Massa takes dominant Bahrain victory

F1 Grand Prix, GP Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit

Felipe Massa has secured his first win of the season by dominantly leading the race as of the first lap. He was never under any thread although there was no big gap with his teammate or the BMW Saubers. Hamilton had a bad start and doesn't make any points.

At the start of the race, ambient temperate was 28°C with, unsurprisingly, sunny skies.

The start immediately robbed Kubica of his pole position as Massa strolled by in the first corner. Hamilton was even worse off the mark and found himself behind Alonso after the first corner. A single lap later, Raikkonen succesfully attempts to pass Kubica on the outside of the first corner.

Hamilton also attempts to make a pass on Alonso but is that optimistic that he simply hits Alonso from behind, ruining his front wing. Half a lap later he is in the pitlane to get a new front wing from his crew.

The best start is however signed by Giancarlo Fisichella as he launched from 18th to 11th place.

After 7 laps, Massa is 5 seconds ahead of his teammate. Kubica is able to follow the World Champion closely and sees Heidfeld and Kovalainen in his mirrors. In the middle of the pack, Alonso is more and more feeling the heat of Glock's Toyota.

Lap 17, Kubica is the first to make his pitstop, justifying his qualifying pace. Rosberg immediately follows 10 seconds later.

In the back of the field, a close fight between 19th placed Coulthard and 20th placed Button comes to an end when Button outbrakes himself. As his rear wheels locked, he tried to keep his car under control but in the events hit Coulthard who was just turning into the corner. Button was later to abandon as the Honda may have suffered suspension damage.

In lap 20, Raikkonen and Alonso make their stops. The latter is visibly having trouble with his pace as his damaged rear wing will no doubt have a negaive effect on the car's behaviour and downforce. His wing was already damaged when Hamilton hit him in the second lap.

Halfway through the race, Massa is still comfortably in the lead, followed by the second Ferrari. Hamilton is still trying to work his way up and fought 5 laps with Fisichella before being able to pass him. Just like when he passed Sato, he made an annoyment gesture to his competitors. He must have forgotten that he is fighting for position with them. 2 laps later he makes his pitstop. He is fitted with hard tyres and fuelled to make it to the finish.

Just like in Australia, Piquet is again out with a technical failure, now just 20 laps from he end of the race.

The BMW Saubers are increasing their pace towards the end of the race. Heidfeld puts in the quickest lap of the race 8 laps from the end while Kubica is closing in to Raikkonen. The dfference between them is now just 4 seconds. It is remarkable how well BMW were able to follow the Ferraris here at Bahrain and it promises many more close battles in the close future.