European Grand Prix: Massa Wins First Valencia Grand Prix?

Felipe Massa took the chequered flag in the inaugural European Grand Prix in Valencia to record what should be a well deserved fourth victory of the season. However, the race result is still in doubt due to the fact the race stewards are going to be investigating an incident in the pit lane during Massa's second and final stop, which could yet gift the 10 points to Lewis Hamilton. In truth it wasn't a great race, and the most exciting action happened in the pitlane, mainly with Ferrari attempting to shoot themselves in the feet as much as possible. Kubica finished the race strongly in third, but Kimi Raikkonen ended up retired and pointless after an engine failure.

If Massa is to be denied his victory it will be extremely harsh on the young Brazilian as he drove a faultless race from lights to flag. After some discussion over night Massa ended up starting from pole on the right hand side of the grid instead of the left as had been originally expected, and quite right too. The advantage this gave him allowed him to take the perfect line through the opening corner and lead the race from the first lap onwards. He didn't have to worry too much about Hamilton behind him from the start as the McLaren driver didn't get the best of starts and was more worried about fending off Kubica's BMW through the opening corners.

Amazingly everyone managed to get through the tight turn 2 relatively unscathed, in stark contrast to the GP2 races earlier in the weekend. Sadly that wasn't to be maintained throughout the rest of the opening lap. Firstly David Coulthard got a nudge from behind and spun, putting him right down to last place, then disaster struck for home favourite Fernando Alonso. To the horror of the 100,000 Spanish fans lining the circuit Alonso got rear ended by Kazuki Nakajima's Williams, removing his rear wing. He limped back to the pits and the Renault mechanics tried to get the car back out on track to try and put on a show for the fans, but on closer inspection there was damage to the rear suspension and gearbox so the towel was thrown in. Alonso is the main reason this Grand Prix came to Valencia, and he will have been furious to see his race ruined so early on and to be unable to perform for his hordes of fans.

From then on it was pretty plain sailing for most of the field for the first stint. Massa managed to edge gradually ahead of Hamilton, and Hamilton in turn edged ahead of Kubica. Behind him Kovalainen had made it in front of compatriot Raikkonen from the start and was managing to keep the Ferrari behind him with relative ease. The Ferrari was probably the faster car, as evidenced by Massa's blistering pace out front, but due to the tight nature of the track there was little opportunity to overtake.

The question now was one of fuel loads. Hamilton's only hope appeared to be if Massa had been running significantly lighter in qualifying. Massa was indeed the first to pit, and strangely that was bad news for Kimi Raikkonen. Massa was released from his stop straight into the path of his team mate, meaning Kimi was stuck behind a much heavier car while Kovalainen, the man he was challenging, was able to cruise away into the distance. Not great strategy work from Ferrari it must be said.

Hamilton though was not able to stay out too much longer and was next to pit. He made a good stop, but despite setting the fastest lap of the race while out in front was unable to put any significant dent in Massa's 4 second lead at the front of the field. And things didn't get much better for Hamilton as this second stint was where Massa really put the hammer down. Massa made it look pretty effortless behind the wheel, slowly but surely putting tenth after tenth after tenth between himself and Hamilton. Lewis wasn't driving badly, the McLaren just didn't have anything more to give on the day.

Then things finally got a little bit interesting in the final pit stops. Massa was bunched up behind backmarker Sutil as they both entered the pits. Both had pretty much identical pit stops, but Ferrari were clearly anxious to get their man out in front of the back marker and released him right alongside the Force India. Due to the extremely tight pit lane exit Massa was forced to back off and pull in behind Sutil. There was no contact, but it certainly was very risky from Ferrari, and sure enough the announcement was made that they were under investigation for the incident.

But then things took a turn for the weirder, as it was then announced that the incident was to be investigated AFTER the race. This would mean that Massa would take the chequered flag but with the possibility of subsequently being stripped of the trophy. Investigating incidents after the race normally only occurs if the incident in question happens in the final 5 laps of the race. However, there were more like 20 laps to go when this incident occurred. The decision was a baffling one, and one which has the potential to throw some real controversy over the race and title challenge. The evidence was there for all to see. Either it was dangerous or it wasn't, the decision should be a fairly straighforward one for the stewards. Why on earth did they dodge the bullet and delay the decision? It just didn't make any sense.

While Ferrari were still worrying about what penalty may befall their lead driver (and let's be honest about this, on current form Massa has to be the lead driver in the team. Raikkonen doesn't look anywhere near capable of mounting a consistent title defence at the moment), things got much worse for the team. Raikkonen pitted, and whilst the fuel rig guys were still trying to pull the nozzle free Kimi floored the throttle. The nozzle was still very much attached, along with the two guys holding it, and one poor pit worker got clobbered by the rear wheel of the Ferrari. Kimi hit the brakes, but the damage had been done and the mechanic looked pretty badly hurt. Thankfully it seems that the mechanic is going to be OK, but it was still a horrible looking incident.

