The Complete 2007 Spanish GP Review

After a month-long break and a frantic period of development work, the Spanish Grand Prix followed virtually the same storyline as the previous race in Bahrain: Felipe Massa left his rivals shell-shocked with a commanding and somewhat unexpected victory, while Fernando Alonso left the circuit with much to be concerned about.

Their controversial first corner clash would jostle for post-race headlines with Lewis Hamilton's latest stunning, inexperience-belying, achievement, as McLaren's new star became the first rookie and the youngest driver ever to lead the world championship thanks to his third consecutive second place.

Until Saturday afternoon, Massa seemed the least likely victor amongst the four main contenders.

For although Ferrari had utterly dominated pre-race testing, Kimi Raikkonen's declaration that he had made a major breakthrough and was now comfortable with the car for the first time suggested that he would lead the team's charge.

Raikkonen's optimism was an ominous prospect for the rest of the field, but after practice it looked like Ferrari's test form had been anomalous, for McLaren topped all three sessions - two of them in one-two formation. Third and fifth in first practice was the best Ferrari could manage.

And with only seconds left in qualifying, Alonso looked to be on course for a dominant home pole, leading the way by four tenths of a second.

But suddenly - out of the blue - Massa thrust himself to the front after finding 0.7 seconds on his final lap. He then proceeded to out-muscle Alonso at the start, before unleashing such crushing and consistent speed in the race that he would surely have beaten the McLaren regardless of the first corner incident. It was McLaren's practice form that turned out to be the blip.

"We think our friends on Friday were a little bit lighter than us..." said Ferrari's Luca Baldisserri after his team's triumph.

Despite Hamilton's suggestion after the race that he was setting "very similar times to Felipe", Massa could have beaten the Briton by 30 seconds rather than six had he wished. Alonso wore a haunted look after limping to third with a damaged car. Raikkonen never featured - only third on the grid and wondering where the performance went in qualifying again, then out with electrical problems after nine laps.

All three were but a sideshow in the wake of the untouchable Massa, whose driving surely made his former team leader and mentor Michael Schumacher proud on his first public appearance as a Ferrari 'advisor'.

The Spanish GP featured a first corner collision between two of the title contenders in what remains a close four-way fight between two closely-matched teams, several dramatic pitstop glitches including a fuel fire on the leader's car, eight retirements, teammates colliding, a host of potential points-scorers forced to fight through the field, and the 11th team in the pitlane beating the world champions to the final point.

On paper, it was absolutely jam-packed with incident and intrigue... yet in reality desperately soporific for long periods, especially once the top four spread out.

It is no coincidence that conversations about the lack of excitement in Formula One so often begin straight after Barcelona, and the decision to replace the challenging final two corners with a tedious chicane looked counter-productive as overtaking remained as hard as ever.

The racing was outstanding on the opening lap - Nico Rosberg and Giancarlo Fisichella overtook each other three times in as many corners - but aerodynamic turbulence again stymied the action once the race got properly underway.

The damage Alonso sustained in a relatively innocuous first lap tangle also showed how the extra aero appendages are making the cars disappointingly fragile and preventing drivers from mounting comeback charges after such incidents.

There remains a massive amount of uncertainty and expectation around F1 2007, but a four-way title fight suddenly becomes a lot less enticing when the participants are cruising around the circuit in monotonous isolation, a dozen seconds apart.

Until the wheel to wheel drama comes on the final lap as well as the first lap, this season will not live up to its potential.

Practice

Practice one - Friday am

Despite trailing Ferrari in pre-race testing, McLaren took control as soon as practice began, with Fernando Alonso fastest for most of the opening session before being usurped by teammate Lewis Hamilton with half an hour remaining. Hamilton then went another four-tenths faster when he tried Bridgestone's softer tyres, ending the session with a 1:21.880 lap.

The Ferraris had to settle for third and fourth, split by Robert Kubica's BMW.

Anthony Davidson produced another practice surprise with sixth for Super Aguri, ahead of the Toyota pair, who had set the early pace before the McLarens and Ferraris emerged.

