Massa wins in Bahrain to seal dominant weekend for Ferrari
Sunday, 06 Apr 2008 14:53
Felipe Massa had failed to finish in the previous two races, fuelling rumours about his future at Ferrari
Felipe Massa brushed aside rumours about his future at Ferrari with victory in the Bahrain grand prix.
The Brazilian took the chequered flag to mark a dominant week for Ferrari with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finishing second.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica took third ahead of team-mate Nick Heidfeld while Lewis Hamilton had a nightmare afternoon and finished 13th.
The result sees McLaren driver Hamilton knocked off top spot in the drivers' championship, with world champion Raikkonen now leading the Briton by five points.
Massa pipped Kubica, who started on pole, at the first corner and opened up a healthy lead.
Finn Raikkonen then overtook Kubica but was five seconds behind Massa when he pitted on lap 20.
The world champion sliced the gap down to three seconds after a series of fastest lap times, but unlike in the Malaysian grand prix a fortnight ago Massa held his nerve to clinch victory.
Meanwhile, Hamilton needed to pit for repairs after smashing into the Renault of his ex-team mate Fernando Alonso.
The 23-year-old plummeted from third to tenth on the grid after colliding into the back of the Spaniard's Renault while trying to overtake on lap two.
The crash knocked off Hamilton's front wing and he had his nose cone replaced after the lap while Alonso, who finished 12th, had his rear wing damaged.
Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth, Toyota's Jarno Trulli took sixth, while Red Bull's Mark Webber was seventh.
Webber's team-mate David Coulthard finished in 18th spot, two places behind Super-Aguri Honda's Anthony Davidson.
Honda's Jenson Button retired on lap 19, while in ninth position, after a puncture.
Round four of the F1 championship takes place in Barcelona for the Spanish grand prix on April 27th.