15/04/2007
NEWS STORY
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Make no mistake, today's race is about two team and four drivers. Indeed, at this point in time it would be safe to say that the entire 2007 championship season will be fought out by McLaren and Ferrari.
Ignoring the fact that today's result could well be settled within the first few hundred years - Massa has made it plain that he will be more aggressive this weekend, and Hamilton will be no pushover - we face the prospect of a thrilling battle in the months ahead.
It is clear that Alonso, in particular, is playing a strategic game, for there is no way that he's 0.8s slower than Massa, or indeed, 0.4s slower than his own teammate. The guy's a two time world Championship, which just about says it all.
Therefore, ignoring the fact that either a Ferrari or a McLaren will win today, it's worth looking at the rest of the field.
Without doubt, BMW is the class of the field, however, it should be worth watching Heidfeld and Kubica in the opening laps, as there is a fierce internal team battle going on here with much at stake.
The rest of the top ten is made up of sole representatives of four teams, Toyota, Red Bull, Williams and Renault.
We saw a rare Renault failure in the GP2 race yesterday, which is not a good omen. However, Fisichella's admission that the best his team can aim for today is some points indicates just how far the champions have fallen. Not for nothing did we nickname Giancarlo and Heikki as 'glum and glummer' the other day.
Poor Nico Rosberg will be hoping for some reliability. The German, and his Austrian teammate clearly have the speed, they just need a car that doesn't suffer these niggling little, but crucial, problems.
Webber's grid position owes more to the man than to the Adrian Newey designed car. It was a strong performance from the Australian yesterday. Hopefully, he can convert the result into a few points, but he'll be under pressure.
Toyota will surely get at least one car into the points, as the team continues to make slow but steady progress. Neither driver inspires, to an infuriating degree, but this weekend it appears to be Trulli's turn to perform.
The Super Aguris have been good all weekend, and look set to cause further embarrassment to some of the big guns, most notably Honda, which will be keen to get this race out of the way and return to base, in order that it can set about discovering why things have gone so badly wrong.
Another team that will be keen to get this race out of the way is Spyker, which is having a torrid time. Hopefully, Mike Gascoyne can make full use of the four week gap before the Spanish GP.
Toro Rosso will continue being Toro Rosso, make of that what you will.
We have already seen that the slightest variation from the racing line can end in trouble here, with drivers going off all over the place in the opening practice sessions. We witnessed similar excursions in the GP2 races, but then again, some of these were due to the sheer madness of some of the guys out there. Today's race, in particular, was littered with needless incidents, and we are lucky that nobody was injured. There were some good performances, but there were also a few moves that defied belief.
As the cars prepare for the warm up lap, the air temperature is 30 degrees C, and the track temperature is 40 degrees. The sun is shining, and conditions are almost perfect, other than for a strong wind which will be blowing sand on to the track.
Everyone is on the grid, nobody is starting from the pitlane.
The cars head off on the warm up lap, Alonso taking his time in getting away. Almost everyone is on the softer compound, indeed, Liuzzi is the one exception.
Hamilton gets the car well out of shapes as he gets as much heat into his tyre as possible.
They're away, and Massa is ahead of Hamilton, who appears to struggle getting away. Raikkonen and Alonso are all over the Englishman but he holds his position. At the back of the field there's a major incident involving Button and Speed. Both drivers are out, as is the safety car.
The replay shows that Button was the innocent of an incident involving several other cars including Sutil and Albers.
As the field continues behind the safety car, Kovalainen is told to keep his tyres warm, "that was good start", he's told, "a great start". Liuzzi takes advantage of the new rules and pits.
Massa, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Kubica, Fisichella and Webber.
At the restart, Hamilton looks as though he's about to make a move on Massa at the first corner, but opts to hold back. Meanwhile, Raikkonen appears to be caught on the hop, as the leading trio break away.
As in qualifying, there's a puff of blue smoke from Hamilton's car. Raikkonen, who has woken up, takes a second out of Alonso, indeed, the Finn posts a new fastest lap (35.309).
Just 0.6s behind the race leader, Hamilton locks up, the Englishman really pushing. Meanwhile, Raikkonen goes a little wide as he pursues Alonso. The first twn are covered by less than 9.8s.
Wurz, Trulli and Rosberg having a real ding-dong battle for tenth, brilliant stuff. Elsewhere, Liuzzi is being investigated for overtaking (Schumacher) under the safety car.
Massa goes quickest (35.209), as he extends his lead to 0.9s. Behind the leading four, Heidfeld is just 1.5s down the road, 3s ahead of his teammate. The Pole is under attack from Fisichella, who is hotly pursued by Webber and Kovalainen.
Liuzzi receives a frive through for overtaking under the safety car - the advantage he gained from his early stop now negated, and then some.
