Highlights from the Spanish GP

In case you didn't see the race like me. Want the whole race? Download the torrent here.

Pitstop problems

Massa encountered some pitstop problems

Start of GP of Spain

Movie of the starts of todays race in Montmelo

Massa cleans up as Raikkonen hits problems

Felipe Massa survived some light contact with Fernando Alonso at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix and went on to dominate the next 65 laps. Massa's second straight win moves him third in the championship standings just three behind leader and runner-up today Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen retired from the event with an alternator problem and therefore drops to fourth in the standings, eight behind Hamilton.

Felipe Massa

“Fantastic!! I cannot find the words to describe the emotions I feel after such a closely fought race. The duel at the start was very tight: I took some risks but I absolutely did not want to lose position and that meant we touched when he came up the inside of me. Luckily, the car was undamaged, and so I was immediately able to pull away from my pursuers. I wanted to get a good lead straight away so that I could manage the situation in the second stint of the race and that’s how it went. The F2007 is a great car, but we need to improve further in order to get both cars across the finish line, as our closest rivals have done. Reliability is the key. Now we come to the Monaco race: it can be something of a lottery there and you need a bit of luck on your side. Once again, I would like to thank Michael for the help he has given me over all these years. His lessons have been useful to me!”

Kimi Raikkonen

“Honestly, there’s little to say, except that I’m very disappointed.
I lost a place to Hamilton at the start, but made the most of the fight between Felipe and Fernando to get back to third place. I was running at a good pace and could have had a good result, but suddenly the car had an electrical problem and all I could was come back to the garage. I have lost precious points but there are still thirteen races to recover.”

Luca Baldisserri

“A great performance from Felipe, who completed what was a perfect weekend for him. We had struggled in free practice to do a quick time over a single lap with new tyres but we had seen that our race pace was very good and today that was confirmed. A shame that Kimi had a problem in the wiring to the alternator: there was no warning and now we have to see what caused it, robbing him of a probably podium finish. Then we had a slight fuel leak at Felipe’s first pit stop, which caused a small fire that did not do any damage either on the car or the refuelling rig. Once more, reliability is crucial and we must leave nothing to chance to ensure that a technical problem does not rob us of a good result again.”

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Massa dominates as Alonso slips up

Felipe Massa dominated the 65-lap Spanish Grand Prix to take a comfortable Ferrari victory from Lewis Hamilton who takes over the championship lead with his fourth straight podium position. Fernando Alonso finished third in what was another disappointing day for the defending world champion.

The race, as is so often the case this year, was effectively decided on the run down to the first turn at the start of the race. Leading away from Pole Position, Massa moved to the right of the circuit to take the inside line through the first turn. Unperturbed, Alonso attempted a brave manoeuvre around the outside actually squeezing Massa and the two rivals made light contact.

Massa was able to continue unabated as Alonso went for a wild ride though the gravel trap before rejoining the circuit. For Alonso, his hopes of repeating his win of last year were over there and then as rivals Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen raced through into second and third position.

Hamilton never had the pace to challenge Massa for the lead and the Brazilian duly took his second win of the season by seven seconds from Hamilton despite a small fuel fire during his first pit stop. Hamilton pushed hard all race long and comfortable held off Alonso who strangely opted for the harder tyre in his middle stint and trailed home third.

Kimi Raikkonen started the race as joint championship leader but a rare electrical problem saw him cruising back to the pits early in the race. For Raikkonen, the first retirement of the season drops him back to fourth in the championship standings.

Robert Kubica had a solid run from fifth position on the grid to finish fourth in his BMW Sauber. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld shadowed Kubica early on but an error in his first pit stop saw him leave the pit before his front right wheel was firmly attached. That rare error from BMW was academic as Heidfeld would retire from the race with a gearbox failure late in the race anyway.

David Coulthard survived a tense few final laps as his Red Bull Renault started to suffer from a gearbox problem. After another good run, Coulthard was able to hold off Nico Rosberg and take his first points of the season with a fine fifth position.

Williams Toyota will be happy with Rosberg’s strong performance and run to sixth position but once again Alex Wurz was an early casualty as he ran into the back of Ralf Schumacher on the opening lap.

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Qualifying videos Montmelo (GP Spain)

3 more videos about the qualifying for the GP of Spain.You see Wurz, Albers and Davidson.

