Race
Qualifying
Saturday Practice
Friday Practice 2
Friday Practice 1
History
Race
Photos Courtesy Of Formula One Administration
Ferrari scored their second 1-2 finish in a row, as Kimi Raikkonen secured victory in Spain to increase his lead at the top of the Championship to nine points. Not only that, the result promoted Ferrari above BMW in the Constructors Championship
The race started off with yet another first-lap incident for Sebastien Vettel, as he collided with Adrian Sutil (pic, bottom left). Fernando Alonso couldn’t hold on to second place, as he was quickly overtaken by Felipe Massa. Despite some impressive showings over the weekend, neither Renault managed to finish. Nelson Piquet collided with Sebastien Bourdais in the early stages and both drivers were out (pic, bottom right). Local hero Fernando Alonso also failed to finish in Barcelona for the first time in his career – his Renault gave up the ghost at the half way point. (pic, top right)
Lewis Hamilton rounded off the podium and picked up six championship points, but only one McLaren finished, as Heikki Kovalainen was taken to hospital following a high-speed crash. (pic, top left). Heikki had a failure of the left front tyre while travelling at around 140mph, and ploughed straight into the barrier. Heikki was described as “stable and conscious”, but taken to hospital for precautionary checks.
Robert Kubica picked up BMW’s points, as Nick Heidfeld could only manage ninth. Nick had made a pit stop while the pit lane was closed, following Kovalainen’s crash, and had to make a ten-second penalty.
Mark Webber drove well in the Red Bull to collect fifth place, but probably the happiest team were Honda, who collected their first points of the season, courtesy of Jenson Button.
Nico Rosberg fell foul of engine trouble in his Williams; the first Williams retirement this season. Team mate Kazuki Nakajima got his second set of points of the season.
McLaren need to get their ideas together in Istanbul in two weeks, to stop the Ferrari train escaping completely.
Race Results And Classification
1. K RAIKKONEN – 1:38:19.051
2. F Massa +3.2
3. L Hamilton +4.1
4. R Kubica +5.6
5. M Webber +35.9
6. J Button +53.0
7. K Nakajima +58.2
8. J Trulli +59.4
9. N Heidfeld +63.0
10. G Fisichella +1 Lap
11. T Glock +1 Lap
12. D Coulthard +1 Lap
13. T Sato +1 Lap
Not Classified
N Rosberg
F Alonso
R Barrichello
H Kovalainen
A Davidson
S Bourdais
N Piquet
A Sutil
S Vettel
Qualifying
1. K Raikkonen – 1:21.813
2. F Alonso – 1:21.904
3. F Massa – 1:22.058
4. R Kubica – 1:22.065
5. L Hamilton – 1:22.096
6. H Kovalainen – 1:22.231
7. M Webber – 1:22.429
8. J Trulli – 1:22.529
9. N Heidfeld – 1:22.542
10. N Piquet – 1:22.699
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11. R Barrichello – 1:21.049
12. K Nakajima – 1:21.117
13. J Button – 1:21.211
14. T Glock – 1:21.230
15. N Rosberg – 1:21.349
16. S Bourdais – 1:21.724
—
17. D Coulthard – 1:21.810
18. S Vettel – 1:22.108
19. G Fisichella – 1:22.516
20. A Sutil – 1:23.224
21. A Davidson – 1:23.318
22. T Sato – 1:23.496
Saturday Practice
1. N Heidfeld – 1:21.269
2. D Coulthard – 1:21.465
3. F Alonso – 1:21.599
4. R Kubica – 1:21.717
5. J Trulli – 1:21.771
6. S Bourdais – 1:21.942
7. N Piquet – 1:21.992
8. J Button – 1:22.060
9. F Massa – 1:22.075
10. T Glock – 1:22.081
11. L Hamilton – 1:22.094
12. N Rosberg – 1:22.174
13. K Raikkonen – 1:22.176
14. K Nakajima – 1:22.189
15. H Kovalainen – 1:22.220
16. S Vettel – 1:22.292
17. R Barrichello – 1:22.350
18. G Fisichella – 1:22.466
19. A Sutil – 1:22.689
20. T Sato – 1:23.726
21. A Davidson – 1:23.921
22. M Webber – No Time
Friday Practice 2
Heikki Kovalainen slows to a halt
Photo courtesy of Formula One Administration
Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time in the second Friday Practice session. The Renault pair of Nelson Piquet and Fernando Alonso provided the big performance with the second and third fastest times. The big surprise was Williams’ driver Kazuki Nakajima who managed to secure fourth fastest. McLaren were disappointing, and both cars were outpaced by both Force India cars. Heikki pulled off the track with a technical fault after setting his lap time.
