Heavy rain at the start of the 60-lap European Grand Prix combined with a late shower combined to make a thrilling race for all those who survived the early carnage. Through it all came Fernando Alonso to record his first win since the Monaco Grand Prix in what was a tense end to the race as he caught and then passed Felipe Massa with five laps remaining.
Mark Webber secured his second career podium finish - his first for Red Bull Racing - with a fine run to third position, meaning that for the first time this year, Lewis Hamilton was not on the podium and in fact did not finish the race in the points. Along with Alonso, it was an eventful day for the championship leader.
Kimi Raikkonen started the race from pole position, but even at that early stage there had been a few spots of rain. As the race got underway the heavens opened and the race strategies could be thrown out of the proverbial window.
With heavy rain falling they all dived to the pits, but race leader Raikkonen slithered back out of the slip road and back onto the circuit. Next time around he made the pit entry move work and he dropped back to seventh position. It would all prove academic anyway as down at turn one, Jenson Button was the first of many to skate off the circuit and into retirement.
Tonio Liuzzi soon joined Button in retirement at the turn followed by Hamilton, Scott Speed, Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil.
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With the intermediate tyres not coping with the conditions and cars piling up at turn one, the race director put out the red flags and halted the race.
Hamilton had managed to keep his engine running and after being picked up by the crane and placed back on the circuit, he was back underway. The rain shower soon passed over and the circuit steamed in the summer sun. Marcus Winkelhock, making his race debut with the Spyker Ferrari team, had opted to start the race from the pit lane on intermediate tyres. The gamble paid off as he took over the lead as Raikkonen peeled into the pits and the red flags flew.
The moment would not last long for Winkelhock, but to lead your second lap in a Grand Prix is something pretty special. The German found himself shuffled back down the order as the race resumed and he would later retire with a hydraulics issue. Quite a debut for a small team it must be said.
Felipe Massa led from the restart while Hamilton opted to take dry tyres. It was a bad move and he slipped even further back from which he would spend the rest of the day in recovery mode... Out front Massa set the pace and kept Alonso firmly under control while Raikkonen quickly worked his way back up to third position.
Raikkonen’s Nurburgring curse would intervene mid-race as he coasted to retirement on entry into the pit lane. For Ferrari, Massa seemed firmly in control, pulling out 11 seconds before the second round of stops.
Alonso kept the pressure on and reduced the gap to six seconds just before rain started to fall for a second time with 11 laps remaining. Everyone pitted and took intermediate tyres once again but Alonso pushed hard, caught and then made a sensational pass around the outside of Massa to take the lead and then the win five laps from home.
The calm before the storm….
Mark Webber was not a factor for the win, but he drove a great race to finish third and hold off a late charge from Alex Wurz in his Williams Toyota. David Coulthard made Red Bull’s day even better as he took the chequered flag in fifth position.
Nick Heidfeld had a poor race in his BMW Sauber. The start of the race saw him run into the side of team-mate Robert Kubica on the first lap and later on would repeat the move with Ralf Schumacher. Still, Heidfeld took sixth position ahead of Kubica in what is his home event.
The battle for the final points was a close affair. It shouldn’t have been really as Heikki Kovalainen ran a safe fifth until pitting three laps before the second rain show arrived. It was a gamble for glory, but it did not work as he finished eighth, holding off Lewis Hamilton for the final point on the final lap.
For Hamilton, ninth position was not a great result, but he put in a storming drive despite the odd error on track and with strategy. Giancarlo Fisichella finished tenth in the second Renault ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Anthony Davidson and Jarno Trulli.
A dramatic race, with a result that closes the championship battle right up ahead of the next race in Hungary.
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International
1. F.Alonso
2. F.Massa
3. M.Webber