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Massa too strong in Bahrain

Sun 6th, April 2008

Sakhir, Bahrain (Sports Network) - For the second straight year Felipe Massa captured the Grand Prix of Bahrain. The No.2 Ferrari crossed the finish line 3.339 seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen. He dominated for most of the afternoon taking the lead off the starting grid and relinquishing it only during pit stops.

The victory was Massa's first of the season, the first race he completed all the laps in 2008 and the sixth of his F1 career.

Surprise pole winner Robert Kubica, the first non-Ferrari or McLaren pole winner in 22 races, brought the field to the green flag for 57 laps of racing around the 3.363-mile, 15-turn road course, but it was Massa who beat Kubica to the first corner and quickly grabbed the lead.

"Starting second didn't change anything because I had a good start," said Massa, who was fastest for most of qualifying, but started second on the grid.

At the other end of the spectrum was points leader Lewis Hamilton who fell from third on the grid to 10th after the opening lap. It got worse for Hamilton who slammed into the back of Fernando Alonso's Renault on lap two destroying the front nose. Hamilton would return to the track with a new nose piece, but in 18th place and 50 seconds behind the leaders.

Meanwhile, up front, 2007 World Champion Raikkonen got around Kubica giving Ferrari the top two spots after just three laps. Massa, who failed to finish either of the first two races and was under pressure to perform this weekend, set a fastest lap on lap 7 to extend his lead to 4.3 second over his teammate, who could not escape Kubica. On lap 12 Massa again lowered his best lap time, expanding his lead to 5.1 seconds over Raikkonen.

Both Raikkonen and Kubica pitted before Massa indicating just how well the Brazilian was running even with a heavier fuel load. Massa finally made his first stop on lap 21 holding a 15.5-second lead on Nick Heidfeld who followed the leader down pit lane.

After the first round of pit stops, Massa's lead had grown to 5.4 second on Raikkonen. Slowly, Raikkonen began to eat into the lead as the field hit the mid-point of the race. The World Champion was still just under five seconds back, but he was slightly quicker than the leader. The two BMWs of Kubica and Heidfeld were 13 and 18 seconds back, respectively. And Hamilton was still stuck down in 14th place, 59 seconds back, and looking like his championship lead was lost.

Raikkonen continued to close - to 3.6 second at lap 35. Then he pulled in for his final stop on lap 38. One lap later Massa pitted. The Brazilian returned to the track still well ahead of his teammate - 5.5 seconds.

When Heidfeld made his final stop on lap 45, Massa retook the lead and held 7.3 seconds on Raikkonen. Heidfeld returned to the track just 5.1 seconds behind his teammate in the battle for the last podium spot behind the two Ferraris.

Kubica was flying now with 10 laps to go. He was one second faster than Raikkonen and the pole winner closed to within 3.6 second of second place. He got as close as one second, but that was all he could do.

On this day, however, no one had anything for Massa, who won in Bahrain for the second consecutive year. "The car was just very, very good and the strategy was perfect," said Massa.

Heidfeld, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg completed the points-scoring positions. Hamilton finished 13th and fell five points behind the new championship leader - Raikkonen (19-14). Heidfeld jumped up to second place overall just three points behind the reigning World Champion.

The fourth race of the season is set for Sunday, April 28th in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.

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