Replays showed that Raikkonen had NOT been given the green light to leave the pits from Ferrari's unique pit lane release system, but he went anyway. From the video footage it seems that the world champion was at fault. He was able to continue racing while his mechanic was stretchered to the medical centre, but not for long. While stepping on the gas on the exit of the final corner he lost drive, then pulled over out of the racing line as his engine detonated in smokey fashion. It brought to the end a pretty awful weekend for Raikkonen, one of many this season, and was Ferrari's second engine failure in as many races. They seem to have pace, but there are real question marks over their reliability and over the mind set of Kimi Raikkonen who is losing ground in the title race and does not appear to have much of an answer to Massa's brilliant pace of late.

Aside from Adrian Sutil stuffing his Force India into the barriers in the closing laps, that was about as far as the excitement went in this Grand Prix. Massa cruised to the chequered flag some seven seconds clear of Hamilton with Kubica putting in a very strong performance to take third. Kovalainen had a quiet day back in fourth, with both Trulli and Vettel keeping him honest with fine displays for fifth and sixth. Glock got seventh, and Rosberg claimed Williams' first points in a while with eighth place.

Whatever the result of the stewards' inquiry, Hamilton will still hold the championship lead as they head to Spa-Francorchamps. It was a fairly poor race from a spectators' point of view, and the organisers will be hoping that the wholesale changes to the F1 regulations next year will yield a more exciting race with more overtaking opportunities next year. They will also be hoping that Fernando Alonso (possibly Honda bound?) will be able to stay on track for longer than one lap. And we will all be hoping that there is no nonsense with delayed investigations, that only serve to confuse and confound F1 fans and drivers alike.

Provisional Race Result

1. Massa*
2. Hamilton
3. Kubica
4. Kovalainen
5. Trulli
6. Vettel
7. Glock
8. Rosberg
9. Heidfeld
10. Bourdais
11. Piquet
12. Webber
13. Button
14. Fisichella
15. Nakajima
16. Barrichello
17. Coulthard
ret Raikkonen
ret Sutil
ret Alonso

*subject to investigation after race regarding pit lane incident. Read more!

European Grand Prix Qualifying: Massa Masters the Streets of Valencia

Felipe Massa will start the first ever Grand Prix on the streets of Valencia's harbour from pole position after a perfect final lap knocked Lewis Hamilton off top spot by 2 tenths of a second. Of the drivers from the two big teams it was only really Massa and Hamilton who turned up to the party in the final qualifying session, with the Finns Raikkonen and Kovalainen back in fourth and fifth respectively. Robert Kubica put in an excellent performance to to take third, and could well be the cat amongst the pigeons as the three big title rivals stream down towards the crucial turn 2 on the opening lap.

After being bathed in glorious sunshine all yesterday the weather was decidedly gloomy and overcast for today's session. The spectre of rain loomed throughout the session, and there were brief spots of rain falling across the track at one point, but the track remained dry. The cool conditions definitely didn't suit the drivers too well though, as they struggled to get their tyres working in the early part of the session, particularly the option tyre.

In Q1 we had a real surprise in terms of the fastest man on track. Jarno Trulli was quickest despite missing out on this morning's practice session with mechanical problems. All of the major players got through without too much trouble, but there were surprises elsewhere too. Toro Rosso looked strong as they had done all weekend, but their big brothers Red Bull struggled badly. Coulthard failed to make it through, and Webber only just made it through. There was further disappointment for British fans as Jenson Button also dropped out. Button had looked pretty quick all weekend long, so it was a real surprise to everyone to see him joining team mate Barrichello on the sidelines for the rest of qualifying.

Q2 got underway with very light rain beginning to fall. It didn't last though, and didn't seem to make conditions any more slippery than they already were. The big story from this session was the massive disappointment for the Spanish fans as Fernando Alonso could only manage 12th fastest in the session. He had been looking reasonably strong all weekend, and would have certainly have expected to be making it through to the final session. However, on his final lap he ran wide coming out of the bridge section and skidded across the kerb losing him vital time, and probably giving him a sore backside in the process. With Piquet in 15th place this was pretty disastrous news for Renault, and also for the Valencia race promoters who would have been desperate to see Alonso doing well here.

