The Complete 2008 European GP Review

Carnage and surprises were anticipated, but in the end Valencia's debut as a Formula One venue saw a routine and totally commanding victory for Felipe Massa, and an extremely uneventful race.

The most interesting addition to the F1 schedule in years, this quirky street track won a lot of praise for its varied layout and the manner in which it managed to combine the healthily claustrophobic feel of a street circuit with sufficient run-off to ensure safe racing.

'Variety' was the key word when it came to the new track's surroundings too, with some sections overshadowed by their industrial backdrops, and other areas providing sumptuous material for photographers as the cars skirted - or even crossed - the water.

The layout and feel of the place had more in common with an American temporary venue than a modern European F1 circuit - and that was a very good thing in an era when it is increasingly hard to tell tracks apart.

It seemed impossible for this place to generate a tedious Grand Prix. Few believed the safety car would remain idle all afternoon, with recovering crashed or failed cars likely to be difficult in several sections. There were concerns that the change in surface height on the bridge would cause punctures and chaos. Thunderstorms were forecast. Practice sessions and the early stages of qualifying saw Toro Rossos, Toyotas and Hondas outshining the title contenders. This was going to be a weekend when anything could happen.

Except when it came to the race, most became increasingly desperate for something to happen. This was one of those days when the leaders started in the order of their race speed and simply stretched away from each other. Apart from a boisterous opening lap and some Ferrari pit craziness, there was little entertainment on offer during the 57 laps. Thankfully the scenery was interesting...

Having been robbed so dramatically in Hungary, the lack of thrills and spills in Spain was rather welcome for Massa, who this time got the victory he deserved.

"I think there is nothing more we can ask for especially after such a bad result," he said. "I am just so glad and happy especially after such a disaster in Hungary.

"We didn't change anything and we were even more motivated after this problem, so now we need to keep motivating the people and working even harder to carry on at the top."

The win moved Massa back to within six points of Lewis Hamilton in the standings, and vaulted him ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen - whose continued muted performances are raising further questions about driver hierarchies at Ferrari.

The speculation was of no consequence to Massa, though, and rightly so. On present form there will be no need for Ferrari to ask Raikkonen to support Massa, for the Brazilian is rarely behind his teammate right now.

"I always want to beat whichever driver on the track," he said. "It doesn't matter if it's my teammate or not, so it doesn't change anything for me."

It might be a more relevant question in Belgium in a fortnight, given Raikkonen's habitually excellent Spa form. But for now, Massa is the man in form. His outstanding Hungaroring performance did not get the reward it deserved, but fate was kinder in Spain and the lapses in Britain and Germany now seem like distant memories. Momentum seems to be creeping back towards Ferrari, and it's Massa who looks set to capitalise.

Practice

Practice one - Friday am

After the first hour and a half of running at the most distinctive new Formula One venue for many years, it was an appropriately unusual name who emerged at the head of the pack, as Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel won a late battle with Felipe Massa to end the morning fastest.

It was a highly promising start for the team, as Sebastien Bourdais put STR's second car fourth between the two McLaren drivers, who had sat out much of the first half of the session to allow others to clean the dusty surface.

Despite the unfamiliar layout, relative proximity of the walls, and lack of grip, there were minimal incidents. David Coulthard had a late brush with the barriers as Red Bull struggled to 19th and 20th, and both Lewis Hamilton and Timo Glock had harmless spins.

Practice two - Friday pm

The Ferraris led the way for most of the second session, and it was Kimi Raikkonen who was on top at the end of the 90 minutes.

But it took a last gasp soft tyre run from the champion to depose local hero Fernando Alonso, who held second with a time just 0.020 seconds slower. Less pleasing for the Spaniard was the decision to fine him 10,000 euro for cutting across into the pit entry too late at the end of one of his runs.

Jenson Button produced a shock third place for Honda in a session where his teammate Rubens Barrichello was a perplexed and frustrated 20th. Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld were also unhappy with their set-ups in lowly 15th and 18th places, while morning hero Vettel slipped back to 16th.

In another fairly incident-free practice, Nico Rosberg provided the most unnerving moment when he spun his Williams into the path of Mark Webber's Red Bull, but managed to avoid being collected by the Australian.

