Anyone who'd looked at the starting grid on Saturday would've thought that Kimi Räikkönen would've won the race as he was the pole-sitter. With Alonso close on his heels and Massa following him, it looked like it would turn into the long awaited Kimi-Alonso battle. And with Hamilton way back in 10th following a tyre failure and consequent crash into the barriers, his hopes of a podium finish were just as realistic as that of a Spyker winning a race. But things are not always as they look...
Come Sunday, and rain was expected around the start of the race. This complicated issues a bit as all the teams were on dry tyres and none of them were expecting rains. All the 22 cars were off on their formation lap and very cleverly, Markus Winkelhock/Spyker decided to switch to wet weather tyres at the very end of the lap. A lap down and the heavens had opened up. 4 out of 5 cars spin out at the same corner - the first one. One of them was Hamilton. While the others' engines had shut down, Hamilton kept his running for over 2 minutes before a crane came and helped him back. Although it was not supposed to be done, it was. Racing with assistance is not allowed. But I think given the conditions, it was okay for him to do so. All cars came and pitted to change their tyres to wet weather. Räikkönen made an uncharacteristic error and spun at the pit lane entrance forcing him to stay out on track to do another lap on the dry tyres. With so much of chaos, after 4 laps, the race was stopped to enable drivers and engineers to discuss the car and wait for track conditions to improve. 5 cars, however, were not making the restart and they were: Jenson Button (Honda), Adrian Sutil (Spyker), Nico Rosberg (Williams), and the two Toro Rossos of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed as they had all spun out. Now, according to the rules, whenever there's a restart, the last car to lead will restart in 1st. This meant that first time racer Markus Winkelhock was on pole, thanks to their quick decision to start on the wet tyres and Räikkönen, as a result of his botched up entry into the pit lane, found himself in 7th place on the grid behind Kovalainen, Webber, Coulthard, Alonso, Massa and of course, Winkelhock.
At the restart, the Safety Car led for two laps before starting the race. The restart, incidentally, was a rolling start. That means that instead of the drivers waiting on the grid for the lights to go out and then start, they straightaway start as soon as the safety car goes into the pits, but no overtaking is allowed till your car crosses the start-finish line. Markus Winkelhock very wisely moved out of Massa's and Alonso's way. Massa came under immediate attack from Alonso but hold him off. In another lap or so, the track had begun to dry very rapidly and all drivers make a stop to switch from wet weather tyres to intermediate ones.
Räikkönen starts to drive his usual self - on the limit and quickly comes third behind Alonso and Massa. He goes so fast that not only is he gaining .5-.6s on Alonso, but is also gaining time on Massa by about .2-.3s. Winkelhock, meanwhile, retired following a hydraulic problem on lap 13, as did Takuma Sato on lap 19 and Räikkönen on lap 34. Other casualties included Ralf Schumacher who was racing his home race and was sent across the gravel trap by Nick Heidfeld in an accident. Nick apologised and Ralf forgave him later on. Of course, the blame partly laid with Ralf who exited the Coca-Cola corner poorly. With Räikkönen out of the way and Massa leading the race, it looked like Massa would win, which until the time Räikkönen retired looked like he could challenge for victory. Well, anyways, the race was set with Massa leading and Alonso close on his heels with Mark Webber (a distant) third. Just as we thought it would be a Ferrari victory with just 12 laps to go, rain was predicted in about 10 minutes. With 7 laps to spare, all the drivers pitted again to change back to wet weather tyres and that was when the McLarens had the clear advantage. Just as the Ferraris had it in the dry, the McLarens were really quick in the wet and Alonso was closing in on Massa really, really quickly. With 3 laps to go, Alonso overtook Massa in the most daring fashion. Had to hand it to Massa though, he defended really well even on the tyres that didn't suit the car. But all he did was just delay the inevitable, really... Still, Alonso's overtaking move was really, not Schumacher-like, but really breath-taking. Massa and Alonso touched, with Massa's tyre mark showing on Alonso' sidepod. He didn't look happy about that later on. After overtaking, Alonso opened up a gap of 8.1s in just 3 laps. Hamilton, meanwhile, made the most of this situation and charged at the two Renaults in front of him. With 1 lap to go, to get into the points, he had to overtake 2 cars. Tall order, but he did manage to overtake Fisichella and came very close to Kovalainen. All this very clearly showed that while the Ferrari was good in the dry and the wet-to-dry conditions, McLaren clearly ruled the wet.