At the front Sebastian Vettel continued his fantastic weekend and his impressive season so far by topping the time sheets. Could he be about to spring a real surprise in the final session? Sadly no, he couldn't quite maintain his head of steam in the final session. He put in a good performance to finish in P6, but a mistake on his final lap ended his chances of getting in amongst the big boys. Still, with Bourdais in a decent 10th place it was easily Toro Rosso's best qualifying performance yet. Hard to believe they are supposed to be one of the minnows of the F1 world, and a team that Dietrich Mateschitz is wanting to sell off.

After the first round of hot laps Ferrari were looking very strong. Both Massa and Raikkonen had put in strong laps, Kovalainen seemed to be struggling a little with his McLaren, and Hamilton made a costly error braking for the final turn that left him well adrift of the Ferraris. Hamilton knew he had to up his game in the final minutes, and he certainly rose to the challenge. He was the first of the major players to set his final flying lap, and he jumped straight to the top of the time sheets. The gauntlet had been very much thrown down to Kimi and Felipe. Raikkonen was first to step up to the plate, and he failed to impress, finishing well over two tenths shy of Hamilton. Kimi stayed on the prime tyre for his final lap, and I wonder whether he now regrets that decision.

The spotlight fell on Felipe Massa next, and he didn't disappoint. Running the softer option tyre he drove a completely clean lap and set a blistering time to take pole position by 2 tenths of a second. After his bitter disappointment in Hungary three weeks ago, this will have been the perfect tonic. Kubica was still out on track in the BMW, and he put in a great lap too. He squeezed out every last tenth the BMW had to offer, but it was only good enough for P3. Still an excellent performance from the Pole.

So Massa and Hamilton will lead the field on a voyage into the unknown tomorrow afternoon in the first ever Grand Prix start in Valencia. There is still some debate as to which side of the track will be the most favourable for the run down towards the opening turns, with some pundits claiming that starting in P2 may actually yield a better start. We'll have to wait and see, but one thing's for sure, Hamilton will be looking for a bit of revenge over Massa after the Brazilian got the jump on him at the start in Hungary.

Provisional Starting Grid

1. Massa
2. Hamilton
3. Kubica
4. Raikkonen
5. Kovalainen
6. Vettel
7. Trulli
8. Heidfeld
9. Rosberg
10. Bourdais
11. Nakajima
12. Alonso
13. Glock
14. Webber
15. Piquet
16. Button
17. Coulthard
18. Fisichella
19. Barrichello
20. Sutil Read more!

European Grand Prix: Saturday Practice Session

Robert Kubica set the pace in the final practice session before Saturday afternoon's qualifying session for the European Grand Prix. It was a session in which the drivers from the big two teams were keeping their powder dry for the most part; Felipe Massa was the quickest of the four in fifth place, with team mate Raikkonen as far down as fifteenth.

Williams showed some good pace in this session with Rosberg and Nakajima second and fourth respectively. It was also another good session for the Toro Rosso team, and this time it was Sebastein Bourdais who led the way up in third place. After a very inconsistent debut season thus far Bourdais seems to be really enjoying himself here in Valencia. The track character is quite similar to some of the American street circuits he will have been familiar with from his days as Champ Car champion, and it really seems to suit his driving style.

Lewis Hamilton was a respectable seventh place, but he doesn't look entirely happy on here yet. At one point in the session he went fastest of all on his first lap on the soft compound tyres, and then almost immediately spun off the track. He appears to have good pace when he manages to hold it together, but will need to up his consistency if he wants to score well here and cement his lead in the driver's championship. Title rival Kimi Raikkonen had a very quiet session this morning way down in 15th, but he showed he had good pace over one lap by being fastest of all yesterday, so will not be unduly worried by his position today.

Saturday Practice Times

1. R Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:38.754
2. N Rosberg Williams 1:38.877
3. S Bourdais Toro Rosso 1:39.009
4. K Nakajima Williams 1:39.270
5. F Massa Ferrari 1:39.276
6. S Vettel Toro Rosso 1:39.300
7. L Hamilton McLaren 1:39.314
8. N Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1:39.335
9. Coulthard Red Bull 1:39.421
10. N Piquet Renault 1:39.452
11. M Webber Red Bull 1:39.597
12. J Button Honda 1:39.628
13. F Alonso Renault 1:39.652
14. H Kovalainen McLaren 1:39.802
15. K Raikkonen Ferrari 1:39.802
16. T Glock Toyota 1:39.919
17. A Sutil Force India 1:40.019
18. G Fisichella Force India 1:40.059
19. R Barrichello Honda 1:40.512
20. J Trulli Toyota no time
Read more!

