MotorSportVoice - 2008 - Formula 1

It was with great relief that the focus of the Formula 1 season was again placed upon the actual racing instead of antics within the FIA. Fernando Alonso was hoping to achieve some success in front of his massive home support in Catalunya.

Kimi Raikkonen did a sterling job in qualifying, to put his Ferrari on pole position for Sunday’s race. He was closely followed by crowd favourite Alonso, in the Renault. There was suspicion that his qualifying laps were run with a lesser fuel level, and thus a different race strategy to others around him, but nothing could be proven until the race itself.

The start of the race saw Raikkonen get away well, and team-mate Felipe Massa passed Fernando Alonso for second place into the first corner. Briton Lewis Hamilton passed Robert Kubica for fourth off the start. Early into the lap, Adrian Sutil made contact with David Coulthard; as a result he spun into Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso, which resulted in both retiring. The safety car was deployed to allow marshals to remove the damaged cars. As the race resumed, Raikkonen continued as he had left off, by building a lead over the chasing pack. Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr, was having a poor afternoon as he had two incidents in a short space of time, the second retiring him from the race. Bad luck was continuing for the Super Aguri team, whose Formula 1 team status appears to be worsening by the hour. Today’s twist of the knife was the retirement of Anthony Davidson, as he brought his car into the pits. A potentially headline winning battle was evolving, as Hamilton was chasing Alonso for third place. Based on the previous year’s antics, this could prove to be an interesting battle. On lap twenty two, the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen left the track at approximately 140 miles per hour. From footage, it appears something at the front left of the car failed, causing the tyre to deflate resulting in his car spearing into the tyre wall with significant force. In an early statement from McLaren Chief Executive Martin Whitmarsh, he stated that Kovalainen was being flown to hospital but was understood to be conscious and was “otherwise OK”. Additionally, it was said that presently the exact reason for the failure was not known. During the safety car that accompanied the aftermath of Kovalainen accident, Nick Heidfeld made an emergency pit stop to save running out of fuel, but under current regulations he would have to take a drive trough penalty once normal racing was resumed. This rule is contentious at the best of times, but in the said circumstance, it is clearly more flawed than previously believed. The unlucky Heidfeld eventually rejoined at the back of the pack. Soon after the race was underway again, Fernando Alonso’s engine failed, and the dejected Spaniard retired in front of his home crowd. Williams’ driver Nico Rosberg retired, as he parked his car along the pit wall on the start-finish straight, with apparent engine failure. A battle between Toyota’s Timo Glock and David Coulthard resulted in both returning to the pits to have damage repaired. As the race entered its final ten laps, Raikkonen was still in front, being chased by his team mate Felipe Massa, who was in turn being chased by Lewis Hamilton. Further back David Coulthard managed to pass Takuma Sato and move into twelfth place. As the leaders entered the final lap, the leaders remained as they were. Kimi Raikkonen drove it to perfection, followed home by Massa and Hamilton. Ferrari have now won three out of the four Grand Prix this season to-date.

Aside from the racing, I am sure that everyone reading wishes Heikki Kovalainen the best in shaking off the effects of the high speed accident he endured in the race.

The next round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship is in Istanbul, Turkey, from the 9th - 11th May 2008.