Practice three - Saturday am

Robert Kubica made the best of the late scramble on soft tyres to snatch the fastest time in final practice, with Rosberg underlining Williams' promising Friday pace by taking second, two places ahead of teammate Kazuki Nakajima.

Toro Rosso continued to fly, with Bourdais third and Vettel sixth (behind Massa, in the best of the top two teams' cars), but Valencia remained cruel to Barrichello and Trulli. The former was a long way off the pace in 19th and beat only the latter, who was sidelined with gearbox issues before he could set a flying lap.

Qualifying

Part one

Given his poor weekend so far, it was no surprise whatsoever to see Rubens Barrichello fall at the first hurdle in qualifying. Indeed the Brazilian veteran only just avoided the ignominy of being slowest of all, as his final run saw him squeeze ahead of Adrian Sutil and beat the Force India to 19th place.

More unexpected, however, was Barrichello's teammate Jenson Button dropping out at this stage. The Briton, who had set some eye-catching practice times, couldn't get sufficient speed out of the option tyre after set-up changes between his runs.

"It's massively disappointing - I didn't think we would just be in Q2, I thought we would be in Q3," he said.

He would start one place ahead of the similarly frustrated David Coulthard, who accepted the blame for his poor result after joining Giancarlo Fisichella's Force India on row nine following an error-strewn lap.

"That was probably one of my messiest sessions and I'm disappointed," said Coulthard.

At one point it looked like Nick Heidfeld was odds-on for another embarrassing early elimination after the German had to abandon a fast lap following a confusing incident with Timo Glock that left the livid Heidfeld cutting a chicane to avoid the slower Toyota.

"Our team informs us on the radio how many seconds behind us a fast car is, and when we have to let somebody overtake," Heidfeld said. "Apparently this isn't the case in every team."

The stewards examined the incident and chose to take no action, and both drivers later produced laps that comfortably got them through to Q2.

Normally in Q1 all the interest is focused on the 15th place cut-off, but this time the top of the timing screens was also rather attention-grabbing, as Jarno Trulli rebounded from his morning problems to go quickest of all, ahead of another outstanding performance by Sebastian Vettel.

Part two

Toro Rosso's promising weekend got even better in Q2, as Vettel went fastest of all and teammate Sebastien Bourdais earned his first top ten start in Formula One by scraping through to Q3 with a time just 0.011 seconds faster than 11th-placed Kazuki Nakajima's. Not that the Williams driver was too bothered to be 11th given the strategic implications on a weekend when the entire pit lane was nervous about race day safety cars.

The possibility of a wild race provided a small crumb of comfort for the crowd, who suffered the disappointment of seeing their beloved Fernando Alonso eliminated in Q2 for the first time since Melbourne. The former champion ran slightly wide on his last run and ended up 12th, three places ahead of teammate Nelson Piquet.

After the heroics of Hungary, another podium looked a very distant possibility for Timo Glock at Valencia. He placed his Toyota only 13th on the grid and admitted to under-performance.

"I don't know what went wrong but I just didn't get the lap together in the second session and that was that," he said. "So it was just not my day today. I had a heavy cold overnight and didn't feel particularly well, but no excuses. I think the car was good enough but it just didn't work out."

By contrast, 14th-placed Mark Webber reckoned his Red Bull simply wasn't competitive enough to get near the top ten this weekend.

"We've struggled for speed for most of the weekend," he said. "It's a new venue here, which brings variety to the positions, but we don't seem to have the pace we had a few races ago, which is quite frustrating."

Part three

Given Trulli and Vettel's achievements in Q1 and Q2, the chances on a shock pole-winner or front row starter seemed pretty strong. But when it counted, the title contenders stepped up and left the pretenders to fight over the lower half of the top ten.

It was Felipe Massa who took command of the final session. His first flying lap placed him over half a second clear of the field, partly because main rival Lewis Hamilton made an error at the end of the lap.

The McLaren driver responded on his next run and briefly pipped Massa, only for the Brazilian to retaliate with a devastating time in sector one that laid the foundations for him to reclaim pole with a lap in 1:38,989.

Behind the delighted Massa and the sanguine Hamilton, who was battling both an illness and neck spasms, Robert Kubica was very pleased to place his BMW third on the grid - his best starting position since the Canadian Grand Prix - although as usual he kept his enthusiasm under control.

"For sure, it's better to start third than fifth or seventh," he said. "Qualifying went pretty well and here we are."

He would share row two with the frustrated Kimi Raikkonen, as the reigning champion's string of underwhelming qualifying results continued.

"The lap wasn't probably what I wanted exactly, but I cannot change it anymore," he said. "I was slow and that was it."

McLaren and BMW both chose to run one car slightly heavier, which meant that while Hamilton and Kubica headed for the top three press conference, their respective teammates Heikki Kovalainen and Nick Heidfeld had to settle for fifth and eighth.

Vettel couldn't quite pull off a shock top three start, but he did claim a career-best sixth on the grid and was thrilled with Toro Rosso's performance as Bourdais placed the sister car in 10th.

"I had a very good feeling in the car through the whole qualifying session," said Vettel. "I was very happy, very confident, and obviously to have confidence on a street circuit is very important because you can push harder and harder - and therefore I think we had a very good day."

Continuing the upbeat mood in the upper midfield, Trulli was highly satisfied with seventh after his troubled start to the weekend, while ninth reassured Nico Rosberg that Williams were moving in the right direction again after a frustrating recent run.

Qualifying results

Pos  Driver        Team                 Q1        Q2        Q3       Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              1:38.176  1:37.859  1:38.989  19
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     1:38.464  1:37.954  1:39.199  15
 3.  Kubica        BMW Sauber           1:38.347  1:38.050  1:39.392  18
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              1:38.703  1:38.229  1:39.488  21
 5.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     1:38.656  1:38.120  1:39.937  18
 6.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1:38.141  1:37.842  1:40.142  19
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               1:37.948  1:37.928  1:40.309  21
 8.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           1:38.738  1:37.859  1:40.631  19
 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      1:38.595  1:38.336  1:40.721  18
10.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1:38.622  1:38.417  1:40.750  18
11.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      1:38.667  1:38.428            15
12.  Alonso        Renault              1:38.268  1:38.435            12
13.  Glock         Toyota               1:38.532  1:38.499            14
14.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     1:38.559  1:38.515            15
15.  Piquet        Renault              1:38.787  1:38.744            15
16.  Button        Honda                1:38.880                       6
17.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     1:39.235                       9
18.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari  1:39.268                      10
19.  Barrichello   Honda                1:39.811                      10
20.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari  1:39.943                       9

The Race

Just before qualifying the FIA decided to move pole position to the right hand side of the grid, having noticed that the actual racing line the cars were taking in practice meant this side would have the cleaner line.

The start of the race proved that this was the right decision, for while Felipe Massa shot off into an unchallenged lead from pole, it took slower-starting outside front row man Lewis Hamilton several corners to escape from third place qualifier Robert Kubica, who was all over the McLaren off the line.

"The start was just great," said Massa. "I was very happy to start on the pit side even if you have maybe one or two laps less in terms of fuel load in the car. I was very keen to start on the clean side."

The dirty side of the track proved costly for Massa's teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who fell behind Heikki Kovalainen off the line and then had to resist a challenge for fifth from the plucky Sebastian Vettel, before the Toro Rosso fell into line.

Unsurprisingly given the tight confines, not everyone managed to get through the first lap unscathed. David Coulthard was punted into a spin and resumed last, Sebastien Bourdais picked up some front end damage after a brush with Nick Heidfeld, and most devastatingly for the crowd, Fernando Alonso was taken out of his second home race after just four corners when Kazuki Nakajima ran into the back of him. The Williams was able to resume with a new front wing, but the Renault was more heavily damaged.

"I was just behind Alonso, but there was a bit of a battle going on in front and I couldn't avoid him going into the corner," said Nakajima.

The Spanish hero was philosophical about the incident.

"There's always that danger when you start from the middle of the grid," he shrugged.