Practice two - Friday pm

It was Alonso's turn to try softs in the afternoon, and he duly went fastest - holding a 0.7 second advantage for most of the session.

Late low fuel laps from the Renaults brought Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen up to second and third at the end of the session, with Kovalainen losing a potentially even better lap by spinning at Turn 13. Felipe Massa was fourth, despite a couple of errors at Turn 10, ahead of Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

Scott Speed produced the surprise of the day by holding second place early on, before eventually slipping to a still-respectable 10th. His Toro Rosso teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi struggled with hydraulic problems and could not emulate the American.

Practice three - Saturday am

McLaren's strong run continued with another one-two in final practice. This time Hamilton's mid-session 1:21.233 effort earned him the top spot by 0.079 seconds from Alonso.

The BMWs and the impressive David Coulthard filled the top five, as the Ferraris managed only sixth and seventh positions, ahead of Davidson.

All three practice sessions proved relatively uneventful, the drivers all familiar with the track from pre-race testing and making few errors.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

The midfield battle was shaken up before qualifying was even a third over, as several potential points contenders found themselves missing the first cut-off point.

Honda have experienced that ignominy already in 2007 and with a few seconds remaining in Q1, both their drivers looked in danger of another early departure. But Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello's last laps were good enough to lift the duo out of danger.

That was bad news for Ralf Schumacher and Alex Wurz, who ended up 17th and 18th on the grid having hit traffic during their last runs. Wurz was particularly eloquent in his anger.

"It was like a rush hour traffic jam on the out-lap," he said. "I had to go on the dirt to let guys through.

"Then (Jarno) Trulli was slowing down like he was having a picnic, and my tyre temperatures were just gone."

They were joined on the sidelines by a pair of mechanically-troubled Red Bull-owned cars. Mark Webber knew he was in for "a long race" from 19th after the team detected hydraulic problems and called off his second qualifying run, while practice sensation Scott Speed's Toro Rosso failed to set a time after a failure within the car's upgraded transmission.

"On my out lap, as I tried to change gear I got a neutral and the engine died, and then as I started my flying lap, it happened again and I almost went off the track," Speed said. "It got worse and that was it."

Once again, both Spykers remained mired at the back. Adrian Sutil beat teammate Christijan Albers to 20th after the Dutchman went off the road at Turn 9 on his last run - although Albers felt the incident was irrelevant as he had already been blocked earlier in the lap.

"That was the worst qualifying of my life with traffic," he said.

"It didn't really matter that I went off as I had already lost about seven tenths in the first sector."

Part two

Three of drivers most satisfied to reach Q2 hit trouble soon after the second segment began. Takuma Sato managed one flying lap before a fuel pump problem left his Super Aguri stranded trackside, but Vitantonio Liuzzi didn't even manage to leave the Toro Rosso garage, as the same transmission glitch that had struck Speed ten minutes earlier reappeared on Liuzzi's car.

Anthony Davidson's problems were of his own making, as he ran wide through the Turn 3 gravel on his first run and sustained diffuser damage that would contribute to a wild spin at Turn 9 during his second flying lap.

"I'd lost a lot of downforce, but I just went for it, tried to go through to Q3, gave it my all, and it was too much," Davidson admitted.

All of that meant that Davidson and Liuzzi would share row eight, neither driver having set a time. But despite only getting one lap in before his car failed, Sato came close to beating both works Hondas. Only a last gasp effort by Rubens Barrichello got the Brazilian up to 12th, ahead of Sato, while Button would start behind a Super Aguri again in 14th. Despite this, the Briton was surprisingly upbeat.

"It felt really good actually, compared to what we have had," said Button.

Nico Rosberg was the other driver to miss out, never looking like he would get the remaining Williams into the top ten.

Part three

McLaren's domination had continued in Q1, with Lewis Hamilton setting his third session-topping time of the weekend.

But Felipe Massa and Ferrari intruded in Q2, beating the McLarens and Kimi Raikkonen by 0.2 seconds.

That wasn't what the enormous Spanish crowd had come to see, but they cheered up after the first flying laps of Q3, as Fernando Alonso's 1:21.661 put him a commanding 0.423 seconds clear of Raikkonen, Massa and Hamilton.

