2007 Spanish Grand Prix
Template:F1 race report infobox The 2007 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, fourth round of the 2007 Formula One season, won by Felipe Massa. It was held on the weekend of 11-13 May at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.
Report
Pre Race
Test - May 1 to May 4
Prior to the GP, the Circuit de Catalunya went through some circuit revisions to encourage overtaking and make the racing more exciting and also to improve safety standards.[1] The revisions included a chicane placed at the final two corners. "Although I have always really enjoyed the final two corners and their speed, the new chicane at the end of the track will hopefully lead to more overtaking during the race, which is great for the spectators." Fernando Alonso commented.[1] Because of the revisions, the fastest lap of the race, (recorded by Massa), was fractionally over six seconds longer than the fastest lap of the race in 2006, (also recorded by Massa).
Just over a week before the weekend of the grand prix, there was an organised test session at the track[2] for four days, with primary focus on aerodynamic set-ups. However, due to heavy rain on the Tuesday,[3] many teams abandoned their initial test schedule and instead looked to focus on wet-weather set-ups. Both Ferrari and Red Bull took advantage of these conditions and scored first and second fastest times respectively on both Tuesday and Wednesday.[4] The wet weather eventually led to a fourth day of testing, in which Red Bull driver David Coulthard broke Ferrari's run and set the fastest time by 0.2 seconds.[5]
The aerodynamic focus was evident in the unveiling of two new and radical front aero designs by both the Honda[6] and McLaren[7] teams. Both teams would be understandably reluctant to release figures to support their reasoning for using such radical winglets, although McLaren's consistent speed throughout the testing is noted by only having out-paced championship rivals Ferrari once.[5] Honda, however, ended up half a second down on the nearest car on the final day of testing where they unveiled their "elephant ear"[6] winglets. McLaren punctuated their need for aero testing over rain testing by withdrawing on the rained-out Tuesday.[3]
Practice
Lewis Hamilton headed the first practice session in his McLaren, just 0.4seconds ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was in front of his home crowd. Kimi Räikkönen was third in his Ferrari, but his team-mate Felipe Massa was demoted to fifth in the closing moments, as Robert Kubica took fourth in his BMW. Anthony Davidson finished sixth in his Super Aguri,[8] with the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher in 7th and 8th. Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button rounded out the top ten.[9]
Alonso turned the tables on Hamilton in the second practice session, with Alonso three tenths ahead of the rest of the field, but Hamilton was back in fifth. McLaren team boss Ron Dennis said that they had made the "best possible start to the weekend".[10] The Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen produced a late surge to finish 2nd and 3rd, ahead of both Ferraris, who were down in 4th and 6th. However, Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds payed down the times, saying they were "done with a lower fuel load" and "are therefore unrepresentatively high in the timesheets".[11] Behind the top three teams, Nico Rosberg was again in the top ten in his Williams, with engineering director Patrick Head saying they've been "playing catch up today",[12] after a high speed crash by Rosberg during the Barcelona test.[13] Although out of the top six, Nick Heidfeld said his eighth place "does not reflect how competitive we are",[14] with Webber and Scott Speed rounding out the top ten.[15]
It was the second McLaren one-two of the weekend as Hamilton took first ahead of Alonso in Saturday practice. Behind them, both BMWs were in front of both Ferraris. They were split by David Coulthard in the Red Bull. Anthony Davidson put in another good practice performance with eighth in his Super Aguri, with Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen rounding out the top ten.[16]
Qualifying
Race
The first start was aborted when Toyota driver Jarno Trulli stalled on the grid, forcing another formation lap and decreasing the race length to 65 laps. The race got underway shortly thereafter with both Felipe Massa and World Champion Fernando Alonso going into the corner ahead of their team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen respectively. This order was short-lived as Alonso and Massa touched briefly going into the first corner, sending Alonso over the gravel with him returning to the track behind Räikkönen's Ferrari in Fourth.[17]
The first lap certainly did not end there, with the first of eight retirements being Austrian Alex Wurz as he was caught unaware by a sudden breaking of Toyota's other driver Ralf Schumacher.[17] Six laps later, as Massa was building a lead between himself and Hamilton, Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber lost all chance of a fighting drive when the hydraulic problems that plagued him during qualifying returned, forcing him to retire. A lap later, Trulli, who had started from the pits after stalling on the grid, too pulled into the pits and retired due to a failing fuel line.
The most surprising failure, however, was that of Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari on lap 9 when the electrics of his car failed, leaving him to coast to pits from half way around the track. Scott Speed's Toro Rosso failed soon later as his tire spectacularly failed on the main straight, leaving debris that remained there for the entirety of the race.
As the first round of pit-stops took place, a fire briefly lit into full blaze on the back the remaining Ferrari of race leader Felipe Massa. The car was undamaged and after all cars had stopped he was still some ten seconds ahead of Brit Lewis Hamilton. The remaining Toro Rosso of Vitantonio Liuzzi suffered similar hydraulic problems as which befell him in qualifying.