So, at the end of the race, these were the results:
1. Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes)
2. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari)
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)
4. Alexander Wurz (Williams-Toyota)
5. David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault)
6. Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
7. Robert Kubica (BMW)
8. Heikki Kovalainen (Renault)
9. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
10. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault)
11. Rubens Barrichello (Honda)
12. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri-Honda)
13. Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
The list of retirees (with lap on which they retired and reason) are:
1. Kimi Räikkönen (Scuderia Ferrari) Lap 34 - Hydraulic
2. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri-Honda) Lap 19 - Hydraulic
3. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) Lap 19 - Accident
4. Markus Winkelhock (Spyker-Ferrari) Lap 13 - Hydraulic
5. Jenson Button (Honda) Lap 2 - Spin
6. Adrian Sutil (Spyker-Ferrari) Lap 2 - Spin
7. Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) Lap 2 - Spin
8. Scott Speed (STR-Ferrari) Lap 2 - Spin
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi (STR-Ferrari) Lap 2 - Spin
Out of the car and into the weight-checking area, Alonso had a few words with Massa, who was obviously pissed at the fact that Massa came so close to finishing their or his race/s. Here's the transcript:
Come Sunday, and rain was expected around the start of the race. This complicated issues a bit as all the teams were on dry tyres and none of them were expecting rains. All the 22 cars were off on their formation lap and very cleverly, Markus Winkelhock/Spyker decided to switch to wet weather tyres at the very end of the lap. A lap down and the heavens had opened up. 4 out of 5 cars spin out at the same corner - the first one. One of them was Hamilton. While the others' engines had shut down, Hamilton kept his running for over 2 minutes before a crane came and helped him back. Although it was not supposed to be done, it was. Racing with assistance is not allowed. But I think given the conditions, it was okay for him to do so. All cars came and pitted to change their tyres to wet weather. Räikkönen made an uncharacteristic error and spun at the pit lane entrance forcing him to stay out on track to do another lap on the dry tyres. With so much of chaos, after 4 laps, the race was stopped to enable drivers and engineers to discuss the car and wait for track conditions to improve. 5 cars, however, were not making the restart and they were: Jenson Button (Honda), Adrian Sutil (Spyker), Nico Rosberg (Williams), and the two Toro Rossos of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed as they had all spun out. Now, according to the rules, whenever there's a restart, the last car to lead will restart in 1st. This meant that first time racer Markus Winkelhock was on pole, thanks to their quick decision to start on the wet tyres and Räikkönen, as a result of his botched up entry into the pit lane, found himself in 7th place on the grid behind Kovalainen, Webber, Coulthard, Alonso, Massa and of course, Winkelhock.
At the restart, the Safety Car led for two laps before starting the race. The restart, incidentally, was a rolling start. That means that instead of the drivers waiting on the grid for the lights to go out and then start, they straightaway start as soon as the safety car goes into the pits, but no overtaking is allowed till your car crosses the start-finish line. Markus Winkelhock very wisely moved out of Massa's and Alonso's way. Massa came under immediate attack from Alonso but hold him off. In another lap or so, the track had begun to dry very rapidly and all drivers make a stop to switch from wet weather tyres to intermediate ones.