"They told me on the radio that we were three or four tenths in front of everybody after the first attempt," said Alonso.

"I was thinking, 'now I will do my second new tyre run as hard as I can and probably that will be enough to be on pole...'"

It certainly looked that way at first. Hamilton briefly made it an all-McLaren front row when he found half a second on his final lap, but Raikkonen pipped him for the provisional second place by 0.052 seconds a few moments later, despite being unhappy with his car in sector three throughout qualifying.

Then Massa produced a shock improvement of 0.742 seconds and vaulted from fourth to pole position, silencing the Spanish crowd.

Alonso would be the last contender to cross the line, and looked set to depose Massa in the first two sectors. But the Brazilian had been mighty through the revised final corners, and the local hero fell short by 0.030 seconds.

For the third time in a row, Massa would start from pole position, with the McLarens second and fourth as they had been in every qualifying session so far in 2007.

Hamilton was unconcerned about falling to the back of this elite quartet, and openly hinted that he had the heaviest fuel load of the frontrunners.

The BMWs and Toyota's Jarno Trulli battled hard for fifth, sixth and seventh - the whole group just over eight tenths of a second off the pole combatants' pace. Robert Kubica won the best of the rest contest, shrugging off unwanted oversteer to beat Trulli by 0.071 seconds with his final lap. But the Italian was thrilled with sixth, 0.065 seconds clear of Nick Heidfeld, and Toyota's best qualifying position of the year.

Heikki Kovalainen was similarly upbeat after the session, having not only reached Q3 for the first time in his career, but out-qualified teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in the process, although the latter felt that losing half of third practice to an ECU problem had left him poorly prepared for qualifying.

David Coulthard split the Renaults, reaching the final part of qualifying for the first time since Hockenheim 2006. But ninth brought little satisfaction for the Scot, who feared his race would be compromised.

"I'm disappointed with the runs that I did," he said. "I picked up a lot of 'push' on the new tyres.

"On the one hand, you're happy, on the other hand you're behind a couple of cars that are going to hold you up in the race."

Qualifying results

The Race

After qualifying, Fernando Alonso shrugged off his surprise defeat in the battle for pole position.

"I think the first time all weekend they have been in front of us has been in qualifying, because in P1, P2 and P3 we were in front of them, so it should be okay," he said.

"As long as you are in the top three, you have the chance to fight for victory. Sometimes you have a really good start even from the other side (of the grid).

"We have a lot of straight between the starting point and the first corner here in Barcelona, so it is not only the start - you need to really brake for the first corner."

The latter remark would prove horribly prophetic for the local spectators' idol.

Alonso had to wait for his chance to attack Felipe Massa after a fuel pressure problem caused third row starter Jarno Trulli's Toyota to cut out on the grid, forcing an aborted start and a fresh formation lap.

But when the race began for real, Alonso immediately sprinted alongside Massa on the run to Turn 1. The McLaren inched ahead on the wide line as they approached the corner wheel to wheel, but Massa clung doggedly to the inside line. One of them had to back down - neither of them did.

"It was quite a risk for both of us, but the first corner is important," said Massa.

"I just didn't want to lose out like I lost out in Malaysia. I was inside, so I just tried to stay there. Fernando was trying to push me inside and we just touched each other.

"As long as I am inside, close to the car going to the first corner, I will keep there. I will not move. So, if somebody was aggressive, it was Fernando, it was not me."

Inevitably, Alonso had a different opinion.

"I think I was much in front of him in the first corner, but unfortunately he didn't think so and we touched each other," he said.

"If you look at my car, at my sidepod and the rear side of the car, it is completely touched. I think that shows everybody who arrived first into the corner. I was more than half a car in front."

The one certainty about the incident was that Alonso came off substantially worse, for while Massa accelerated away with a clear lead, the McLaren slewed across the gravel at Turn 2 and was passed by Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen - who had swapped places off the line - as it rejoined.

The BMWs nearly tripped over each other and the McLaren as Alonso bounced across the track in front of them, but they continued in fifth and sixth, Robert Kubica ahead.