Following this opening flurry of excitement, the race settled into a very uneventful pattern for the majority of the afternoon. Massa had the pace to edge away from Hamilton in the opening stint, soon establishing a four second lead, and the pair were handed a massive cushion over the rest of the pack when an encounter with a plastic bag saw Kubica drop back dramatically.

"I saw a white plastic bag flying across the corner and I could not avoid it," said the Pole. "Suddenly I couldn't steer any more for two corners and it was extremely dangerous. I have never had (that situation) before. Fortunately when I approached a high speed corner it blew away but still my confidence for the next half a lap was not great."

The problem allowed Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Vettel and Trulli to all close right onto Kubica's tail, but despite his difficulties with the car, he was able to fend them off and then pull away again once he was confident the problem was gone.

Although Massa appeared to be comfortably in control of the race, there was a glimmer of hope for his rivals when it became clear that the Ferrari was the lightest car in the field - pitting for the first time on lap 14 and emerging alongside teammate Raikkonen.

Hamilton immediately mounted a charge in the three laps before his own stop, and when he rejoined the gap between the combatants was down to 3.1 seconds.

That was as close as Hamilton was going to get, though, for in the middle stint Massa really found his rhythm and began storming away once the stops were complete and he was back at the head of the pack.

"I think we won the race there, as the car was just perfect and was improving lap by lap," said Massa. "It was amazing to see the gap increasing very reasonably."

Hamilton said he had accepted early on that second place might have to be his limit this weekend.

"He was in front and it is pretty difficult to overtake here, so I thought 'keep a certain gap and just try and maintain it.' But towards the end I think he started to stretch it out a little bit," he said.

But there was another chink of light for McLaren when the second stops came around on lap 37. Again Massa pitted earlier than Hamilton, but the team released him just as the lapped Adrian Sutil was coming down the pitlane.

The Ferrari and the Force India came close to making contact in the narrow pit exit, with Massa having to back off suddenly and fall into line behind Sutil, before re-passing him once back on track.

Having stretched his lead to 10 seconds during the middle stint, the minor time loss incurred was no problem for Massa. What could have proved more costly was the stewards' decision to investigate the incident to see if Ferrari had caused a dangerous situation by releasing Massa from his stop so close to the accelerating Force India.

Ultimately they decided that the incident did merit a reprimand and a 10,000 euro fine for the team, but that no time penalty should be applied as no advantage was gained.

Massa was always confident that the inquiry wouldn't jeopardise his result.

"It's pretty normal to see two cars driving side-by-side in the pit lane, so you have the line, you need to respect the line, we're all going the same speed," he said. "I don't think it was dangerous, it was just unexpected from Adrian because I was leading and I was beside him."

That wasn't the end of Ferrari's pit dramas. Raikkonen had lost touch with the podium battle during the first pit sequence, falling eight seconds behind fourth-placed Kovalainen, who was also unable to keep up with Kubica.

But as the middle stint progressed, Raikkonen started picking up pace, and by the time the two Finns pitted on lap 43, they were absolutely nose to tail.

Disaster struck in the Ferrari stop though, as Raikkonen pulled away just before getting the green light to signal that the stop was complete. He dragged the refuelling hose with him and crew member Pietro Timpini was hit by the Ferrari's right rear wheel, sustaining foot and back injuries.

"There is not much to say. I left a bit too early," said Raikkonen. "It was my fault and unfortunately I ran over the guy who was refuelling."

By the time the crew had disentangled the fuel hose, attended to their colleague and sent Raikkonen on his way, the Finn was down to sixth place behind Trulli, who had passed Vettel in the first stops. Before he could really think about making progress back up the order, the Ferrari expired in a cloud of smoke exiting the final corner.

Coming just one race after the engine failure that cost Massa a deserved Hungaroring win, this incident caused a lot of concern for Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali.

"Now we have to find out what happened in yet another engine failure and then decide how to react," he said. "Clearly what happened is serious and we will have to do all in our power to make up for the ground we have lost through reliability problems."

It also began to play on Massa's mind as he cruised through the final stint.

"You always think about it," he said. "You need to bring the car home, that's your feeling lap by lap especially in the last 10 laps. There is nothing to do but just drive and keep the pace."