Räikkönen starts to drive his usual self - on the limit and quickly comes third behind Alonso and Massa. He goes so fast that not only is he gaining .5-.6s on Alonso, but is also gaining time on Massa by about .2-.3s. Winkelhock, meanwhile, retired following a hydraulic problem on lap 13, as did Takuma Sato on lap 19 and Räikkönen on lap 34. Other casualties included Ralf Schumacher who was racing his home race and was sent across the gravel trap by Nick Heidfeld in an accident. Nick apologised and Ralf forgave him later on. Of course, the blame partly laid with Ralf who exited the Coca-Cola corner poorly. With Räikkönen out of the way and Massa leading the race, it looked like Massa would win, which until the time Räikkönen retired looked like he could challenge for victory. Well, anyways, the race was set with Massa leading and Alonso close on his heels with Mark Webber (a distant) third. Just as we thought it would be a Ferrari victory with just 12 laps to go, rain was predicted in about 10 minutes. With 7 laps to spare, all the drivers pitted again to change back to wet weather tyres and that was when the McLarens had the clear advantage. Just as the Ferraris had it in the dry, the McLarens were really quick in the wet and Alonso was closing in on Massa really, really quickly. With 3 laps to go, Alonso overtook Massa in the most daring fashion. Had to hand it to Massa though, he defended really well even on the tyres that didn't suit the car. But all he did was just delay the inevitable, really... Still, Alonso's overtaking move was really, not Schumacher-like, but really breath-taking. Massa and Alonso touched, with Massa's tyre mark showing on Alonso' sidepod. He didn't look happy about that later on. After overtaking, Alonso opened up a gap of 8.1s in just 3 laps. Hamilton, meanwhile, made the most of this situation and charged at the two Renaults in front of him. With 1 lap to go, to get into the points, he had to overtake 2 cars. Tall order, but he did manage to overtake Fisichella and came very close to Kovalainen. All this very clearly showed that while the Ferrari was good in the dry and the wet-to-dry conditions, McLaren clearly ruled the wet.
So, at the end of the race, these were the results:
1. Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes)
2. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari)
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)
4. Alexander Wurz (Williams-Toyota)
5. David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault)
6. Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
7. Robert Kubica (BMW)
8. Heikki Kovalainen (Renault)
9. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
10. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault)
11. Rubens Barrichello (Honda)
12. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri-Honda)
13. Jarno Trulli (Toyota)
The list of retirees (with lap on which they retired and reason) are:
1. Kimi Räikkönen (Scuderia Ferrari) Lap 34 - Hydraulic
2. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri-Honda) Lap 19 - Hydraulic
3. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) Lap 19 - Accident
4. Markus Winkelhock (Spyker-Ferrari) Lap 13 - Hydraulic
5. Jenson Button (Honda) Lap 2 - Spin
6. Adrian Sutil (Spyker-Ferrari) Lap 2 - Spin
7. Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) Lap 2 - Spin
8. Scott Speed (STR-Ferrari) Lap 2 - Spin
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi (STR-Ferrari) Lap 2 - Spin
Out of the car and into the weight-checking area, Alonso had a few words with Massa, who was obviously pissed at the fact that Massa came so close to finishing their or his race/s. Here's the transcript:
Alonso: You did it intentionally, as in Barcelona.
Massa: No, I did not.
Alonso: You broke my sidepod there - go and have a look at it!
Massa: Go f**k yourself!. You won and you say something like this.
Alonso: Mate, it can't break itself.
Alonso: I have fought with Heidfeld, with everybody, what you did with three laps to go can't be done.
Massa: He wins and says that. You must learn.
Alonso: It is you who has to learn. I have fought with everybody and with three laps to go, we touch!
Massa: Bravo.
Alonso: Bravo you!
Massa: You say that I did it on purpose, like I did that on purpose in Barcelona?. You were remained behind.
(As this point Ron Dennis steps in)
Dennis: Boys calm down.
Massa: Tell him to!
Well, that's it for now then. Till the next race, which by the way, is the Hungarian GP on 5th August to be telecast live on Star Sports at 5:30 pm (IST), it's bye from me.
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