Just behind, David Coulthard had moved from ninth to seventh with an outstanding move around the outside of both Renaults under braking for Turn 1. Heikki Kovalainen tucked in behind the Red Bull, while Giancarlo Fisichella ended up side by side with Nico Rosberg's Williams through Turns 3, 4 and 5 before securing 10th.

But the Italian didn't stay there for long before a snap of oversteer in the fast Turn 9 sent him wide across the gravel. Rosberg and the Hondas sped past as Fisichella tried to regain momentum, and then Takuma Sato and Ralf Schumacher tried to follow them under braking for Turn 10.

Fisichella hugged the inside and stayed ahead, forcing Sato to lift off as he slotted back into line. Schumacher jinked to avoid striking the Super Aguri on the exit of the corner, and as he did so the helpless Alex Wurz - who had been innocently accelerating out of Turn 10 - reared up over the back of the Toyota.

Wurz dragged the Williams back to the pits but its deranged left front corner moved beyond remedy, while Schumacher escaped surprisingly unscathed, only requiring a swift precautionary stop.

These incidents - plus an excellent start - helped Scott Speed to leap from 22nd on the grid to 14th at the end of lap one, ahead of teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, Mark Webber, Adrian Sutil, slow-starter Anthony Davidson, pitlane starter Trulli, and Christijan Albers.

At the front, Massa rapidly made a mockery of Alonso's belief in McLaren's superiority. A crushing run of new fastest laps saw the Ferrari pull away from Hamilton at an average of 0.7 seconds per lap.

It momentarily looked like Alonso would commence a comeback charge as he tried an aggressive outside line move on Raikkonen into Turn 10 on lap two, but his challenge soon faded. Hampered by bargeboard damage from his Turn 1 incident, the world champion began drifting away from the top three.

He was given an unexpected boost when Raikkonen suddenly slowed on lap nine, the traditionally bullet-proof Ferrari having been struck by an electrical problem. Raikkonen - whose distaste for poor reliability was all too evident during his McLaren sojourn - departed the circuit long before the end of the race.

The Finn was just one of a host of early retirements. Webber had already passed Liuzzi for 15th when his qualifying hydraulic problems reoccurred on lap seven and sidelined the Red Bull yet again.

Trulli would suffer a similarly disappointing déjà vu experience a lap later. He had made short work of the Spykers and was optimistic about his chances of further advancement, only for the fuel pressure problem that had stranded him on the grid to strike again and end his race.

Speed was next to go, pulling off on the pits straight with a dramatic rear tyre blow-out on lap nine, while Liuzzi only lasted another 10 laps before encountering hydraulic issues. Although the Toro Rossos had been unable to keep pace with the upper midfield battle, they had quickly pulled away from the Spykers before hitting trouble.

The drama continued at the first pitstops. Massa had a 9.5 second lead over Hamilton when he dived in on lap 19, but the Brazilian was lucky to continue after a few drops of spilt fuel led to a dramatic and frightening fire as he exited his pit. A sizeable proportion of his Ferrari's right rear corner was ablaze for a few seconds, but it quickly extinguished itself and he stormed back into the race not only undamaged, but totally oblivious.

"I didn't know that," said the genuinely surprised Massa when quizzed about the incident.

"If we had a little problem, I'm sure the problem was solved."

Alonso had pitted from third at the same time. Already 13 seconds behind the Ferrari and with little to lose, he opted for a long middle stint on the harder tyre, which he had felt comfortable with in practice. It proved to be his second unsuccessful gamble of the afternoon, as by the end of the stint Alonso was a vast 33 seconds behind Massa.

"We thought that the prime tyre was maybe a surprise in terms of grip and performance," he explained.

"Looking back at the race, it was not a very good idea because when I put the soft tyres on after the second stop, the car became much quicker and easier so maybe the softer tyre was quicker and better for the middle stint.

"But I think the final result would have been exactly the same; if I had put the same tyres as Lewis and Felipe I would have been behind them all through the race."

