Massa won the european race that took place within the city of Valencia, Spain. He had the pole position from yesterday, and he was the fastest man on track during the whole race. He was not really threatened by anyone since Hamilton was behind the whole time, with a controllable gap between them.
The big star of the race, Fernando Alonso disappointed his fans on the very first laps. However the fault was not his, as Nakajima crashed on him from the back and destroyed his rear wing, forcing him to retire.
The Brazilian had a great race. He built a gap of around 8sec from the beginning and had managed to keep it until the end. Lewis Hamilton was placed second without having to try hard and Robert Kubica was third. Behind them some interesting incidents happened.
The main thing that remains to be seen is whether the stewards are going to penalize Felipe Massa in some way, as he has been released in the path of A. Sutil during his second and final pit stop. The stewards have not reached a decision during the race, but they will investigate the incident right afterwards to see if there has been any kind of illegal or dangerous actions.
Ferrari was also unlucky during the second pit stop of its other driver, Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, left the pit too early (before the green light). The fuel pump was still attached to his car and as a result a mechanic ended up in hospital as he was violently dragged by the Finn's car.
Kimi's engine exploded a few km later sending him out of the race while he was on 6th place.
Heikki Kovalainen was fourth and Jarno Trulli fifth with his Toyota, Vettel sixth and Glock 7th with the other Toyta, confirming that the team is in great shape and it is improving race by race. The points awarding places was filled by N. Rosberg and Williams Toyota.
Overall the Valencia circuit was good and has reminded us of the old Detroit circuit that used to take place some years earlier. For one more time there has been almost no overtakings, despite the fact that the track is wide enough (no relation to the other street circuit - Monaco).
Lewis Hamilton remained first on the standings, and Felipe Massa is now second, 6 points behind. It seems that the championship will be decided between the two of them, with six races remaining.
The results are as follows :
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35:32.339
02 L. Hamilton McLaren + 5.600
03 R. Kubica BMW + 37.300
04 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 39.700
05 J. Trulli Toyota + 50.600
06 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso + 52.600
07 T. Glock Toyota + 1:07.900
08 N. Rosberg Williams + 1:11.400
09 N. Heidfeld BMW + 1:22.100
10 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1:29.700
11 N. Piquet jr. Renault + 1:32.700
12 M. Webber Red Bull + 1 laps
13 J. Button Honda + 1 laps
14 G. Fisichella Force India F1 + 1 laps
15 K. Nakajima Williams + 1 laps
16 R. Barrichello Honda + 1 laps
17 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 1 laps
18 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 12 laps
Did not finish
19 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 16 laps
20 F. Alonso Renault + 56 laps