He had no need to worry however, coming home to claim his fourth win of the year in commanding fashion, and in the process moving back ahead of Raikkonen into second in the standings, six points behind Hamilton.

While very satisfied to be back on the podium for the first time since winning in Montreal, Kubica was troubled by the 37-second gap between Massa and himself. But he was pleased to resist Hungaroring victory Kovalainen for the final podium spot, as the McLaren's pace picked up on soft tyres in the closing stages.

"I'm not really happy with how the race went for me because I had grip problems with the prime tyres in the first and second stints - whereas with the option tyres in the last stint I had much better grip and traction," said Kovalainen.

"As a result I could close the gap to Robert Kubica a little. At least I scored five points, but a podium would have been much nicer."

Trulli was thrilled to maintain Toyota's recent strong form in fifth, but nowhere near as happy as Vettel was after chasing the Italian home to secure sixth place.

"A perfect day," said Vettel. "We can be very, very happy with this result. We made no mistakes, no mistakes all weekend and maximised our performance."

Contrary to expectations after qualifying, it proved to be a double points finish for Toyota, as Timo Glock used a one stop strategy to rise from 13th on the grid to seventh. The German made up three places at the start then maintained a sufficient pace in his heavy car (despite struggling with a severe cold) to jump ahead of both Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld when they pitted for a second time.

Rosberg therefore had to settle for eighth, but was still pleased to end a points drought stretching back to Istanbul.

There was no consolation for Heidfeld in ninth though, with Kubica's podium adding further insult.

"This was one of the worst races ever for me," said the despondent German.

"To finish ninth in a car which is obviously good enough for third is a disaster. I had big problems with the harder tyres during the first two stints, and it was only better at the end with the softer compound. I lost one position after the start and later in the race I couldn't gain any. The pace wasn't there."

Bourdais completed the top ten having lost ground early on with the damage to his Toro Rosso's aerodynamics, while Nelson Piquet benefited from a one stop strategy and a 33-lap first stint to progress from his early 17th place to 11th at the flag, ahead of Mark Webber, who ran the same strategy but lost out by pitting five laps earlier than the fuel-laden Renault.

"We just weren't quick enough," Webber admitted. "We were hoping for a few safety cars to come out during the race, so ran a one stop strategy, but it didn't happen. It was a difficult race pace wise and we've got a lot of analysis to do."

Jenson Button came home 13th ahead of the relatively satisfied Giancarlo Fisichella, whose Force India teammate Adrian Sutil had also run higher up the order than usual until crashing out on lap 42.

Nakajima never got back into points contention after his nose change so finished 15th, ahead of the struggling Barrichello, who lost even more time with an early trip down an escape road, and Coulthard. The Red Bull driver made assertive progress initially after his first lap tangle, then spun back to the rear when an attempted move on Sutil went wrong. Consequent bargeboard damage limited his pace for the rest of what proved to be a miserable afternoon.

Race results

57 laps; 310.080km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  1h35:32.339
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     5.611
 3.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    37.353
 4.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    39.703
 5.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    50.684
 6.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    52.625
 7.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +  1:07.990
 8.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:11.457
 9.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:22.177
10.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:29.794
11.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:32.717
12.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:38.708

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)    46
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)    42
Alonso        Renault               (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 12:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton      70        1.  Ferrari               121
 2.  Massa         64        2.  McLaren-Mercedes      113
 3.  Raikkonen     57        3.  BMW Sauber             96
 4.  Kubica        55        4.  Toyota                 41
 5.  Kovalainen    43        5.  Renault                31
 6.  Heidfeld      41        6.  Red Bull-Renault       24
 7.  Trulli        26        7.  Williams-Toyota        17
 8.  Alonso        18        8.  Honda                  14
 9.  Webber        18        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari     11
10.  Glock         15
11.  Piquet        13
12.  Barrichello   11
13.  Vettel         9
14.  Rosberg        9
15.  Nakajima       8
16.  Coulthard      6
17.  Button         3
18.  Bourdais       2

Team-by-Team

FERRARI

Massa takes a comfortable pole and dominates the race with relative ease. Only a potential penalty for being released into Sutil's path at his last stop casts a shadow on his Sunday, but the stewards opt for a fine and reprimand rather than a time penalty.

