. Ross Brawn has his work cut out for him with the Japanese team.
Stefano Domenicali and Michael Schumacher.
More importantly, Honda has bragging rights in Japan for finishing ahead of both a Japanese driver (Nakajima-san in the Williams with the Toyota lump) and the actual Toyota of Jarno Trulli. Sato-san was driving well in the Super Aguri, but the junior Honda team is in desperate need of cash if they want to continue racing.
Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and Stefano Domenicali.
As for the also-rans, the biggest disappointment was Fernando Alonso who qualified second, but the Renault is not the car it once was and the motor only lasted half the race with a good portion of the home crowd heading for the exits before the final laps. One has to wonder if he will follow the Jacques Villeneuve route and just suck for the rest of his career after the world championship. Either that or find a team that can actually use their espionage resources.
I do have to admit, with the exception of the safety car incidents, the race was a bit of a snoozer. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy seeing a Ferrari 1-2 just as much as the next tifoso, but jet-lagged after being in Japan all of the week before the race, it took three espressos just to keep my eyes open. Too bad Mosley’s weekend adventures seem to be getting more attention on You-Tube than an average F1 race does. Wonder if Bernie is trying to figure out how to get the TV rights for that one?
Race Results
| 1 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | 1h38m19.051s |
| 2 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 3.2s |
| 3 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 4.1s |
| 4 | KUBICA | BMW Sauber | + 5.6s |
| 5 | WEBBER | Red Bull-Renault | + 35.9s |
| 6 | BUTTON | Honda | + 53.0s |
| 7 | NAKAJIMA | Williams-Toyota | + 58.2s |
| 8 | TRULLI | Williams-Toyota | + 59.4s |
| 9 | HEIDFELD | BMW Sauber | + 63.0s |
| 10 | FISICHELLA | Force India-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 11 | GLOCK | Toyota | + 1 lap |
| 12 | COULTHARD | Red Bull-Renault | + 1 lap |
| 13 | SATO | Super Aguri-Honda | + 1 lap |
| 14 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | +25 laps, mechanical |
| 15 | ALONSO | Renault | + 32 laps, engine |
| 16 | BARRICHELLO | Honda | + 32 laps, accident |
| 17 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | + 45 laps, accident |
| 18 | DAVIDSON | Super Aguri-Honda | + 58 laps, radiator damage |
| 19 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | + 59 laps, accident |
| 20 | PIQUET | Renault | + 60 laps, accident |
| 21 | SUTIL | Force India-Ferrari | + 66 laps, accident |
| 23 | VETTEL | STR-Ferrari | + 66 laps, accident |
| Fastest Lap |
RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | 1m21.670s |
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | RÄIKKÖNEN | Ferrari | 29 Points |
| 2 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 20 Points |
| 3 | KUBICA | BMW Sauber | 19 Points |
| 4 | MASSA | Ferrari | 18 Points |
| 5 | HEIDFELD | BMW Sauber | 16 Points |
| 6 | KOVALAINEN | McLaren-Mercedes | 14 Points |
| 7 | TRULLI | Toyota | 9 Points |
| 8 | WEBBER | Red Bull-Renault | 8 Points |
| 9 | ROSBERG | Williams-Toyota | 7 Points |
| 10 | ALONSO | Renault | 6 Points |
| 11 | NAKAJIMA | Williams-Toyota | 5 Points |
| 12 | BUTTON | Honda | 3 Points |
| 13 | BOURDAIS | STR-Ferrari | 2 Points |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | Ferrari | 47 Points |
| 2 | BMW SAUBER | 35 Points |
| 3 | MCLAREN-MERCEDES | 34 Points |
| 4 | WILLIAMS-TOYOTA | 12 Points |
| 5 | TOYOTA | 9 Points |
| 6 | RED BULL-RENAULT | 8 Points |
| 7 | RENAULT | 6 Points |
| 8 | HONDA | 3 Points |
| 9 | STR-FERRARI | 2 Points |