GP Spain Massa Qualifying lap video

Watch Massa onboard on his qualifying lap from today

Ferrari celebrates perfect pole streak

Fourth race of the season and fourth pole position for Ferrari, for a third time courtesy of Felipe Massa. It is the twelfth time that a Ferrari driver will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position and the 190th in the history of the Prancing Horse in Formula 1. For Felipe, it is the sixth pole of his career.

Team boss Jean Todt commented, "As has always been the case in this opening phase of the championship, we once again witnessed a very closely contested qualifying session. Thanks to a fantastic lap from Felipe, we have maintained a 100% record for pole this season and our great overall performance was confirmed with a third place for Kimi. We realize today is only the first hurdle out of the way as we aim for victory, while the hardest part is yet to come tomorrow afternoon. As usual, we will have to put all the elements together to meet our objectives: the start, the strategy, team work and reliability. Barcelona is the first race in Europe and we are here with various new elements on the car, as indeed have all the other teams. Also making an important contribution are our technical partners, first and foremost Shell."

Felipe Massa added, "I really got a great lap! This third consecutive pole shows that our car is really competitive. My first run was not perfect, but on the second I managed to get things right without making the slightest mistake. Tomorrow's race will be very close and I hope that with a huge crowd like we saw today in the grandstands, the spectators will see a real spectacle. I hope to make a good start and make the most of pole. Along with the team we are working very well and I am very motivated and also confident about the race."

Kimi Raikkonen commented, "It seems that taking third place in qualifying is now becoming a habit. It's not a bad position, but obviously you always hope to be in front of everyone. On my second attempt, I was going very well but I lost time in the final sector, where the rear of the car was sliding a bit. I hope I will be able to make up some places, but I know it won't be easy. My feeling for the car is improving: there is still work to do, but it's going in the right direction."

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Massa steals the Pole for Ferrari

It all came down to the final run in the final session and Felipe Massa was the one to put it all together at the right time as he claimed Pole Position for the Spanish Grand Prix in his Ferrari in a session that saw the fastest four covered by less than four-tenths of a second.

All eyes were on Fernando Alonso as Massa moved fastest, but despite his best efforts, the McLaren Mercedes driver did not quite have the pace to steal back the top spot and will start his home race on the front row alongside Massa. Kimi Raikkonen lines up third in the second Ferrari ahead of Lewis Hamilton and it is clear that once again the battle for supremacy tomorrow afternoon will again be between Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes.

Robert Kubica did a great job in his BMW Sauber and starts the race from fifth position. The BMW Sauber team took the unusual option of running the first two stints in the final session on the harder tyre, but on the softer option, Kubica got the job done on his third run. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld will be a little disappointed to start seventh in his F1.07.

Jarno Trulli qualified his Toyota in a superb sixth position. The Italian’s qualifying effort was in marked contrast to team-mate Ralf Schumacher who had another poor run and starts back in 17th position after being eliminated ahead of the second qualifying session.

Renault will be relatively content to have both Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella in the top ten. On this occasion Kovalainen got the jump and starts eighth while Fisichella recovered from some electrical gremlins to qualify tenth.

David Coulthard made it into the final qualifying session for the first time this year in his Red Bull Renault. While Mark Webber suffered hydraulic problems on his RB3, Coulthard qualified a solid ninth fastest.

Williams knew this would be a tough race after missing much of the pre-event testing but will be disappointed to see Nico Rosberg 11th after showing such good form in practice. Alex Wurz has had a rotten weekend and once again failed to shine in qualifying with the 18th fastest time.

Honda will be relatively happy with their qualifying performance as Rubens Barrichello qualified in 12th with team-mate Jenson Button in 14th. The team perhaps gained by some misfortune from its rivals, but at least they both made it through the first qualifying session.

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Ferrari falls behind in Friday practice

Ferrari was expected to set a dominant pace in practice today but instead Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen ended the first day of action at the Circuit de Catalunya in fourth and sixth positions respectively.

"It is difficult to assess the situation after these three hours of practice," said Massa. "The track conditions are definitely very different to these we had in testing last week, but all in all, I am reasonably happy with the work we have done today. Just how happy I will be, we will only know on Sunday after the race!"

Kimi Raikkonen commented, "Track conditions were very different to those we found when testing here last week and it is definitely more slippery. So, we are struggling a bit to find the right balance of the car. All our work has centred on finding the best race set-up on the car. We will have to study the data carefully to improve, both for qualifying and for Sunday's race."