Hamilton was correct in his belief that he had the heaviest qualifying fuel load amongst the top four, but staying out three laps longer than Massa ultimately made little difference, as the gap between them only narrowed from 9.5 to 8.1 seconds.

Heidfeld was fuelled even heavier than Hamilton, and moved into the lead briefly before pitting for the first time on lap 24. He was on course to rejoin fourth, just ahead of teammate Kubica, and with hindsight he was confident that he could have overcome the struggling Alonso for third later in the race.

But all that promise disintegrated into farce during the stop, as he was waved out before the right front wheel was properly attached. Heidfeld noticed the wheel nut rolling down the pitlane (it would be caught by a Toyota mechanic) and quickly stopped just outside his box, but with no-one from the team coming to his aid, he headed out of the pitlane and somehow managed to nurse the car around a full lap without the wheel becoming detached.

"Unfortunately this definitely is one of those things that can happen, but it simply shouldn't happen," said the disgruntled German.

The whole incident left Heidfeld a lapped 13th, where he would remain - closing on the delayed Schumacher - until a gearbox problem forced him out on lap 46.

Meanwhile Kubica and Coulthard demonstrated what Heidfeld might have achieved by gaining steadily on Alonso throughout the middle stint. Coulthard was under huge pressure from Kovalainen immediately after the first stops, but this was partly due to the unintentional lightness of the Renault, thanks to a malfunctioning fuel rig that refused to deliver a full load at the first stop.

Renault therefore had to make a mid-race switch to a three-stop strategy, dropping Kovalainen behind Rosberg and out of top five contention. Some extremely fast laps - including the fourth fastest of the race - showed what might have been.

The fuel issue would also affect Fisichella, whose comeback drive had been aided by the Hondas tangling when Button rejoined following his first pitstop. He took to the track at Turn 1 just as Barrichello was sweeping around the outside, and by the time they reached Turn 2, Button's Honda was lacking a front wing...

"I wasn't given a lot of room at Turn 1 and I ended up on the kerb at the apex, which sort of threw me out, and I tapped his rear wheel with my front wing," Button explained.

"I had left Jenson enough room at Turn 1," Barrichello reckoned. "It's a shame, but just one of those racing incidents."

That put Button down to last place, and out of Fisichella's way. But the Renault remained trapped behind eighth-placed Barrichello until the second pitstops, when the positions were reversed... only for Fisichella to discover that he too had received an insufficient fuel load and would need to make a third stop.

This would provide one of the few elements of tension in the final quarter of the race, for Massa's sheer relentless dominance was ensuring that there was no hint of a lead battle, as he stormed away from Hamilton at over a second per lap for much of their second stints.

The Ferrari led by 19 seconds before its final stop, allowing Massa to ease off and let Hamilton close the gap to six seconds by the chequered flag. The Brazilian was justifiably ecstatic, but Hamilton was also more than satisfied, for his record-stretching fourth consecutive podium also made him the first rookie ever to lead the world championship, two points clear of Alonso, and three ahead of Massa.

Alonso's improved pace when back on soft tyres removed any potential for an upset in the battle for third, as the McLaren quickly stretched away from Kubica and Coulthard after the final stops. The world champion duly clinched third - his fourth podium on six home appearances in Formula One, but far, far less than he had hoped for.

Kubica's late second stop helped him move clear of Coulthard and secure fourth even before the Red Bull's loss of third gear put the Scot's fifth place in jeopardy. Rosberg and Kovalainen were soon bearing down on the stricken Red Bull, but Coulthard calmly adapted his driving, avoided using the damaged gear and remained out of reach - although he was thankful that the race finished when it did.

All three had plenty to be pleased about - Coulthard celebrating his best result since Monaco last year and a performance that promised much for the rest of 2007, and both Rosberg and Kovalainen achieving their highest ever F1 finishes.

There was even more jubilation when the eighth place finisher crossed the line. Sato had lurked behind the Honda/Fisichella battle all race, and brought fresh embarrassment to his former employers by vaulting ahead of Barrichello after running longer in his second stint.

That left Sato ninth, behind Fisichella, who was rapidly disappearing into the distance but would have to stop again thanks to Renault's fuel rig drama. Fisichella stretched the gap from 10.4 to 19.2 seconds in a dozen laps, but it wasn't enough. He rejoined on Sato's tail and could only watch from behind as Super Aguri scored their first ever F1 point.

"Just an amazing weekend - a truly great performance from the team," Sato enthused.

"I don't have the words really... (After) just one year plus four races, beating Renault and grabbing the point... I just never expected this result."

Barrichello was 16 seconds behind in 10th by the end, and 11 seconds ahead of Davidson, who could not regain the ground he had lost on lap one, although long stints at least got him clear of the Spykers.

The delayed Schumacher would have been 12th had his Toyota's nose not worked loose and forced him out with 20 laps remaining. Button therefore completed the top dozen, having passed the Spykers when both stalled in their final pitstops. Albers had the added inconvenience of a drivethrough penalty for baulking, leaving him nearly 40 seconds behind his teammate.

Thirteenth place, two laps down, was an outwardly forgettable result for Sutil. But it was a significant milestone for the young German, for after three opening lap tangles in his first three GPs, Sutil completed lap one without incident in Spain. The vast multitude of depressed Alonso fans who thronged the circuit headed home wishing their hero had done likewise...

Race results

66 laps; 307.104km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1h31:36.230
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +     6.790
 3.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +    17.456
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           (B)  +    31.615
 5.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     (B)  +    58.331
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  +    59.538
 7.  Kovalainen    Renault              (B)  +  1:02.128
 8.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +     1 lap
 9.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Barrichello   Honda                (B)  +     1 lap
11.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Button        Honda                (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    2 laps
14.  Albers        Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:22.680

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)    48
R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)    46
Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)    21
Speed         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)    11
Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)    11
Trulli        Toyota               (B)    10
Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)    9
Wurz          Williams-Toyota      (B)    4


World Championship standings, round 4:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton      30        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      58
 2.  Alonso        28        2.  Ferrari               49
 3.  Massa         27        3.  BMW Sauber            23
 4.  Raikkonen     22        4.  Renault               11
 5.  Heidfeld      15        5.  Williams-Toyota        5
 6.  Fisichella     8        6.  Toyota                 5
 7.  Kubica         8        7.  Red Bull-Renault       4
 8.  Rosberg        5        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      1
 9.  Trulli         4
10.  Coulthard      4
11.  Kovalainen     3
12.  R.Schumacher   1
13.  Sato           1

Team-by-Team

Practice looks promising for the championship leaders, as Hamilton is quickest in sessions one and three, and Alonso tops Friday afternoon. But Massa snatches pole from the surprised Alonso at the end of qualifying, while the fuel-heavy Hamilton ends up fourth on the grid.

Alonso then bangs wheels with Massa at the first corner and falls to fourth, while Hamilton passes Raikkonen off the line and takes second. He stays there for the duration, unable to challenge the lead Ferrari. Alonso inherits third when Raikkonen retires, but struggles on hard tyres and doesn't make any further progress.

The team admit that second and third places on Friday afternoon are achieved with low fuel loads, but still show an improvement in qualifying as both cars reach the top ten for the first time in 2007. Kovalainen secures a career-best eighth, while Fisichella is an unsettled 10th after losing practice mileage to ECU problems.

Fuel rig problems disrupt both their races and cause extra stops. Kovalainen pushes Coulthard for fifth prior to the pit glitch but still takes seventh. Fisichella runs wide on lap one and falls to 12th, but overcomes the Hondas and is set for eighth until his unscheduled late stop puts him back to ninth.

After trailing McLaren in practice, Ferrari spring a surprise in qualifying as Massa beats Alonso to pole. He then emerges unscathed from a first corner brush with the champion, and proceeds to dominate the race and take a second successive victory. Raikkonen is third on the grid after losing time in sector three. He is passed by Hamilton off the line but remains on the McLaren's tail until electrical problems force him out on lap nine.

