By Mike Fourie
Despite the ITV commentators and production crew’s best efforts to instil elements of intrigue and excitement to the television coverage of the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya simply didn’t dish up a thrilling race on Sunday. After Fernando Alonso’s brave, but foolish, attempt to take the lead of the race at the first corner, a fiery pit stop by Felipe Massa (which looked far worse than it turned out to be), a flying BMW Sauber wheelnut and a clumsy mid-race collision between the hapless Honda duo of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, delivered the only moments of real drama in a race that enthusiasts had hoped would see a thrilling four-way battle for victory between Ferrari’s Massa and Kimi Raikkonen and the McLarens of Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
Instead, the 140 000 Spanish spectators might as well have stayed home, saved their Euros and enjoyed a good siesta while Massa obliterated the rest of the field. The fact that Massa had set pole position, claimed the fastest lap and won the race without any real opposition from the McLaren duo was hardly the Brazilian’s fault, of course.
Felipe has often been accused of blowing hot and cold, as the saying goes. Yet, he followed up his victory in Bahrain with another flawless display in Spain and I can honestly see little (other than Raikkonen pushing Massa into the wall to win at Monaco) that will break the little Brazilian’s spirit… Nothing succeeds like success! (okay, that’s the last cliché for this column). Moreover, the race turned into another Massa and Hamilton show. Hamilton has now become the youngest driver to lead the world championship and he claimed that distinction by outpacing his two-time world champion team-mate throughout the race weekend. Alonso must be a worried man at this point… Raikkonen was no faster than either McLaren driver up to the point that the Finn’s Ferrari broke down, but that fact will be of little consolation to the Spaniard. Winning a third consecutive championship title seems a tougher challenge now that Hamilton is setting the pace for the Woking-based team, and Massa’s dominant performance in Barcelona suggests that Ferrari is clearly still the team to beat in the F1 paddock.
Although the highly technical nature of the Barcelona circuit certainly doesn’t lend itself to a grand prix buffet of overtaking manoeuvres, a few drivers impressed with gritty drives in lesser-vaunted machinery. David Coulthard saw off a gearbox gremlin to finish ahead of the ever-improving Robert Kubica’s BMW, Nico Rosberg proved that he has found consistency in his sophomore F1 season, and Renault’s exhaustive testing programme paid dividends when rookie Heikki Kovaleinen finished seventh.
And, Takuma Sato needs a special mention for his eighth-placed finish. While the performance of Honda Racing’s “Earth” car is tantamount to a “global catastrophe”, the Japanese engine giant gets “good mileage” from cash-strapped (and often-ridiculed) Super Aguri. What’s going on? The Red Bull Racing team finished ahead of La Regie, the Toyota-powered Williams is quicker than the cars from Cologne, and Tenacious Taku is making his former team (who controversially dropped the Japanese driver) look silly.
The retired seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was in attendance at Barcelona, but I don’t really miss him. His protégé, Felipe Massa, has proved that Ferrari can re-claim the F1 world championship title – and the little Brazilian is likely to head the Scuderia’s charge. And as for Hamilton, was the outspoken Niki Lauda onto something when he recently tipped the British rookie to win the F1 driver’s title this year?
Spanish Grand Prix result:
1. F Massa (Brz) Ferrari
2. L Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes +6,790secs
3. F Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes +17,456
4. R Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber +31,615
5. D Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault +58,331
6. N Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +59,538
7. H Kovalainen (Fin) Renault +1:02,128
8. T Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 1 lap
9. G Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1 lap
10. R Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1 lap
11. A Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda 1 lap
12. J Button (GB) Honda 1 lap
13. A Sutil (Ger) Spyker-Ferrari 2 laps
14. C Albers (Ned) Spyker-Ferrari) 2 laps
DNF N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 50 laps
DNF R Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 48 laps
DNF Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 laps
DNF S Speed (USA) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 laps
DNF K Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 10 laps
DNF J Trulli (Ita) Toyota 9 laps
DNF M Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 8 laps
DNF A Wurz (Aut) Williams-Toyota 0 laps
Fastest lap: F Massa, 1:22,680, lap 14.
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