Hamilton goes quickest, as he pursues the race leader. Meanwhile, Coulthard joins in the battle for eleventh with Trulli and friends. The Scot makes up a place when Rosberg - attempting to make a move on his Williams teammate - goes wide, such is his determination.
Raikkonen gets out of shape as he closes right in on Alonso, who is now 4.6s behind Hamilton.
Having made a place courtesy of Rosberg, Coulthard is now all over Wurz. Elsewhere, Sato and Schumacher are having a similarly thrilling scrap.
While the front four slug it out, Heidfeld closes to within 1.1s. However, Kubica, in fifth, is now 73s behind his teammate, and under increasing pressure from Fisichella and Webber.
On lap 13, Massa posts a new fastest lap (34.776), however, Hamilton remains just a second behind. Kubica sets a personal best time, but continues to lose ground to Heidfeld.
Alonso slows right up and almost has Raikkonen up his exhaust pipes. The Finn will be really frustrated at being stuck behind what is clearly a slower car.
Now it's Hamilton who goes quickest (34.607), as he extends his lead over his teammate to 7s. Could the Spaniard be driving shotgun for the Englishman, repaying him for last week's 'debt'.
Trulli now leads a train of cars, which includes Kovalainen, Coulthard, Wurz and Rosberg. The Finn was ahead of the Italian, but appeared to lose attention, and consequently paid for it. Indeed, the Renault driver is now under pressure from Coulthard.
At the end of lap 17, Coulthard, Wurz and Schumacher pit. Meanwhile, Hamilton posts another fastest lap (34.270), who remains 1s behind the leader. The gap to Alonos is now up to 9s.
DC gets a hurry up call from his crew, as teammate Webber pits.
At the end of lap 19, Hamilton pits, remaining stationary for 9.8s. The McLaren driver rejoins in sixth ahead of Trulli. Fisichella also pits. Elsewhere, Rosberg and Kovalainen both go well wide as they battle for position.
After 20 laps, Massa leads Alonso by 10.3, with Raikkonen just 0.69s down the road.
Next time around it's the Brazilian who pits, rejoining in fifth behind Kubica, but, crucially, ahead of Hamilton. Trulli also pits.
Alonso pits at the end of lap 22, it is Alonso who pits, as do Liuzzi and Rosberg. Next time around it's Raikkonen and Heidfeld who stop. As the German leaves the BMWE pit, teammate Kubica arrives.
Therefore, with the front-runners having stopped, Massa now leads Hamilton by 4.6s, with Raikkonen now third 5.9s behind, the Finn having leapfrogged Alonso during the pit stops. Behind Alonso, it's Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Davidson, Kubica, Fisichella and Webber. Shortly afterwards, Kovalainen pits, which promotes Coulthard into the top ten, behind his teammate.
Rosberg goes wide again, this time as he battles with Trulli. Elsewhere, Barrichello (thirteenth) pits.
Fisichella and Webber are at it again, having a great fight for eighth, with Coulthard keeping a watching eye.
The Australian allows his teammate to pass, his Red Bull hampered by the fact that its fuel flap is open, which will cause the car to 'drag'. A selfless move from the Red Bull driver.
At the end of lap 28 - half-distance - Davidson finally pits. The Englishman was running in sixth in the Super Aguri, a magnificent performance. Elsewhere, Liuzzi finally calls it a day and retires the Toro Rosso.
Hamilton is now 8s behind Massa and falling into the clutches of Raikkonen, who is 2.8s behind. The Englishman is losing 0.5s a lap to the leader. Alonso is fourth, but under pressure from Heidfeld, who leads Kubica, Fisichella, Coulthard, Webber, Trulli, Rosberg, Wurz, Kovalainen, Davidson, Schumacher, Sato, Barrichello, Albers and Sutil.
Coulthard make a superb 'do or die' move on Fisichella to take seventh. The Scot is really hungry, which is more than can be said of the Italian.
Wow, having failed at the first attempt, Nick Heidfeld makes no mistake at the second, the BMW driver going around the outside of Alonso's Mercedes powered McLaren. Brilliant stuff from the former F3000 Champion.
After last week's euphoria, it's not looking good for McLaren, as Raikkonen closes in on Hamilton, with Heidfeld also sensing a podium.
"I am in trouble, I am in trouble," Fisichella tells his team, the Italian under pressure from Trulli, who is under attention from the Williams duo.
It's all over for Sato, whose engine blows big time on the pit straight. It will be interesting to see if he dropped any oil on the track, especially considering he drove across the pit lane exit.
Trulli passes Fisichella to take ninth, the Renault driver, like his teammate, suffering from understeer.
Tragedy for Coulthard, who, after a superb performance, clearly has a major mechanical problem. He slows down and makes his way back to the pits. Once there, he drives straight into his garage, his race over. A crappy end to a gritty drive.
