Formula One: Bahrain Grand Prix

2008 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Felipe MASSA (Ferrari) BRA
2. Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari) FIN
3. Robert KUBICA (BMW Sauber) POL

4. Nick HEIDFELD (BMW Sauber) GER
5. Heikki KOVALAINEN (McLaren Mercedes) GBR {FASTEST LAP: 1:33.193 on lap 49}
6. Jarno TRULLI (Toyota) ITA
7. Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Renault) AUS
8. Nico ROSBERG (Williams Toyota) GER

9. Timo GLOCK (Toyota) GER
10. Fernando ALONSO (Renault) SPA
11. Rubens BARRICHELLO (Honda) BRA
12. Giancarlo FISICHELLA (Force India Ferrari) ITA
13. Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren Mercedes) GBR
14. Kazuki NAKAJIMA (Williams Toyota) JPN
15. Sébastien BOURDAIS (Toro Rosso Ferrari) FRA
16. Anthony DAVIDSON (Super Aguri Honda) GBR
17. Takuma SATO (Super Aguri Honda) JPN
18. David COULTHARD (Red Bull Renault) GBR
19. Adrian SUTIL (Force India Ferrari) GER
-----[retired]------------------------------
ret. Nelson PIQUET (Renault) BRA, +17laps {Gearbox}
ret. Jenson BUTTON (Honda) GBR, +38laps {Accident}
ret. Sebastian VETTEL (Toro Rosso Ferrari) GER, +57laps {Accident}

It was quite an eventful race, that got underway with a very slow start from Lewis Hamilton, who was down in tenth place by the time he made it to the first corner. This got him involved in the first corner shenanigans, but he eventually made his way mostly unharmed to the end of the first lap. The same can't be said for the talented Sebastian Vettel, who found himself taking an early exit from the race after tangling with somebody on the first corner, and leaving lost of carbon fiber body parts on the track.

These body parts caused havoc early in the race, as several drivers drove over them, shredding their tyres, and by the end of the second lap there was a rush on the pitlane to change the burst tyres of David Coulthard and Jenson Button.

At the same time, Lewis Hamilton was coming up behind his favorite former teammate, Fernando Alonso and due to an unnaturally high speed differential Lewis mounted Fernando's rear wing, taking a bite out of the wing, but more importantly causing lewis to lose his front wing, and forcing him to complete most of the lap without it. The cause of Alsono's slow speed is unknown, and we don't know if he had a problem with the car, a problem with traction, or just lifted off the throttle, but there doesn't look to be any sort of investigation at this time.

Up front, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen quickly got passed the pole sitter Kubica, and led for the remainder of the race. Felipe Massa especially deserves credit for driving such a fast race, and an even faster qualifying lap, with what turned out to be a heavier car than his world champion team mate.

In the midfield, cars were out of position due to incidents or bad performance, and at one point all four British drivers were in order from seventeenth place backwards, but that would soon come to an end when Jenson Button had a look at passing David Coulthard, who shut the door just too late for Jenson to pull out of the manouver, and they collided, literally locking front tyres for a few moments. Jenson Button lost his front wing in the accident, and eventually retired with further problems caused by this incident. David Coulthard too had to pit for his second new nosecone of the race, having lost his first one in the first lap chaos.

As we approached the end of the race there was nearly another coming together of McLaren and Renault, as Nelson Piquet's gearbox failed just as Lewis Hamilton was coming to overtake him, but thankfully this time there was time enough to avoid the accident and the race continued to allow Felipe Massa to take not only his first win of the season, but also his first race finish of the season. A very well deserved second consecutive win at Bahrain for the likable Brazilian.