The race weekend occurred following a backdrop of controversy: FIA president Max Mosley had been exposed by a UK tabloid sting in the week leading up to the event, and some teams were calling on him to step down.
On track, BMW’s Sauber era was blossoming, with Robert Kubica scoring his first career F1 pole position, just 0.027s ahead of the Ferrari of Massa. This came despite a lock-up that left him struggling over the final three corners of his Q3 lap: “The car was pulling on the braking to one side, but still it was enough for the pole.”
Willy Rampf, Technical Director, BMW Sauber, Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, and Mario Theissen, Director, BMW Motorsport, celebrate their first pole position
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Massa was under huge pressure at the time, as he was on zero points after a collision in the Australian GP opener and a spin into the gravel in Malaysia. He entered this race in determined mood, vowing to regain the points he’d lost.
Lewis Hamilton was in his spare McLaren, having crashed heavily in practice which left him with bruised ribs, and lined up third, ahead of Massa’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who confessed to a tricky weekend with his Ferrari’s setup.
Massa immediately jumped ahead of Kubica, who suffered wheelspin at the start, as Hamilton failed to get away cleanly as he’d failed to put his car into launch mode. Hamilton clipped Fernando Alonso’s Renault at the downhill hairpin on the opening lap, and then rode up over the rear of his former team-mate on the exit of Turn 3 on the second tour, smashing his front wing to pieces and sending him into the pits.
Hamilton explained: “I was behind him, and I moved to the right, and he moved to the right and that was it – a racing incident, I guess.”
Raikkonen passed Kubica on Lap 3, around the outside of the first corner, and the reigning world champion would chase Massa to the finish – where they were separated by 3.3s in a Ferrari 1-2.
Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley said the result was never in doubt, however, as he had been running with more fuel than Raikkonen and could’ve pushed harder. He also said it was a huge reply to Massa’s doubters: “He was under a lot of pressure and had been slagged off by a lot of people. In the end, he did what he’s supposed to do and let his driving do the talking. That’s the result.”
Race winner Felipe Massa, Ferrari
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…