After 38 laps, Massa lead Hamilton by 10.5s, with Raikkonen just 1.4s behind the Englishman. Heidfeld is 4.4s behind the second Ferrari and 2.8s clear of Alonso. Kubica is sixth, ahead of Webber, Trulli, Fisichella, Rosberg, Kovalainen, and Davidson.
At the end of lap 39, Rosberg and Davidson pit. Next time around it's Massa who stops. The Brazilian has the hard compound fitted, rejoining in fifth.
Next time around it is Raikkonen who pits, as does Heidfeld. They rejoin in fourth and sixth, either side of Kubica.
Therefore, Hamilton leads, but he still has to stop, as Massa posts a new fastest lap (34.067).
Mark Webber pulls off track, compounding a miserable day for Red Bull. A day which promised so much, but has ultimately delivered so little.
Alonso pits at the end of lap 43, as does Kubica. Next time around, race leader Hamilton makes his final stop of the afternoon. He heads down the pitlane, rejoining just ahead of Raikkonen, who will be keen to add eight points to his championship tally as opposed to six. Fisichella also pitted.
After 45 laps, Massa leads Hamilton by 7.6s, with Raikkonen just 1.8s down on the Englishman. Heidfeld continues in fourth, ahead of Alonso, Kubica, Trulli, Fisichella, Kovalainen and Rosberg.
With ten laps remaining, it looks all over bar the shouting, even Raikkonen appears to be settling for third, while we can't see Hamilton overcoming the 7s deficit to Massa.
Alonso is 1.4s behind Heidfeld, so we could yet see a late challenge, while the only other battles are between Trulli and Fisichella for seventh, Kovalainen and Rosberg for ninth, and Wurz and Davidson for eleventh.
Hamilton makes a late charge, closing to within 4.6s of Massa, as Fisichella gets a calls from Flavio; "Fisico, Fisico, pass Trulli, pass Trulli!" so that's what he's meant to do!
More misery for Super Aguri, as Davidson's engine follows the example set by Sato. Another driver who deserved more from today.
Despite oil (Davidson's) on his visor, Hamilton takes fractions more off the race leader, closing to within 3.9s.
Hamilton loses time in traffic, but Raikkonen, 5.4s behind, is unable to take advantage. Alonso continues to shadow Heidfeld.
Fisico attempt to go around the outside of Trulli, but it doesn't work. Flavio will not be happy. There is still thick blue smoke in the air following Davidson's engine failure.
Massa takes a fully deserved win, as Ferrari makes up for the misery of Malaysia. A great drive from the Brazilian, the third win of his career.
Another great performance from Hamilton, who makes history by becoming the first driver in the history of the sport to finish on the podium in his first three Grands Prix. Furthermore, he is not only ahead of his teammate, he is joint leader of the World Championship with teammate Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
Kimi Raikkonen will be disappointed with third, even though he leads the World Championship, albeit it jointly, he will feel that victory could have been his, especially after dominating all the early practice sessions.
A truly great drive from Heidfeld, who, if BMW is not interested in securing his services for 2008, will surely be getting calls from a number of rival teams. While the attention has been focussed on McLaren and Ferrari, the German has taken three consecutive fourth places, and as Nelson Piquet will tell you, it is regular point scoring that wins titles.
Alonso will be wondering where it all went wrong, and the fact is that McLaren screed up, particularly in terms of its second stint, the Woking team failing to take full advantage of its tyres.
Kubica will be delighted to finally have his name on the scoreboard, but the fact that he finished over 30s down on his teammate raises all manner of questions.
Another strong driver for Jarno Trulli - clearly it was his turn to score the points today - while Fisichella did the best he could under the circumstances.
Red Bull will rightly feel that they deserved more, David Coulthard, in particular, punching well above his weight. The Scot proved today that he still has at least one more season in him, and that talk of retirement is premature. Unlike some of his rivals, he clearly still has the hunger.
Super Aguri too will feel they were robbed, especially Davidson, who had the Japanese car as high as sixth.
Williams will be wondering where it all went wrong, though to be honest neither driver impressed today.
With three drivers jointly leading the championship, one could say that Bernie Ecclestone couldn't have planned it better, But he could. Now, at a time when interest in F1 is almost feverish, we suffer a four week break, courtesy of the dumping of the San Marino race.
Hopefully, interest will be maintained in the weeks ahead, and those new fans that have been won over in recent week will return.
In many ways this was the best race so far, even if it did settle down in the closing stages. Although the Bahrain circuit lacks atmosphere - despite what the barrage of press releases would have us believe - it has produced a good race, with plenty of overtaking.
If only the Spanish GP was next week.
To check out our Bahrain race day gallery, click here