Results
K Raikkonen – 1:21.935
N Piquet – 1:22.019
F Alonso – 1:22.032
K Nakajima – 1:22.172
F Massa – 1:22.229
M Webber – 1:22.238
N Rosberg – 1:22.266
D Coulthard – 1:22.289
G Fisichella – 1:22.383
A Sutil – 1:22.548
L Hamilton – 1:22.685
R Kubica – 1:22.788
N Heidfeld – 1:23.130
J Trulli – 1:23.224
J Button – 1:23.263
H Kovalainen – 1:23.264
R Barrichello – 1:23.415
S Vettel – 1:23.661
S Bourdais – 1:23.684
T Glock – 1:23.883
T Sato – 1:25.110
A Davidson – 1:25.163
Friday Practice 1
1. K Raikkonen – 1:20.649
2. F Massa – 1:20.699
3. L Hamilton – 1:21.192
4. R Kubica – 1:21.568
5. H Kovalainen – 1:21.758
6. F Alonso – 1:21.933
7. N Piquet – 1:21.936
8. D Coulthard – 1:22.118
9. N Heidfeld – 1:22.278
10. J Button – 1:22.632
11. T Glock – 1:23.002
12. N Rosberg – 1:23.003
13. M Webber – 1:23.015
14. J Trulli – 1:23.141
15. K Nakajima – 1:23.153
16. A Sutil – 1:23.156
17. G Fisichella – 1:23.196
18. R Barrichello – 1:23.353
19. S Bourdais – 1:23.952
20. S Vettel – 1:24.082
21. T Sato – 1:24.278
22. A Davidson – 1:25.068
History
The Spanish Grand Prix has been on the Formula One Grand Prix calendar since 1967 (with the exception of 1982-1985) but it was in 1991 where the race moved to its current home, Catalunya, near Barcelona. Before that, the Spanish Grand Prix had been held at Jerez, Jarama, Montjuïc, and Pedralbes.
The very first Spanish F1 GP was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951, but the first driver to win at Catalunya was Nigel Mansell, 40 years later. The 1975 Grand Prix, which was held in Montjuïc, was struck by tragedy and controversy. Some drivers were angry that the barriers on the site were not bolted together properly, raising concerns about safety. The two Fittipaldi brothers of Wilson and Emerson, and Arturo Merzario refused to take part. On lap 26, Rolf Stommelen’s rear wing broke, sending him sliding into the barrier his mechanics had worked on. He rebounded off it and slid across the track and over another barrier. Rolf broke his leg, and four spectators were killed. The race was stopped four laps later. Because it was only a half-race, half-points were awarded, and sixth-placed Lella Lombardi became the first, and so far only female driver to finish in a point-scoring position.
The 1986 Spanish Grand Prix, held in Jerez, saw one of the closest finishes in F1 history, as Ayrton Senna took the win from Nigel Mansell by a gap of 0.014 seconds. In recent years, the last four Spanish grands prix have seen four different winners. Michael Schumacher won the race in 2004, followed by Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in that order. In the 2005 race, only eighteen drivers started the race after the BAR team were disqualified from the previous race in San Marino.
The circuit was altered slightly last year, with a tight chicane inserted before the final corner. This was to introduce more overtaking opportunities. Because the track is tested on a lot, the drivers are all too familiar with the racing line and overtaking can be sparce. Can Lewis or Heikki make it five different winners in five years?
