2008 Bahrain Grand Prix Race Report

By Effwun - FOAS #65

Felipe Massa put the disappointments of Australia and Malaysia behind him to take a superb victory in Bahrain ahead of Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen and pole sitter Robert Kubica. Title contender Lewis Hamilton had a disastrous race and would finish outside the points in 13th place.

Coming into this race, Lewis Hamilton led the drivers' world championship. However, Ferrari bounced back in Malaysia (after their dreadful start to the season in Australia), and Kimi Raikkonen took a comfortable win. Given that Ferrari won in Bahrain last year, and the fact that they tested there over the winter, they entered the weekend as the favourites. Felipe Massa won the event last year, but he entered the weekend with zero championship points after two inglorious retirements in a row.

Friday first practice looked at though it was pretty much to plan for the Ferraris - Felipe Massa topped the session with a time of 1:32.233, edging out his team mate Kimi Raikkonen by just over a tenth of a second. Third place was a bit of a surprise though - Nico Rosberg posted a time of 1:32.415, just shy of two tenths slower than Massa. There were no major incidents in the session, although several drivers had small offs. Most of the drama seemed to happen at the final corner, with several drivers running wide including Fisichella, Webber, Nakajima, and Raikkonen.

Felipe Massa was again top of the time sheet in Friday Practice 2, with a stunningly fast time of 1:31.420 - 9 tenths faster than his team mate Raikkonen in second place. Heikki Kovalainen was third fastest, and team mate Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest. However, towards the end of the session, Hamilton spun at the exit of turn 7 and crashed his McLaren MP4/23 hard into the tyre wall, causing substantial damage to the car.

Nico Rosberg was the man to watch in P3 - he topped the time sheet with a lap of 1:32.521, two tenths clear of Felipe Massa in second place. The P3 times are not necessarily indicative though, due to the fact that some drivers concentrate on their Q3 fuel loads, but other concentrate on their Q1 and Q2 running

So came qualifying. Q1 saw pretty much the usual suspects in the basement. The session was red flagged for an incident in which Takuma Sato span out of the final corner and clipped the barrier on the inside of the circuit. Initially there was a waved yellow flag, and there were concerns that Felipe Massa might incur a penalty because he set his fastest (and only) time of Q1 during the waved yellow period. However, no penalty was forthcoming. The drivers eliminated from Q1 were Coulthard, Fisichella, Vettel, Sutil, Davidson, and Sato. Q2 saw the elimination of Webber, Barrichello, Glock, Piquet, Bourdais, and Nakajima. Felipe Massa set the fastest time - a blistering 1:31.188. Q3 seemed fairly routine, but after the main players pitted for fresh tyres, Hamilton went fastest then, unexpectedly, Robert Kubica set the provisional pole time. Only Raikkonen and Massa had the opportunity to better his time. Raikkonen was slower, and would wind up fourth. Massa made a mistake in sector 2 and wound up second. Robert Kubica had secured his and BMW Sauber's first F1 pole position, much to the delight of team boss Mario Theissen.

Whilst the headlines of a Pole being on pole would write themselves, the reality was that Felipe Massa had dominated the weekend up until Q3. So came the race. Even before the lights went out, there was drama - Massa was quite late to the grid due to the fact that his earpieces stopped working and he had to change them. Also, on the formation lap Nelsinho Piquet reported that he couldn't select second gear. Evidently the Renault team were able to find a work around by the time he lined up for the start, but it foreshadowed later problems for the young Brazilian.

Most drivers started on the softer Option tyres - only Rosberg, Piquet, and Bourdais elected to start on the harder Prime tyres. So, the cars lined up on the grid, and the lights went out. Felipe Massa stormed off the line to take the lead into the first corner, but Lewis Hamilton, starting from third on the grid, got a dreadful start, and found himself tenth by the first corner. There were also several comings together, and Sebastian Vettel found himself on the receiving end - he was tagged in the rear, although he wasn't sure by whom, and his race was done. The incident managed to spread oil in turns 4, 5, 6, and 7, and on the next lap several drivers slipped and slid their way through the mess. Elsewhere, Jenson Button picked up a puncture on the first lap, and was forced to pit.

On lap 2 Lewis Hamilton found himself buried behind his nemesis Fernando Alonso. On the run down to turn 4, Hamilton attempted a pass on the Spaniard, but inexplicably tagged his right-rear wheel, launching the front of his car into the air. The collision obliterated the front of Hamilton's car, and took a healthy chunk out of Alonso's rear wing. Hamilton would have to pit for repairs, but not before running extremely wide at turn 6 due to the lack of grip. His race had come unstuck early on, and a switch to a 1-stop strategy did nothing to mitigate the damage - he would score no points today.

