 Kimi Raikkonen on the podium in third
place and Felipe Massa seventeenth. These official results do not tell
the heartbreaking story of the race victory that eluded Scuderia Ferrari
Marlboro's Brazilian driver. From third place on the grid, he went
straight into a lead he never relinquished apart from during the two
runs of pit stops, but then with only three laps to go to the chequered
flag, a large puff of smoke from the back of his F2008 saw him park
alongside pit wall to retire. The race was won by Heikki Kovalainen,
taking his maiden F1 victory. The result means Ferrari retains its lead
in the Constructors' Championship, eleven points clear of
McLaren-Mercedes who have now moved ahead of BMW-Sauber. Lewis Hamilton
heads the Drivers' classification on 62 points; five points clear of
Kimi with Felipe third, three points adrift of his team-mate.
The heatwave continued on race day, with the air temperature passing the
thirty mark as the cars lined up on the grid, with Massa in third place
behind pole man Hamilton and Raikkonen sixth. As the lights went out,
Felipe made a blinding start, getting ahead of Kovalainen and pulling
alongside Hamilton's McLaren going into Turn 1 to emerge as leader,
driving around the outside of the Englishman. Glock was up from fifth to
fourth in the Toyota and Kimi dropped a place to be seventh at the end
of the opening lap. With four laps completed the order was Massa,
Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Kubica, Alonso, Raikkonen, Webber, Trulli,
Piquet, Coulthard, Heidfeld, Button, Barrichello, Vettel, Bourdais,
Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil twentieth and last. Massa's lead
over his pursuers was 1.5 seconds, while Raikkonen was 11.9" behind his
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team mate.
Still in seventh, Kimi was lapping quicker than sixth placed Alonso in
the Renault and on lap 9 of 70, the Finn had closed to within 0.7 of the
Spaniard, as Felipe extended his lead to 2.2. Kimi's pursuit was
relentless and by lap 17, he was only 0.5 behind Alonso. Lap 18 saw
Felipe lead the first run of pit stops, stationary for 8.2 seconds and
taking on a second set of the Prime tyre. Kubica in the BMW and Webber
in the Red Bull also came in on the same lap, while Hamilton came in one
lap later (9.4s.) Glock brought the Toyota in from fourth, followed by
Kovalainen in the McLaren on lap 21.
 Alonso and Raikkonen came in together on lap 22 and left nose to tail in
the same order. By this point, Felipe was back in the lead, 3.1s ahead
of Hamilton, with Piquet yet to stop in third place, until the Renault
man pitted on lap 25. This left the order much as it had been since the
early stages, with Kovalainen third, ahead of Glock, Coulthard, who had
still not pitted, Alonso and Raikkonen back in seventh, 1.1 behind the
Renault. Coulthard finally came in on lap 29, having been the only
driver to start on the Option tyre. Unusually, three cars, Bourdais'
Toro Rosso, Barrichello's Honda and Nakajima's Williams all suffered
minor fires at their pit stops but were able to continue. Lap 38 saw
Felipe extend his lead to 4.3s, while in sixth place, Kimi was 1.4
behind Alonso. Two laps later the Brazilian had 5 seconds in hand over
the Englishman who suddenly slowed with a left front puncture. He pitted
and rejoined ninth, which meant Felipe now led second placed Kovalainen
by almost 24 seconds, with Glock in the final podium position a further
4 seconds behind. This promoted Alonso and Kimi to fourth and fifth.
Felipe made his final pit stop on lap 44, stopping for 7.5 seconds and
fitting the Option tyre, rejoining in second place.
When Kovalainen made his final refuelling stop on lap 48, Felipe was
back in the lead, heading Alonso and Raikkonen who had only stopped once
so far, by 13 seconds. Kovalainen was fourth, followed by Glock, Piquet,
Trulli, Kubica, Hamilton with Coulthard completing the top ten. Alonso
pitted on lap 50, which promoted Kimi to second for one lap until he
made his final stop next time round. With the front runners having
completed their stops, this meant Felipe still led, with Kovalainen 15.4
seconds adrift with eighteen laps remaining. In the closing stages,
Felipe sensibly slowed the pace so that Kovalainen was only 9.6 behind
with eight laps remaining, as Kimi began setting some race fastest laps
in fourth place, finally ahead of Alonso.
 Then, with three laps to go disaster struck, as Felipe's Ferrari emitted
a large cloud of smoke and he came to a complete stop alongside the pit
wall on the start-finish line to retire. This meant that at the flag
after seventy laps, Kimi finished third, behind Kovalainen taking his
first ever F1 win and Glock recording his first ever F1 podium. The
remaining points positions were filled by Alonso, Hamilton, Piquet,
Trulli and Kubica.
Stefano Domenicali: "Today we showed the worth
of our team and our drivers, but we lacked the total reliability which
is absolutely vital. Felipe drove possibly the best race of his career
and we are very disappointed about what happened to him just a handful
of kilometres from the end. He made an amazing start, attacking at the
right moment and then he was comfortably managing his race in the final
stages heading for a well-deserved victory. Kimi's race was compromised
by his poor qualifying result yesterday: when you start further back
it's hard to climb up the order. He was stuck behind Alonso for much of
the race, but when he finally had a clear track ahead of him, he showed
all his and the F2008's potential. We have to react to this negative
moment in our usual way: with grit, determination and with everyone
playing their part. We have three weeks of hard work ahead of us to be
as well prepared as possible for the European Grand Prix."
Felipe Massa: "It happened completely without warning, without
giving the slightest indication. I was managing the race, because I had
a good advantage over second place after Hamilton was delayed with a
problem and I was taking no risks whatsoever. I am very frustrated at
the moment, because today we had a great car and we had done everything
perfectly until just a few kilometres from the finish. Unfortunately,
racing can be a cruel sport. We had given it our all, but these things
can happen. Now we must not give up, but instead we must react quickly.
There are seven races to go and 70 points up for grabs, which means
there is plenty of time to make up ground. Our rivals are strong but we
have shown we are at their level."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I am sorry for Felipe and for the team as it is
horrible to lose a race in this way. It was tough for me because, when
you spend a long time behind a slower car it becomes frustrating and
boring. When I was finally able to push, the car was behaving very well,
but by then it was too late. I came up behind Glock but in the end, I
had to slow as I had a mechanical problem with the rear end and the team
told me to be very careful to ensure I brought the car home. It's true
that I'm the one who has won the most points out of the top three in the
classification, which shows this championship is really unpredictable,
with ups and downs for everyone. It was a disappointing weekend for me
but, at least I managed to come away with a decent result. We must try
and fix the problems we have in qualifying to start at the front, so as
to exploit the potential of the car. If we can do that, then we can get
back to fighting for the win."
Luca Baldisserri: "It hurts to see a car stop with a failure just
a few laps from the end when you are solidly in the lead. It's a real
shame, because Felipe drove an extraordinary race: a perfect start,
always a fast pace and a great management of the situation in the final
stages. Kimi was behind Alonso for two thirds of the race and only when
he had a free track ahead of him was he able to show what he can do.
Today, we showed our package is up to the job in terms of performance,
but we lacked the necessary reliability. We must continue to work to
improve still further, as indeed our competitors are doing. We can
expect some weeks of hard work ahead of the next race where we want to
achieve what slipped from our grasp today in the very last moments."
Source - Ferrari Media |