Raikkonen is quickest on Friday but under-performs in qualifying again and starts fourth. He is passed by Kovalainen at the start and remains fifth until his second stop, when he pulls away too soon and injures a mechanic. That drops him to sixth, and his engine fails shortly afterwards.

Kubica tops final practice then qualifies and finishes third in his best performance since winning Montreal. A plastic bag temporarily spoils his front wing aerodynamics in the opening stint, costing the Pole time, but he hangs on to his position and is soon back up to speed.

Heidfeld runs a heavier fuel load and qualifies eighth, but a lack of race pace sees him drop to a depressed ninth by the chequered flag.

Fast practice times for Alonso bode well, but it soon turns into a dismal weekend for the crowd favourite. He can only qualify 12th, then gets taken out by Nakajima on lap one.

Piquet starts 15th, loses places on the opening lap, then regains them by one-stopping. He finishes 11th.

Williams return to form after their recent poor run. Rosberg is optimistic after some rapid practice times, and duly qualifies ninth, then overcomes Heidfeld in the race to finish ninth and score his first point since May.

Nakajima shows promise as he narrowly misses out on a top ten starting position, only to smash his front wing on Alonso's Renault at the start. An extra stop for repairs consigns him to a 15th place finish.

An awful weekend sees the team off the pace from the start of practice to the end of the race. The disgruntled Webber and Coulthard start only 14th and 17th and pray for a crazy, safety car littered, race. That doesn't happen, so the best the one-stopping Webber can manage is 12th. Coulthard is shoved into a spin on lap one, later tangles with Sutil, and finishes 17th and last.

Trulli is unhappy with his car on Friday, then loses all of Saturday morning to a gearbox oil pump problem. Yet he rebounds superbly by topping Q1 and claiming seventh on the grid. He then jumps Vettel in the first stops and comes home a strong fifth.

The unwell Glock under-performs in qualifying and has to settle for 13th. But an assertive first lap, strong pace on heavy fuel tanks, and a well-executed one stop strategy see him elevated to seventh at the flag.

Vettel is quickest in both first practice and Q2, then qualifies a superb sixth. Bourdais underlines the team's pace with some similarly impressive practice times, before reaching Q3 for the first time and taking 10th on the grid.

Bourdais soon loses touch with the lead pack after sustaining wing damage, but still comes home a consistent 10th.

The plaudits are reserved for Vettel though. He hastles Raikkonen early on, loses out to Trulli at the first stops, but then pushes him to the flag, finishing sixth.

Button is an impressive third on Friday, so is devastated when set-up changes and an incorrect tyre compound choice combine to leave him 16th on the grid, from where he can only reach 13th on race day.

Barrichello has a horrible weekend, going slowest of all on several occasions, qualifying only 19th, starting from the pit lane after gearbox attention, and then finishing a very distant 16th.

The new seamless shift gearbox results in a definite improvement in pace, although with Fisichella and Sutil only 18th and 20th on the grid, it's not yet enough to launch them into points contention.

Sutil starts from the pit lane after gearbox repairs, escapes a brush with Coulthard on track and one with Massa on pit lane, and runs as high as 14th on a two-stop strategy (having been allowed to pass his one-stopping teammate) before crashing out.

Fisichella has a less eventful race, using a one-stop strategy to come home a competitive 14th.

McLaren's run of victories is ended by Massa, with Hamilton and Kovalainen having to settle for second and fourth.

Hamilton, whose neck spasms and illness make him briefly question whether he is fit enough to race, is Massa's main pole rival but ends up second best in qualifying. He chases the Ferrari early in the race, but it escapes in the middle stint, leaving Hamilton to accept the runner-up spot.

Kovalainen runs more fuel in qualifying and starts fifth. He passes Raikkonen at the start but struggles to make the harder tyre work, and only puts concerted pressure on third-placed Kubica when he switches to the supersofts for the final stint.

Lap-by-Lap

Pre-race: Rubens Barrichello and Adrian Sutil, the slowest two qualifiers, are obliged to start from the pits due to unscheduled gear ratio and suspension set-up changes.

