Spain witnessed another perfect weekend for Ferrari as they registered their second 1-2 finish of the season. This time though, it was Kimi Raikkonen who lead his team mate, Felipe Massa to the finishing line in what could be described as a dominating performance from the Scuderia. The results may not reflect that very fact, all thanks to multiple Safety Car interference during the race, but the Ferraris controlled the rest of the field with remarkable ease. Kimi looked like the man to beat from the start of the weekend and he rounded it off with a fantastic win and retained his lead in the World Championship.
At one moment during the qualifying, it looked as if Massa will be able to register another pole position to his name but Kimi delivered the best lap when it mattered the most to clinch the 1st place on the grid. He shared the front row with Fernando Alonso of Renault in what could be considered as the most surprising event of the weekend. Renault came up the field from nowhere and were able to challenge the likes of McLaren and BMW. Felipe Massa shared the second row of the grid with Robert Kubica of BMW. The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen filled up the third row with 5th and 6th positions respectively.
As the race started, there was never any doubt as to who’ll win the race unless Kimi makes a massive mistake or the bullet-proof reliability of Ferrari fails once again, both of which seemed unlikely. Mclarens were struggling for pace during the entire weekend as did most of the other cars. Ferraris were faster by at least three-tenths to four-tenths per lap compared to everyone else. Kimi’s speed was unmatched even by his team mate and Massa made sure there’s no lapse in concentration like any of the previous occasions. The only heart stopping moment came when Heikki slammed his McLaren into the tyre barriers mid way through the race.
Thankfully, he escaped without any major injuries. According to sources, he should be able to participate in the next race at Turkey this coming Sunday. Lewis finished the race in 3rd and provided some sort of consolation for McLaren team. Both he and his team looked out of touch in the last two races. Its time for McLarens and BMWs to start charging or else Ferraris will be unstoppable. With Kimi in great touch, things are not going to be any easier for them. The full results from the Spanish Grand Prix are as follows -
1 - Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 66 - 1:38:19.051
2 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 66 - +3.2 secs
3 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 66 - +4.1 secs
4 - Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber - 66 - +5.6 secs
5 - Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault - 66 - +35.9 secs
6 - Jenson Button - Honda - 66 - +53.0 secs
7 - Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota - 66 - +58.2 secs
8 - Jarno Trulli - Toyota - 66 - +59.4 secs
9 - Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber - 66 - +63.0 secs
10 - Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Ferrari - 65 - +1 Lap
11 - Timo Glock - Toyota - 65 - +1 Lap
12 - David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault - 65 - +1 Lap
13 - Takuma Sato - Super Aguri-Honda - 65 - +1 Lap
Ret - Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota - 41 - Mechanical
Ret - Fernando Alonso - Renault - 34 - Engine
Ret - Rubens Barrichello - Honda - 34 - Accident
Ret - Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes - 21 - Accident
Ret - Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri-Honda - 8 - Radiator damage
Ret - Sebastien Bourdais - STR-Ferrari - 7 - Accident
Ret - Nelsinho Piquet - Renault - 6 - Accident
Ret - Adrian Sutil - Force India-Ferrari - 0 - Accident
Ret - Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari - 0 - Accident
