Ferrari all the way...

A very good start to the European races for the scarlet red Ferrari with Kimi & Massa making it a 1-2 finish. It was a race marred by safety car sessions at regular intervals. Only 13 drivers were able to finish the race. There were a couple of engines smoking causing retirement & one long was due to Hekki ramming into the tyre barriers.

On Saturday, Massa was all set to take pole position when Alonso came up with a magical performance just stealing at the very last seconds, but his Spanish party was short lived as Kimi stole the pole position with impeccable driving on the limit.

Kimi was on a new engine & Massa on same engine as the one he raced in Bahrain. After turn one it was the two Ferraris ahead of Alonso. Lewis had a very good start & moved up one place ahead Kubica.

By the third lap Kimi had opened a very good lead but was to be undone by a Safety car. This saw the retirement of Sutil & Vettel. A very good start for the other Renault driver Nelson until he went off the track & then a collided with Bourdais. This marked the retirement for both these drivers.

The double world champion who came up with a super qualifying effort was everything go up in smoke courtesy the smoking Renault engine. Reliability taking a toll. He put up a very brave smiling face in front of his home crowd.

McLaren had a huge scare as Hekki rammed front on to the tyre barrier. This was not due to any driver error but was due to mechanical failures. He managed to give a thumbs up to the concerned crowd as he was stretchered off and after initial examination in the medical centre revealed no major injuries beyond concussion, he was airlifted to a Barcelona hospital.

BMW had a mixed day Kubica finishing in fourth & Nick had hard luck today Safety car causing the pit lane to close. Nick was low on fuel and could have caused the car to stall due to no fuel. He was brought in to be refuelled. This meant he had to serve a 10 second stop & a drive thru.

A mixed day for Williams team as Nico had to retire on the start-finish straight with an engine failure. Nakajima brought home points as a consolation. A similar story for Honda as Button came in strong 6^th position while Rubens had to retire.

Story for the Red Bull Racing team was no different with Webber coming home in 5^th position DC of late has been having crashes with drivers trying to overtake him from the inside. Guess the race stewards have to have the incidents investigated.

Fisi & Rubens had a slight collision in the pit lane. This caused the nose of Honda car to come apart & ended Rubens race. Fisi went on to finish the race but not before the Force India car had a good duel with the BMW of Nick for more than 5 laps. He had put a similar performance in Bahrain.

Trulli took the last points available while his team mate made it a double finish for Toyota team.

So at the end of the race all the points mean Kimi extends his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 9 points ahead of Lewis. Just one point each separating the 2, 3, 4 places. Ferrari take lead in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of BMW.

So the stage is set for another intriguing race in two weeks time at Istanbul park, Turky.

Till then & now drive safely.

Redemption after disastrous start…

Massa took a determined and much-needed victory at Bahrain today to kick-start his season ahead of Kimi and the two BMWs of Kubica and Heidfeld in a race that had plenty of early action. Kimi played wingman bringing home a One-Two finish for Ferrari. Kimi was on the same engine that he used at Malaysia, second race on same engine meant he had to take more care of the engine. He drove a champions' race just a few seconds behind team mate Massa.

Kubica took pole for the first time ahead of Massa, Lewis and Kimi but the Pole's glory was short-lived as Massa clean beat him off the line to take the lead in turn one. There was action behind as Lewis slipped down to tenth and Heikki challenged Kimi for third throughout the first three corners, eventually yielding to the Ferrari. By end of Lap3 Kimi blasted past Kubica in turn one to set up a Ferrari one-two.

There was more action down the order as Lewis found himself behind former team mate Alonso and clipped the rear of the Renault, destroying his front wing. Ron Dennis almost banged his head on the pit counter in frustration as Lewis bounced off the back of Alonso; a racing error that effectively ended the competitive weekend for him. Lewis pitted at the end of lap three, rejoining at the back of the field.

Lewis seemed to be struggling with his McLaren's handling and was not making any progress down in 18th. Lewis made it up to fourteenth as everyone else pitted around him and overtook Fisi for thirteenth in turn one after a very fierce battle that lasted for more than 5 laps. At the end of the same lap Lewis pitted again to find himself behind the Force India car at the end of the race.

A special day for Force India Team as they move a step closer to achieving their dream. Both Fisi & Sutil completed the race for the team & one could say, if they continue the form shown in Bahrain, surely they are always present to grab points if the front runners have a bad day. Fisi had another good fight with the Honda Car of Rubens. He came very close to overtaking only to find the car not good enough yet.

Timo Glock, in the other Toyota car had some nervous moments defending his place from Alonso. Alonso was furious as he could not find a way past the Toyota car. Renault have a lot of work to do before the European races start in Barcelona. Hope testing there helps them. Last time round Alonso famously said that he had brought a few tenth's to McLaren team. McLaren have two new drivers in their lineup & Pedro doing the testing. It seems evident now.

At the back, Button lost control down the inside of the hairpin and slid into the side of David Coulthard, losing his front wing and pushing them both temporarily off track. Button pitted for repairs but eventually retired with too much damage to continue. Before the DC-Button incident button set the fastest lap of the race. Button found out that DC is not a very generous driver as did Massa in Malaysia.

Before the first set of pit stops both Ferraris were trading fastest laps. What would have been more humiliating for Lewis than being lapped by both Ferrari cars.

Heikki ended up fifth for McLaren, taking a mere four points for the team. Another good run for Trulli taking sixth for Toyota. Mark Webber claimed two points for Red Bull in seventh ahead of Nico Rosberg, getting Williams back into the points with eighth. All these points mean Kimi takes the lead of the drivers' championship & BMW for the first time are leading the constructors' championship.

Next race marks the start of European races. Home race for Alonso. He will want to put on a good show. Ferraris after the One-Two finish will want to continue their good run. BMW will look to defend the constructors' title they are leading. McLaren, I feel will bounce back. So all the makings of a great fight.

Till then & now drive safely.