Italian Renault driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, battled fiercely with the Honda of Rubens Barrichello, but managed to pass the Brazilian after the second stops. While most drivers negotiated their second stops smoothly, a tragic mistake cost BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld a strong points scoring fifth position, which would have been his fourth in as many races. He coasted around the circuit for another stop and returned to the track more than a lap down.
More drama followed the Hondas as both drivers Barrichello and Button touched as the latter exited the pits. He was forced to return to the pits for a new front wing[17] whilst Barrichello raced on, futilely attempting to catch Fisichella's Renault.
Through all the commotions of retiring drivers and bundled pit-stops, Red Bull driver David Coulthard was slowly but surely racing home for what would eventually be a strong fifth position despite losing third gear in the team's new quick shift gearbox. This was Red Bull's strongest result thus this season and also highlighted the vastly improving performance of the Adrian Newey designed RB3 chassis. Despite Rosberg's best attempts, he was unable to pass the Scot.
Massa went on to win the race by almost 7 seconds[18] to the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, respectively second and third. This result meant that Hamilton, after merely only four races in his short career, was already leading the championship as well as becoming the youngest driver to be leading the championship, fittingly taking the record from McLaren team founder, Bruce McLaren.[17]
Pole Robert Kubica was able to make up for his team-mates gearbox induced retirement by continuing the team's run of forth place finishes, while Aguri Suzuki's Japanese Super Aguri team notched up their first ever points with an eight place by Takuma Sato. "I just cannot describe how happy we are and a point means much more than anything else for us and this is an absolutely fantastic result" Sato went on to say.[19]
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | Name | Team/Engine | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Felipe Massa
|
Ferrari | 1:21.375 | 1:20.597 | 1:21.421 |
| 2 |  Fernando Alonso
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:21.609 | 1:20.797 | 1:21.451 |
| 3 |  Kimi Räikkönen
|
Ferrari | 1:21.802 | 1:20.741 | 1:21.723 |
| 4 |  Lewis Hamilton
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:21.120 | 1:20.713 | 1:21.785 |
| 5 |  Robert Kubica
|
BMW Sauber | 1:21.941 | 1:21.381 | 1:22.253 |
| 6 |  Jarno Trulli
|
Toyota | 1:22.501 | 1:21.554 | 1:22.324 |
| 7 |  Nick Heidfeld
|
BMW Sauber | 1:21.625 | 1:21.113 | 1:22.389 |
| 8 | Heikki Kovalainen
|
Renault | 1:21.790 | 1:21.623 | 1:22.568 |
| 9 | David Coulthard
|
Red Bull-Renault | 1:22.491 | 1:21.488 | 1:22.749 |
| 10 | Giancarlo Fisichella
|
Renault | 1:22.064 | 1:21.677 | 1:22.881 |
| 11 | Nico Rosberg
|
Williams-Toyota | 1:21.943 | 1:21.968 | |
| 12 | Rubens Barrichello
|
Honda | 1:22.502 | 1:22.097 | |
| 13 |  Takuma Sato
|
Super Aguri-Honda | 1:22.090 | 1:22.115 | |
| 14 | Jenson Button
|
Honda | 1:22.503 | 1:22.120 | |
| 15 | Anthony Davidson
|
Super Aguri-Honda | 1:22.295 | no time | |
| 16 | Vitantonio Liuzzi
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:22.508 | no time | |
| 17 | Ralf Schumacher
|
Toyota | 1:22.666 | ||
| 18 |  Alexander Wurz
|
Williams-Toyota | 1:22.769 | ||
| 19 |  Mark Webber
|
Red Bull-Renault | 1:23.398 | ||
| 20 | Adrian Sutil
|
Spyker-Ferrari | 1:23.811 | ||
| 21 |  Christijan Albers
|
Spyker-Ferrari | 1:23.990 | ||
| 22 |  Scott Speed
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari | no time |
Race
Notes
- Fastest Lap: Felipe Massa, 1:22.680 (Lap 14)
External links
References
- ^ a b "Spanish track changes to aid overtaking". Official Formula One website. May 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Three day testing after five week break". Official Formula One website. April 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "Rain hits test". Official Formula One website. May 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Ferrari fastest". Official Formula One website. May 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "Coulthard sets fastest test time". Official Formula One website. May 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "Honda grows elephant ears". Official Formula One website. May 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "McLaren debut radical front wing". Official Formula One website. April 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Davidson pleased with Aguri pace" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Practice 1: Lewis heads McLaren 1-2" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Renault plays down practice speed" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "McLaren happy with perfect Friday" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Williams makes up for lost time" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Second crash at Spanish GP track" BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Heidfeld: There's more pace to come" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Practice 2: Alonso thrills home fans" ITV-F1. Retrieved 11 May 2007
- ^ "Sat practice: Lewis gears up for pole bid" ITV-F1. Retrieved 12 May 2007
- ^ a b c d "Massa Takes Dominate Win in Spain". Official Formula One website. May 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-14-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "2007 Spanish Grand Prix". Official Formula One website. May 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-14-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Historic First Point for Super Aguri". Official Formula One website. May 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-14-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)