Massa gets the job done for FerrariBahrain GP - Race from F1-Live.com
There were no mistakes this afternoon in the 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix from Felipe Massa who put in a flawless performance to kick-start his championship campaign. Starting second behind pole-sitter Robert Kubica, Massa breezed past the BMW Sauber driver to take the lead on the first lap, a lead he would never relinquish.
While Massa had the pace off the line to take the lead, he was kept under pressure throughout the race by Malaysian Grand Prix winner and team-mate Raikkonen. The pace was furious at the front with the duo trading best laps ahead of the second and final pitstops.
Massa took the chequered flag three seconds clear of Raikkonen, who was also able to make short-work of pole-sitter in the opening laps of the race, while Kubica took the flag in third position, less than two seconds behind Raikkonen.
For Kubica, the gap at the end of the Grand Prix does not tell the full picture as Ferrari utterly dominated the third round of the championship and it was only in the final stint that the team went into car conservation mode and controlled the gap to the flag.
The ten points for Massa is a much needed boost after failing to finish in Australia and Malaysia while Raikkonen’s second position moves him to the head of the championship table heading to Barcelona in three weeks time.
With Kubica finishing third, Nick Heidfeld made best of a good getaway at the start of the race to bring home the second F1.08 in fourth position and in doing so the Hinwil-based team leave Bahrain leading the constructors’ championship for the first time.
Bahrain would prove to be something of a reality check for the McLaren Mercedes team. Starting the race with Hamilton third and Kovalainen fifth, the team had hoped to challenge the front-runners from the outset.
Lewis Hamilton made a mess of his race start dropping to tenth position but his race really came unstuck next time around as he inexplicably ran into the back of Fernando Alonso Renault. The McLaren took to the air shedding its front wing forcing Hamilton to creep back to the pits for repairs. The Australian Grand Prix winner made little impression from that point, despite switching to a one stop strategy and would finish a lapped 13th.
Heikki Kovalainen steered clear of trouble and fended off advances from behind to take the chequered flag in fifth position, almost 30 seconds behind race winner Massa.
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080406153126.shtml
FINAL RESULTS:
1) Felipe Massa - Ferrari
2) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
3) Robert Kubica - BMW
4) Nick Heidfeld - BMW
5) Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren - Mercedes
6) Jarno Trulli - Toyota
7) Mark Webber - Red Bull - Renault
8) Nico Rosberg - Williams - Toyota
