RBS race report
Valencia, Spain – 24/8/2008
Ferrari's Felipe Massa closed the gap on Lewis Hamilton in the race for the drivers' championship with a comfortable European Grand Prix victory in Valencia.
Valencia, Spain – 24/8/2008
Ferrari's Felipe Massa closed the gap on Lewis Hamilton in the race for the drivers' championship with a comfortable European Grand Prix victory in Valencia.
The Brazilian held off the challenge from Hamilton's McLaren throughout the race on the new Spanish street track.
However, the win was subject to a post-race investigation by the FIA, who looked at what they described as an 'unsafe release' after Massa's second pit stop. He survived and officials eventually chose to reprimand Ferrari and fine them 10,000 euros.
In a race of few thrills and spills, the RBS-sponsored AT&T Williams team upset the home fans, when Kazuki Nakajima effectively ended Spanish hero Fernando Alonso's race on the first lap by inadvertently driving into the back of his Renault.
There was better news for Williams team-mate Nico Rosberg, who picked up his first point since the Turkish GP in May by finishing eighth.
"It's good to be going home with a point today as it's been a long time since it happened," said Nico.
"The race went quite well for me and I was giving it my all, driving what felt like qualifying laps one after the other. The result is also good for the team as it shows we are getting back on track."
Kazuki, meanwhile, protested that that confusion in front of him meant he could do little to avoid contact with the rear of the Alonso's Renault, adding that the damage to his front wing, and the resulting pit stop, ruined his own race.
"I had a bad start and we have to find the reason for that," he said after finishing 15th.
"On lap one, going into turns four and five, I was just behind Alonso, but there was a bit of a battle going on in front and I couldn't avoid him going into the corner.
"After that, I just tried to be consistent. My pace was okay, but I was behind Barrichello and it was really difficult to overtake. Eventually I made it past him and my pace improved, but it was too late."
Williams engineering chief Patrick Head said the team hadn't expected much more from the race, despite strong starting slots, and would now work hard to improve the car for Spa in two week's time.
"With the reliability of the cars these days, one point is what you can expect from starting 9th and 11th on the grid," he said.
"Nico squeezed everything he could out of the car. Unfortunately, we missed out on seventh place with him by a few fractions of a second in his second pit-stop."