Lap 1: On pole position for the fourth time this season, and the 13th in his Formula One career, Felipe Massa leads cleanly into the right-handed sweep at Turn One.

Kazuki Nakajima damaged his front wing on the opening lap © XPB

Lewis Hamilton gets away well from the dirtier side of the track and slots into second ahead of Robert Kubica, Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock, Sebastien Bourdais, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil, Nelson Piquet, Barrichello and David Coulthard, who drops to the tail of the field after running wide.

Fernando Alonso is hit by Kazuki Nakajima at Turn Four and retires to the pits. The Japanese driver comes in for a new front wing and rejoins.

Lap 2: Massa leads by 1.4 seconds. Coulthard passes Barrichello.

Lap 4: Massa laps in 1:40.170. He leads by 2.2 seconds.

Lap 5: Coulthard passes Piquet.

Lap 7: Hamilton posts a 1:40.090 and trails by 2.9 seconds. Sutil passes Fisichella. Coulthard tries to do likewise and spins at Turn 17.

Lap 8: Massa responds: 1:39.633.

Lap 9: Massa goes faster again: 1:39.466. He leads by 3.6 seconds. Kubica is another 8.4 seconds back in third.

Lap 10: Massa leads Hamilton by 3.8 seconds. Kovalainen and Raikkonen are right behind Kubica. Vettel remains sixth.

Lap 11: Another fastest lap to Massa: 1:39.285. Barrichello slips down the escape road at Turn Two and drops behind Coulthard.

Lap 13: Personal bests for the top two: Massa 1:39.167, Hamilton 1:39.306. The gap is 4.4 seconds.

Lap 14: Massa posts a 1:39.024. He leads by 4.8 seconds. Coulthard pits.

Lap 15: Massa pits. He rejoins fourth, ahead of Raikkonen. Hamilton leads.

Lap 16: Hamilton laps in 1:38.884.

Felipe Massa gradually pulls away from Lewis Hamilton © XPB

Lap 17: Hamilton pits. He rejoins just behind the Ferraris. Vettel comes in, too.

Lap 18: Kubica pits, Kovalainen leads. Raikkonen and Bourdais also come in.

Lap 19: Trulli and Sutil pit.

Lap 20: Kovalainen pits. Massa leads again. Rosberg pits, too.

Lap 21: Massa leads Hamilton by 3.5 seconds, with Kubica and Heidfeld (yet to stop) next up.

Lap 22: Heidfeld pits.

Lap 23: Massa continues to pull away. He leads by 5.1 seconds.

Lap 28: Webber and Fisichella pit.

Lap 29: Button pits.

Lap 30: Glock, Barrichello and Nakajima pit.

Lap 31: Coulthard pits.

Lap 33: Piquet is the last driver to pit for fuel and tyres.

Lap 34: Massa laps in 1:38.840. He leads by 8.9 seconds.

Lap 35: Massa goes faster again: 1:38.757. His lead grows to 9.6 seconds.

Lap 36: Massa laps in 1:38.708. He is now 10.2 seconds ahead. Hamilton has 19.3 seconds in hand over Kubica. Sutil pits.

Kimi Raikkonen lost his engine on the front straight © LAT

Lap 37: Massa makes his second stop. He brakes to allow Sutil to exit the pits first. Bourdais pits, too.

Lap 38: Hamilton leads Massa by 13.4 seconds. Rosberg pits. Stewards launch an investigation into the manner of Massa's pit lane exit.

Lap 39: Hamilton and Vettel pit. Massa leads again.

Lap 40: Massa leads Hamilton by 5.9 seconds. Kubica pits from third.

Lap 41: Trulli and Heidfeld pit.

Lap 42: Sutil crashes at Turn Two. The stewards defer the Massa investigation until after the race.

Lap 43: Running 1.1 seconds apart, Kovalainen and Raikkonen pit together. During the Ferrari pit stop, a mechanic is knocked down. The Finn loses a place to Trulli by the time he rejoins.

Lap 46: Raikkonen's engine blows up.

Lap 51: Nakajima passes Barrichello for 15th.

Lap 57: Massa wins by 5.6 seconds from Hamilton, Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Vettel, Glock and Rosberg.