Raikkonen managed to get past Kubica on lap 2. The Ferraris were stamping their authority on the race already, and Massa was calmly extending his lead. Meanwhile, Heikki Kovalainen lost a position to Nick Heidfeld. It was looking as though it was not going to be McLaren's day. The early order was Massa, Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Trulli, Rosberg, Webber. Kubica piled pressure on Raikkonen, setting fastest lap of the race. Raikkonen responded, as did Massa. They would all trade fastest lap time in the early laps. However, the pace of the Ferraris were relentless, and they eased away from their pursuers. As they entered the first pit window, it was Robert Kubica who was the first to dive to pit lane - he had in fact got slightly less fuel on board than his rivals. He pitted on lap 18 and took on another set of the Option tyres.

Back at the tail end of the field, Button and Coulthard had a coming together. Button had been pressuring Coulthard for a few laps, but on lap 18 Button appeared to get his braking a little wrong. This, combined with a move to cover the inside line for turn 8 by Coulthard, resulted in a collision. Button's front wing was knocked off, but Coulthard's car seemed unscathed. However, the Scot would ultimately have to pit for a new front wing. Button, on the other had, sustained major damage and after pitting once for repairs eventually returned to the pits to retire.

Back with the leaders, and a pit stop was being readied for Ferrari. Surprisingly it was for Raikkonen, on lap 20. Massa had more fuel on board than had been anticipated, and he now looked good for the win. He finally pitted on lap 22 - four laps later than Kubica. He emerged from his pit stop in the lead, ahead of Mark Webber who had yet to stop. When Webber pitted on lap 23, he managed to leap frog Nico Rosberg, who was pushed down into 8th place.

The order remained pretty much the same for the rest of the race, despite fast laps from Kubica and Heidfled - it appeared that anything they could throw at the Ferraris would get returned with more spin. Lewis Hamilton was struggling his way through the field and had climbed to 14th by the time he pitted on lap 32. He took on the harder Prime tyres - his race was all but run. To add insult to injury, he was lapped by lap 34.

Despite the drama, there were few retirements. In the end there were only three, the last of whom was Nelsinho Piquet, who slowed to a crawl with gearbox problems on lap 38, and retired a few laps later.

Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen had increased his tempo and was closing in on team mate Massa. The two Ferrari drivers traded fastest lap times, before Raikkonen pitted on lap 39. He took on the Prime tyres, as too did Massa when he pitted on the next lap, and Kubica when he pitted on lap 41. Kubica had a poor out lap, and lost ground on Raikkonen - his challenge was effectively over for the day. The fourth and fifth place runners - Heidfeld and Kovalainen - had their own private battle. The two of them would pit quite late, on laps 45 and 48 respectively, and in the process traded fastest lap of the race. On lap 49, a lap after taking on new tyres, Kovalainen set the fastest lap of the race but it was all too little too late for the Finn.

Up front, Massa went unchallenged. He cruised through the last few laps to take a well deserved win, some 3 seconds clear of his team mate. After having taken his first pole position, Robert Kubica came home third, ahead of his team mate Heidfeld, followed by Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber, and Rosberg. It was a welcome points haul for Massa and Ferrari, but McLaren and Hamilton will be left shaking their heads - McLaren have now been surpassed by BMW in the constructors' championship, and Kimi Raikkonen now assumes the lead in the drivers' championship.

So, Felipe Massa exorcised the demons of the first two races and dominated not only the race but the whole weekend, save for a blip in Q3. Moreover, Ferrari were comfortably quickest. The BMWs looked like the only other team that could mount a challenge. All the other teams, McLaren included, have a lot of work to do to catch up.

Effwun

Final Classification

PositionDriverTimePositionDriverTime
1.Massa1hr 31:06.97012.Fisichella+ 1 Lap
2.Raikkonen+ 3.33913.Hamilton+ 1 Lap
3.Kubica+ 4.99814.Nakajima+ 1 Lap
4.Heidfeld+ 8.40915.Bourdais+ 1 Lap
5.Kovalainen+ 26.78916.Davidson+ 1 Lap
6.Trulli+ 41.31417.Sato+ 1 Lap
7.Webber+ 45.47318.Coulthard+ 1 Lap
8.Rosberg+ 55.88919.Sutil+ 2 Laps
9.Glock+ 69.50020.PiquetLap 41
10.Alonso+ 77.86221.ButtonLap 20
11.Barrichello+ 1 Lap22.VettelLap 1

Fastest Lap: Heikki Kovalainen 1:33.193 (Lap 49)

The Alternative Podium Ceremony

1st - The John Watson Award for most places gained in the race: Giancarlo Fisichella (18th - 12th, 6 places)
2nd - The Olivier Grouillard Award for best roadblock: Lewis Hamilton (for his poor start)
3rd - The Philippe Alliot Award for most pointless crash: Lewis Hamilton (for mounting Alonso)
Constructors - The David Coulthard Award for outstanding achievement in the field of complaining: Lewis Hamilton (for waving furiously at Fisichella, even though they were racing for position).

Wow, that's almost a grand slam for Hamilton!