Technical chief Luca Baldisserri added, "The track has changed compared to the way it was at the test here just last week. Our work programme centred on preparation for Sunday's race and on the comparison of the two types of tyre that Bridgestone has made available to the team for this Grand Prix. We did not have any problems but we still have to find the ideal set-up for the F2007, especially in terms of its performance over a single lap. But we are confident enough about our chances on Sunday."

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Massa: Ferrari made a good step forward

Felipe Massa is currently five points behind on the three F1 championship leaders. The Brazilian is fired up to close the gap with his team-mate Raikkonen and the McLaren drivers at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. Massa believes Ferrari made a good step forward at last week's test session at Circuit de Catalunya.

Looking back at the team's preparations for the Spanish Grand Prix Massa said: "For me, it was a successful test last week as we have definitely made some improvements to the car, which was always planned for this first session after the opening three races outside Europe. The team has worked very hard and the reward is a good step forward, especially on the aerodynamic side.

The actual results and lap times were good, but you have to remember that in testing it is quite difficult to get a really one hundred percent understanding of what the other teams have achieved. The most important thing is that we have made a step forward and this weekend we will see how it compares to our rivals."

He furthermore said: "Apart from the new aero package, which includes a new engine cover, front wing and modified side pods, we have also come up with some changes to the mechanical side of the car, and that led to us seeing improvements in the set-up of the car. The aero package was the more significant change, but these other elements are also very important. The result of these changes is that the car is not only quick, but also more consistent."

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Schumacher visit to be low-profile

Michael Schumacher's role at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend will be low-profile.

But the retired champion's media spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm, also insisted that Schumacher will be an active member of the Ferrari team - rather than merely a guest - at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

"He will be watching structures in the background and looking at where things can be improved," Kehm is quoted as saying by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Kehm's warning follows earlier reports that said Schumacher would probably not even speak to the media this weekend.

The Spanish Grand Prix is to be the first F1 event attended by Schumacher since his Grand Prix finale in Brazil last October. But it is believed that Ferrari and Schumacher's PR representatives have deliberately not organised any structured events to coincide with his visit, despite the large media interest.

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Ferrari has made 'considerable' improvement

F1 weekend approaching so more F1 news this week.

"Kimi Raikkonen can't wait to get back on the track at Barcelona, where the Spanish GP will be held on 13th May. After a week of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, where he set the pace on his two days at the wheel, Raikkonen warned rivals that Ferrari has made a considerable step forward.

"We were able to improve the F2007 considerably, because the new components work really well and the car is now much closer to my style of driving," Raikkonen said. "I'm much more optimistic now: we can attack the best way possible, as my friend Markku Alen usually says. It's true that you never know how competitive you really are compared to the other teams during the test sessions; obviously for that we have to wait for the qualifying and the race; but the lap times give us some hints."

"As I already said over the last weeks, we have to improve the performance in qualifying," he added. "It was not really easy for me to get all the potential out of the car on a single lap, because we never managed to prepare it at the best. Now I'm really happy about the steps forward: although it's really difficult to overtake another car, even when it's slower, it makes things a lot easier when you want to win, when you can start from the front."

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Massa delighted with updated F2007

Bahrain Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa has enthused about the updated F2007 he tested last week at Barcelona.

Ferrari was already the pacesetter this year, but Massa said that updates made a significant difference to the pace at the same venue for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

"Before the update the F2007 was good enough," he is quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport, "and we could prove it by already winning twice."

"But this (updated) car is even better. I hope that we can repeat our competitiveness of the test in the next race," Massa added.

Massa last week revealed that he thought the new package had taken five-tenths off an average lap time, while some observers now estimate the advantage over McLaren to be a full second.

Massa said: "I have a great car and am ready to win again.
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He rubbished David Coulthard's lap record on the final day of last week's test by saying a Ferrari driver could 'easily' have gone quicker if he had wanted.

"Coulthard's record?" La Gazzetta quotes Massa as saying. "It does not interest us."

He also commented on McLaren's radical new front wing, and confirmed that something equally as visually impressive will not crop up on the red cars in scrutineering later this week.

"They attract a lot of attention with their wing but we have many innovations and our car is faster. I am sure McLaren will still be competitive but we hope to be in front," Massa said.

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