Slight cause for optimism as Barrichello and Button qualify 12th and 14th. They run together in the race but get too close as Button emerges from his first stop, and make contact in Turn 1. Button loses his front wing and finishes a distant 12th after repairs. Barrichello survives and holds eighth ahead of Fisichella and Sato for the middle stint, only to lose out to both of them at the final stop and fall to 10th.

Kubica feels vindicated after his first trouble-free weekend of 2007 sees him occupy the 'best of the rest' position in qualifying and the race - starting fifth and finishing fourth. But teammate Heidfeld qualifies seventh on a heavier fuel load and then leads the race before a disastrous pitstop results in him tip-toeing around for a lap with a partially detached right front wheel. His anticipated fourth place consequently becomes 13th, and he later retires with gearbox problems.

Another bad weekend for Schumacher, who hits traffic in qualifying and starts 17th. He then falls to the back of the field after Wurz rides over the back of his car in a first lap mess at Turn 10. Recovers to 12th before his nose section comes loose and forces him out. Trulli stars in qualifying with sixth on the grid, but a fuel pressure problem causes him to stall at the start, and then leads to his retirement from 20th after eight laps.

Contrasting fortunes at Red Bull, as hydraulic problems leave Webber 18th on the grid and then take him out of the race after just seven laps. Coulthard is left to fly the flag and does so in style with ninth on the grid and a very competitive fifth in the race. He runs close behind Alonso and Kubica before a developing gearbox problem forces him to slow, but he nurses the car home safely ahead of the closing Rosberg and Kovalainen for Red Bull's first points of 2007.

Rosberg's promising practice form only translates to 11th on the grid, but he makes good progress in the race and - helped by incidents and attrition ahead - finishes a career-best sixth, fending off Kovalainen at the end. Wurz blames traffic for his 18th place in qualifying, and then retires after running into the back of Schumacher as the pack concertinas on the first lap.

Speed is as high as second on the timing screens during practice, before transmission failure in qualifying leaves him 22nd on the grid. Liuzzi is plagued by hydraulic problems in practice but reaches Q2 before the same transmission issue ends his chance of getting above 16th. A superb start takes Speed to 14th, but a destructive puncture forces him out after nine laps. Liuzzi then retires from 14th 10 laps later after more hydraulic problems.

The Dutch team remain solidly at the back of the field throughout the weekend, although Speed's troubles mean Sutil and Albers (who goes off on his last Q1 run) aren't dead last on the grid. They are unable to hold off the slow-starters and delayed midfielders in the race and finish 13th and 14th, having both stalled at their second stops. A drivethrough penalty for blocking leaves Albers 36 seconds behind Sutil at the flag.

F1's newest team celebrate their first ever point after Sato beats Fisichella to eighth. From a competitive 13th on the grid (despite a fuel pump failure halfway through Q2), he spends the whole race chasing the Renault and the two Hondas, benefiting from Button's error, then jumping Barrichello in the final pitstops.

Fisichella's subsequent fuel rig problem elevates Sato to eighth, and he clings on despite pressure from the Renault in the final five laps. Davidson again shines in practice with some top six times, but spins twice in Q2 and starts 15th. Loses ground at the first corner but overcomes the Spykers and takes 11th.

Lap-by-Lap

Pre-race: The initial start is aborted when sixth-fastest qualifier Jarno Trulli stalls. An extra formation lap is ordered. Trulli is wheeled to the pits.

Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso fight for the lead in the first turn © Reuters

Lap 1: On pole position for the fifth time in six Grands Prix, Felipe Massa makes a good start but Fernando Alonso bids to pass around the outside of Turn One. The Spaniard is squeezed through the gravel and slips to fourth, behind Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen, who swap positions on the run to the first corner.

Robert Kubica settles into fifth ahead of Nick Heidfeld, David Coulthard, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella, Takuma Sato, Scott Speed (up from the back row), Vitantonio Liuzzi, Adrian Sutil, Anthony Davidson, Trulli and Christijan Albers.

Ralf Schumacher and Alex Wurz both pit - the Austrian ran into the German's Toyota when the latter got slightly sideways in front of him. Only Schumacher rejoins.

Lap 2: Massa leads by 2.1 seconds. Webber and Davidson pass Sutil.

