Massa fights back in Bahrain

A stellar performance by McLaren’s star rookie Hamilton saw him coming in second place, and causing even more sensation amongst Formula 1 fans, having out-performed his double World Champion team mate, Fernando Alonso. Third place went to Kimi Raikkonen, who appeared to have encountered some difficulties when following behind Alonso.

There is little doubt, however, that all eyes now are on Hamilton. Hailed as the only man so far to have clinched three podium standings in his first three grand prix races, the 22-year old is certainly going to pose an interesting challenge to the other teams, especially Ferrari.

Frank Williams told Autosport, “I thought after we got rid of Michael, 'now we've got a chance again.' But then another superhuman turns up.” He also added, “I cry he's not in a Williams but I rejoice for F1. I really do.”

Even three-time champion, Sir Jackie Stewart, expressed much confidence in Hamilton having the potential to be World Champion. Speaking to BBC Radio Four, he told them “It's not inconceivable it could be done this year because McLaren look like the team to beat. If not, expect it within the next three.”

"He is, of course, driving for one of the best teams in the world at the present time, with a competitive car, but nevertheless he's been able to accomplish more in a shorter time than any driver I've ever seen enter Formula One."

Sir Jackie also warned, however, that mistakes are bound to happen within the young racer’s career, but that “"for a new driver to do that with such consistency and not to be making the kind of mistakes that new drivers usually make is in itself a remarkable achievement.”

Despite both McLaren drivers citing the lack of balance with their cars – Alonso particularly displeased about getting understeer and oversteer – Hamilton even managed to set the fastest lap of 1:35.137 during his eighth lap, and also stayed on track to put the pressure on Massa during the second stint of the race, after putting on hard tyres.

When interviewed during the post-race press conference, Massa explained what went on towards the end of the race when Hamilton seemed to be catching up.

“In the first stint my car was not really well balanced and I was suffering from a lot of oversteer. Lewis was quite close for the whole stint but then the second stint was fantastic for me. The car was behaving very, very well on scrubbed tyres and I took away a bit of front wing and it was really much easier to drive and I could build a nice gap. Then in the last stint I had hard tyres and I saw also that the gap was reasonable and I started to look after my car and maintain my pace and go through the traffic to the finish.”

Meanwhile, even Iceman Kimi Raikkonen seems to be feeling the heat. Finishing third and a good 10.839 seconds behind his team mate, Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton now see themselves all with an equal 22 points, with Felipe Massa 5 points behind at 17.

Still, the Finn felt that more could be done to improve Ferrari’s performance. Stuck behind Alonso for the earlier part of the race, he eventually got through and moved up to third position, where he then tried unsuccessfully to close in on and pass Hamilton.

"This whole weekend has been quite difficult," said Raikkonen, "Hopefully at the next test we will find something and some parts that improve the situation for me so we can try to start being at the front again.”

"I think we are going to get more parts for the next step. I am pretty positive it is going to change things a lot.”

The Bahrain race also saw interesting developments with BMW. Nick Heidfeld proved to be someone worth paying more attention to when he pounced on the chance to overtake Alonso during the 32nd lap. The McLaren driver had taken a defensive line at Turn 4, but the German in the BMW simply went from the outside to take over fourth position from the Spaniard.

Oddly enough, his spectacular form has driven BMW into a bit of a dilemma, as Heidfeld’s accomplishments lately come at a time when his contract is about to expire. Dr Mario Theissen has been said to be interested in having current test driver, 19-year old Sebastian Vettel, rise up as a race driver next year. Problem is, he would be reluctant to sacrifice Robert Kubica.

With the next race up only in almost a months’ time, more development can be expected within the top teams aiming at receiving the World Champion title. Ferrari needs to find a way to overcome their problems of aerodynamic and cooling efficiency faced when following behind another car, while the top-running teams still need to settle their issues with their car’s balance.

More importantly, this year’s race might be one of the most exciting, with fierce competition amongst the Ferrari and McLaren drivers, especially with rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton’s consistency so far and Nick Heidfeld’s up-and-coming display. With some luck, we might even see a four-way battle for the world title.


[B]Pos Driver Team Lap Time[/B]
01 Felipe Massa Ferrari 42 1:34.067
02 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 18 1:34.270
03 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 39 1:34.357
04 Fernando Alonso McLaren 46 1:34.420
05 Nick Heidfeld BMW 38 1:34.470
06 Robert Kubica BMW 46 1:34.819
07 Jarno Trulli Toyota 40 1:35.153
08 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 51 1:35.200
09 David Coulthard Red Bull 34 1:35.384
10 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 27 1:35.475
11 Nico Rosberg Williams 51 1:35.556
12 Mark Webber Red Bull 37 1:35.705
13 Tonio Liuzzi STR 23 1:35.723
14 Rubens Barrichello Honda 50 1:35.842
15 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 37 1:35.845
16 Alex Wurz Williams 27 1:35.992
17 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 27 1:36.111
18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 23 1:36.359
19 Adrian Sutil Spyker 45 1:36.772
20 Christijan Albers Spyker 40 1:37.184

To see the race results, [URL=http://www.formula1.com/archive/grandprix/2007/772.html]click here[/URL]

To see the driver standings, [URL=http://www.formula1.com/archive/driver/2007.html]click here[/URL]

Credits: Kr0n