European Grand Prix: Friday Practice Sessions

After a three week long mid-season break Formula One is back, and it has made the journey to the first of two brand new street circuits - Valencia, Spain. As ever with F1 there is no such thing as a "holiday", perhaps with the exception of the drivers. The teams will have been working feverishly on squeezing a few extra hundredths of a second out of their cars since Hungary, and will be anxious to see the fruits of their labour out on the baking hot tarmac in Valencia.

The track itself has definite echoes of the Monte Carlo street circuit, with the course looping its way around the picturesque harbour against the back drop of the gleaming Mediterranean Sea. However, in terms of the track layout the character of the track should be very different. There are plenty of very high speed corners here, particularly the likes of turn one, and the track is also quite wide and spacious throughout, in stark contrast to more traditional style street circuits like Monaco. First impressions of the track are very favourable, with a great variety of corners, hopefully some good opportunities for passing, and a very eye-catching bridge section across the harbour.

Friday's first practice session began with the track naturally very green, and also extremely dusty due to the baking heat and lack of rain in Spain at this time of year. Times tumbled rapidly throughout the session as the track began to clear and rubber up, and all drivers were out putting plenty of mileage down in order to get used to the unfamiliar circuit. No doubt they will have been in the simulators at the factory in the past few weeks, but no amount of simulation can prepare you for the real deal.

At the end of the first session it was Toro Rosso's German sensation Sebastien Vettel who took the weekend's first headlines with an excellent lap in the dying moments to oust Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton managed to take P3 despite a spin in turn 2 late on in the session. He wasn't the only one taking advantage of the generous run-off areas here, with home favourite Fernando Alonso also running off the circuit at one point and Jarno Trulli having a minor pirouette.

To underline Toro Rosso's vast improvement Sebastien Bourdais put his STR3 up into fourth place. This was in stark contrast to the fortunes of Toro Rosso's big brothers over at Red Bull who managed to finish the session propping up the time sheets in last and second last place. David Coulthard had a brush with a crash barrier on his final run, just to make matters worse.

The second session saw most teams and drivers focussing on longer runs for the majority of the session, before the battle for the top spot heated up in the last ten minutes or so. At the chequered flag it was world champion Kimi Raikkonen leading the way with the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Fernando Alonso entertained the Spanish crowds with second place, and a spin at turn 2 to boot, and Jenson Button was a surprise third place finisher.

So far both Ferrari and McLaren are unsurprisingly looking strong, with Ferrari perhaps having a slight edge so far. It really is quite difficult to judge though with all drivers spending time just getting comfortable on the new circuit. For instance, Toro Rosso were nowhere near as competitive in the second session, and Rubens Barrichello finished dead last despite teammate Button coming third. We probably won't get a really good idea of who's hot and who's not here until we get down to the nitty-gritty of qualifying tomorrow.

Practice One Times

01 S. Vettel Toro Rosso 1:40.496 29 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:40.654 27 laps
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:40.822 21 laps
04 S. Bourdais Toro Rosso 1:41.099 31 laps
05 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:41.163 23 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:41.281 24 laps
07 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:41.317 27 laps
08 K. Nakajima Williams 1:41.329 26 laps
09 F. Alonso Renault 1:41.385 31 laps
10 N. Rosberg Williams 1:41.706 22 laps
11 R. Barrichello Honda 1:41.830 27 laps
12 J. Trulli Toyota 1:41.930 27 laps
13 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:41.951 23 laps
14 T. Glock Toyota 1:42.036 27 laps
15 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:42.107 32 laps
16 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:42.453 23 laps
17 J. Button Honda 1:42.460 29 laps
18 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:43.075 25 laps
19 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:43.312 23 laps
20 M. Webber Red Bull 1:43.524 24 laps


Practice Two Times

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:39.477 30 laps
02 F. Alonso Renault 1:39.497 39 laps
03 J. Button Honda 1:39.546 35 laps
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:39.678 31 laps
05 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:39.712 31 laps
06 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:39.954 30 laps
07 T. Glock Toyota 1:39.967 32 laps
08 R. Kubica BMW 1:40.149 35 laps
09 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:40.439 32 laps
10 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:40.500 23 laps
11 M. Webber Red Bull 1:40.585 24 laps
12 N. Rosberg Williams 1:40.607 34 laps
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:40.696 23 laps
14 K. Nakajima Williams 1:40.742 34 laps
15 J. Trulli Toyota 1:40.877 32 laps
16 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:40.982 36 laps
17 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:40.999 32 laps
18 N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:41.084 31 laps
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.246 38 laps
20 R. Barrichello Honda 1:41.377 31 laps

Onboard vid of the new track - Youtube - Kubica Onboard Valencia Friday Practice Read more!