Lap 3: Massa moves 2.5 seconds clear. Alonso is all over Raikkonen. Webber passes Liuzzi.

Lap 4: Massa posts a 1:23.017 to extend his lead to 3.2 seconds. Trulli passes Sutil.

Lap 7: Webber retires to the pits.

Lap 8: Massa laps in 1:22.978 to lead by 5.6 seconds. Trulli pits and heads straight for the garage.

Jenson Button lost his front wing after colliding with teammate Rubens Barrichello after exiting the pits © LAT

Lap 9: Raikkonen suddenly slows and heads towards the pits at a crawl. Alonso moves up to third.

Lap 10: Speed suffers left-rear tyre failure on the main straight and pulls off onto the grass.

Lap 12: Massa goes faster again: he leads Hamilton by 7.2 seconds. Alonso is 3.9 seconds further adrift.

Lap 14: Massa ups his pace once more: 1:22.680. The McLarens are still lapping in the 1:23s.

Lap 17: Both McLaren drivers set personal bests - 1:22.951 and 1:22.966 respectively - but Massa remains 8.7 seconds to the good.

Lap 18: Barrichello makes the race's first scheduled stop.

Lap 19: Massa pits - and rejoins with his car briefly spewing flames. Alonso peels in too, as does Kovalainen. Hamilton leads. Liuzzi slows and heads for the pits.

Lap 20: Coulthard pits and has to swerve around Liuzzi as he comes in.

Lap 21: Kubica, Button and Fisichella pit.

Lap 22: Button rejoins and collides with team-mate Barrichello at Turn One. He returns to the pits for a new nose. Hamilton pits and resumes behind Massa.

Lap 23: Rosberg and Sutil pit.

Lap 24: Heidfeld pits and has problems rejoining. He completes a slow lap and returns immediately to the pits for remedial work. Sato and Albers pit, too.

David Coulthard lost 3rd gear in the closing laps and drove to hold off Nico Rosberg in the surviving Williams © XPB/LAT

Lap 27: Davidson and Schumacher pit.

Lap 28: Massa leads Hamilton by 11.1 seconds, with Alonso a distant third. Kubica is fourth from Coulthard and Kovalainen - running almost as one - Rosberg, Barrichello, Fisichella, Sato, Davidson and Schumacher. Sutil, Albers, Heidfeld and Button are all one lap down.

Lap 30: Kovalainen makes a second scheduled stop. Heidfeld passes Albers.

Lap 31: Heidfeld passes Sutil.

Lap 33: Albers is handed a drive-through penalty for failing to heed blue flags.

Lap 35: Local hero Alonso is running significantly slower than Hamilton - Kubica and Coulthard are both edging closer to the Spaniard.

Lap 40: Fisichella makes his second stop.

Lap 41: Barrichello pits.

Lap 42: Massa, Coulthard and Kovalainen all pit. Hamilton leads. Massa splits the McLarens.

Lap 43: Rosberg pits.

Lap 44: Schumacher pits and pulls into his garage.

Lap 46: Hamilton leads Massa by 11.5 seconds. Alonso is third, 16.0 seconds behind the leader. Sato pits from seventh. The lapped Heidfeld and Sutil also come in - the former to retire.

Lap 47: Hamilton pits, as does Kubica.

Felipe Massa takes the victory in Spain © LAT

Lap 48: Alonso pits. Button follows suit.

Lap 49: Massa leads Hamilton by 10.5 seconds. Davidson pits.

Lap 52: Alonso, running the softer Bridgestone, moves 0.4 seconds closer to Hamilton, who is on the harder tyre. They remain 14.9 seconds apart, however, with 13 laps to go.

Lap 58: Fisichella makes a quick stop. Sato moves into the points.

Lap 59: Coulthard laps in the 1:30s... but soon speeds up again, albeit marginally.

Lap 62: Coulthard posts a 1:26.322 - Rosberg and Kovalainen are closing fast.

Lap 65: Massa wins by 6.7 seconds from new world championship leader Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica, Coulthard, Rosberg, Kovalainen and Sato - who scores Super Aguri's first F1 point.