Massa gets the job done for Ferrari
There were no mistakes this afternoon in the 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix from Felipe Massa who put in a flawless performance to kick-start his championship campaign. Starting second behind pole-sitter Robert Kubica, Massa breezed past the BMW Sauber driver to take the lead on the first lap, a lead he would never relinquish.
While Massa had the pace off the line to take the lead, he was kept under pressure throughout the race by Malaysian Grand Prix winner and team-mate Raikkonen. The pace was furious at the front with the duo trading best laps ahead of the second and final pitstops.
Massa took the chequered flag three seconds clear of Raikkonen, who was also able to make short-work of pole-sitter in the opening laps of the race, while Kubica took the flag in third position, less than two seconds behind Raikkonen.
For Kubica, the gap at the end of the Grand Prix does not tell the full picture as Ferrari utterly dominated the third round of the championship and it was only in the final sting that the team went into car conservation mode and controlled the gap to the flag.
The ten points for Massa is a much needed boost after failing to finish in Australia and Malaysia while Raikkonen’s second position moves him to the head of the championship table heading to Barcelona in three weeks time.
With Kubica finishing third, Nick Heidfeld made best of a good getaway at the start of the race to bring home the second F1.08 in fourth position and in doing so the Hinwil-based team leave Bahrain leading the constructors’ championship for the first time.
Bahrain would prove to be something of a reality check for the McLaren Mercedes team. Starting the race with Hamilton third and Kovalainen fifth, the team had hoped to challenge the front-runners from the outset.
Lewis Hamilton made a mess of his race start dropping to tenth position but his race really came unstuck next time around as he inexplicably ran into the back of Fernando Alonso Renault. The McLaren took to the air shedding its front wing forcing Hamilton to creep back to the pits for repairs. The Australian Grand Prix winner made little impression from that point, despite switching to a one stop strategy and would finish a lapped 13th.
Heikki Kovalainen steered clear of trouble and fended off advances from behind to take the chequered flag in fifth position, almost 30 seconds behind race winner Massa
Jarno Trulli put in a spirited drive in his Toyota, chasing Kovalainen for much of the race and keeping the Finn under pressure. The final stages of the race saw Kovalainen pick up the pace on what was a very short final stint and Trulli had to be content with sixth.
Mark Webber started 11th in his Red Bull Renault and put in a strong drive to score two championship points with seventh position, gaining position over rival Nico Rosberg in the first round of pit stops. For Rosberg, he started the race on the harder tyre – unlike the other top ten starters - and dropped back from Trulli and then was unable to make much progress. The Williams Toyota racer took the flag ten seconds behind Webber.
Timo Glock completed his first full Grand Prix with Toyota and had a strong race to ninth from 13th position on the grid.
Over at Renault and there was little to take away from this event. Fernando Alonso survived his incident with Hamilton on lap two despite some damage to the rear wing on the R28. Alonso would lose a position to Glock in the pit stops and then spend the final stages of the Grand Prix fending off the Honda of Rubens Barrichello to claim tenth position. Nelson Piquet had a low key run in the second R28 as he suffered from gearbox issues that would eventually force his retirement.
With Jenson Button getting tangled up in lap one dramas and then running into David Coulthard whilst battling at the back of the pack, Barrichello carried the flag for Honda putting the pressure on Alonso to the flag.
Giancarlo Fisichella vaulted up the order from 18th on the grid at the start and then put in a tremendous drive in his Force India Ferrari. The Italian veteran finished a lap down in 12th position but proved consistent and on the pace over the race distance.
Kazuki Nakajima used a one stop strategy to little effect from 16th position on the grid to finish 14th in his Williams Toyota while Sebastien Bourdais will be disappointed with 15th in the sole surviving Toro Rosso Ferrari following Sebastian Vettel’s early exit from a nightmare weekend.
A good battle between Super Aguri Honda team-mates for 16th saw Anthony Davidson take the honours from Takuma Sato. David Coulthard finished 18th in the second Red Bull ahead of Adrian Sutil in he second Force India.
Earl ALEXANDER
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