Race – The Hack-Trick for Massa: pole, fastest lap, and victory!

Felipe Massa won the first European Grand Prix in Valencia in Formula 1 history. The Ferrari driver dominated the race from start to finish, ahead of the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton and the BMW of Robert Kubica, just as in qualification. Räikkönen and Alonso, the two world champions, were very unlucky and did not finish this Valencian Grand Prix.

The 12th round of the season inaugurated a brand-new track, set to be on the calendar for another seven years: Valencia Street. The challenge was significant, namely to build an urban circuit that would be enjoyable for drivers, the public, and viewers and especially capable of competing with Monaco. Even though the race did not lend itself to it, the circuit lived up to its promises and saw Brazilian Felipe Massa as its first winner.

The Ferrari F2008 driver proved untouchable from the start and maintained the lead throughout the 57 laps. However, he remains under investigation by the FIA after dangerously exiting his pit during his second refueling stop. The race stewards can still disqualify the Brazilian, although no penalty is likely to be imposed. Massa was released by his pit crew while another driver was on the pit lane, forcing both drivers to navigate side by side between the pit walls.

Lewis Hamilton achieves a good result by finishing second on the podium, despite never having the opportunity, except at the start, to compete with Massa’s Ferrari. The Briton encountered no issues during the race and thus retains his first place in the championship. He surpasses Robert Kubica this Sunday for another podium for the German team. Nick Heidfeld is in ninth place, just outside the points.

Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren is two seconds away from the podium and therefore finishes in fourth position. The winner in Hungary is starting to show his potential at McLaren, but it’s logically Hamilton who is favored for the title.

Toyota also proves to have increased its level of performance. The Japanese team is competitive on all types of tracks, and places Trulli in 5th position. Glock is 7th. Toyota thus makes a big step to become the fourth best team in 2008 by scoring six points here against zero for Renault.

The French team could have performed well this weekend but missed all its opportunities to do so. First during the qualifications, then in the race. Right from the start, Alonso was hit by Nakajima. With the rear wing destroyed, the Spaniard abandoned his second national Grand Prix at the first turn. Piquet, on his part, implemented a one-stop strategy and secured the 11th position. Far behind the expectations of the diamond brand.

On the contrary, Toro Rosso scored big points today. The small Scuderia showed very good performance: Vettel finished in 6th position, while Bourdais was 10th.

Another racing event; the issue of the wings. Many front wings were damaged today: the cause being the asphalt leveling on a challenging urban circuit for the single-seaters and suspensions… Piquet, Webber, and Nakajima were notably victims of these problems.

After Alonso, the other unlucky driver this weekend is Kimi Räikkönen. The reigning world champion ended his race 11 laps from the finish due to an engine failure: the result of spending 18 seconds stationary in the pits. The Finn started too early at the end of the pit stop and literally took his mechanics with him. Three are injured, including one seriously.

The third and final retirement of the day goes to Adrian Sutil: the Force India driver could not recover from a slide and hit a wall. He broke his right front wheel and couldn’t continue. However, Force India shows progress. Fisichella finished 14th today, one of his best performances since the beginning of the year.

Results of the race – European GP – August 24, 2008: