Filed under: Motorsports, Euro
SPOILER ALERT: the new European Grand Prix at Valencia
Click above for high-res gallery of the European Grand Prix
There are many grands prix in Europe, but there is only one European Grand Pix. Although the title was originally awarded as a badge of prestige to one race on the continent each year, over the last quarter century the name has allowed a second round in the Formula One World Championship to be held in a country that already hosts a race under its own name. With the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix already behind us, this year's European Grand Prix was held at the new street course in Valencia, Spain.
Not to be confused with the Circuit de Valencia that is often used as an F1 test track, the new Circuito Urbano Valencia was designed by prolific track architect Hermann Tilke and is lauded for combining a highly challenging set of 25 turns with a Monaco-like atmosphere – complete with views of the Mediterranean and a marina – and a unique bridge straight. The new location made for a an exciting setting for this past weekend's race, jam packed with race action to throw this year's championship further into flux. Follow the jump to see how it unfolded.
Following the unparalleled disappointment that Felipe Massa suffered at the last race in Hungary, race day in Spain proved a red letter day for the young Brazilian. By the end of the race weekend, Massa had taken pole position, set the fastest lap and, to jump to the salient point, took the checkered flag as well. Massa led a commanding race, punctuated only by a minor incident that almost saw him collide in pit lane with Force India driver Adrian Sutil. That incident, investigated by the race marshals after the event, cost Ferrari $10,000 in fines, however Massa was able to keep his victory.
His teammate at Scuderia Ferrari had much worse luck. After managing to qualify only in fourth place, reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen was caught in traffic most of the race distance. Close to the end of the race, he caused a far more serious incident than his teammate's in the pits. Pitting right behind McLaren-Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen, who managed to fend off his fellow Finn most of the race, Kimi was evidently desperate to get out in front of the McLaren and jumped the gun leaving the pit, taking down one of his mechanics with the fuel hose still attached. Kimi's impatience did not pay off as he had to stop and wait for the hose to be disconnected while the rest of the Ferrari pit crew tended to their fallen comrade. Kovalainen, meanwhile, got away, and Raikkonen's engine blew out in a cloud of smoke only a few laps later as the defending champ tried desperately to make up for lost time and position.
The crowd in southern Spain were surely far more disappointed to see their home-grown hero Fernando Alonso retire far earlier in the race. The two-time champion was rear-ended by Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima, whose kamikaze driving took the Spaniard out of the race on the first lap as the Renault crew was unable to repair the damage done to the back section of the car.
While one of the Ferrari drivers pulled off a flawless performance and the other anything but, both McLaren drivers drove consistently to score valuable points in the championship. Lewis Hamilton took the second step on the podium while his teammate Kovalainen came in fourth, sandwiching BMW's Robert Kubica in third.
The biggest surprises came from farther down the field, however. Toyota made a surprisingly strong showing in Valencia as Jarno Trulli came in a solid fifth place while his rookie teammate Timo Glock followed up on his blitzschnell second-place finish in Hungary earlier this month with an entirely respectable 7th place finish, good for a couple of points.
Meanwhile the order of things in the Red Bull hierarchy was upset as Scuderia Toro Rosso embarrassed the senior Red Bull Racing team. Sebastian Vettel retained his sixth place from the grid while his teammate Sebastien Bourdais kept his tenth, compared to Red Bull's Mark Webber who took 12th place from 14th on the grid and David Coulthard who couldn't do better than his 17th spot on the grid.
Alongside fellow veteran Rubens Barrichello, who finished just ahead of Coulthard in 16th (from an even more dismal 19th place grid position), the pair raised questions as to how well aging drivers can do the first time on a new track as the newcomers adapted more quickly while the veterans couldn't take advantage of their pools of experience.
By the end of the day, Massa had passed his teammate in the drivers' championship – who is now in danger of dropping further behind as Robert Kubica trails close by – and closed the gap on leader Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari's eleven-point lead in the constructors' championship heading into Valencia was dwindled down to nine as the season closes its 12th round. Stay tuned for results from the Belgian Grand Prix in two weeks from Spa.
2008 European Grand Prix
1. Massa Ferrari
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
3. Kubica BMW Sauber
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
5. Trulli Toyota
6. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari
7. Glock Toyota
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota
9. Heidfeld BMW Sauber
10. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari
11. Piquet Renault
12. Webber Red Bull-Renault
13. Button Honda
14. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota
16. Barrichello Honda
17. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:38.708
Not classified/retirements:
Raikkonen Ferrari
Sutil Force India-Ferrari
Alonso Renault
World Championship standings
(after 12 rounds)
Drivers:
1. Hamilton 70
2. Massa 64
3. Raikkonen 57
4. Kubica 55
5. Kovalainen 43
6. Heidfeld 41
7. Trulli 26
8. Alonso 18
9. Webber 18
10. Glock 15
11. Piquet 13
12. Barrichello 11
13. Vettel 9
14. Rosberg 9
15. Nakajima 8
16. Coulthard 6
17. Button 3
18. Bourdais 2
Constructors:
1. Ferrari 121
2. McLaren-Mercedes 113
3. BMW Sauber 96
4. Toyota 41
5. Renault 31
6. Red Bull-Renault 24
7. Williams-Toyota 17
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11
[Photos by Bryn Lennon/Mark Thompson/RAFA RIVAS/JOSE JORDAN/ROBERT GHEMENT/AFP/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
hashiryu 2:04PM (8/25/2008)
This was the most boring F1 race I have ever seen in my whole life.
Highly disappointed. None the less, everybody scoring points drove a good race.
Ferrari..WTF....
Vettel, well done..STR beating RBR....after they dumped their engines on them...lol golden
Nick..... buck up
Toyota, nice solid season so far...now where is that 1st win?
Alonso...... hhhhhahahahahahahahhaaaaaahaha [rofl]
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RG 2:05PM (8/25/2008)
What a cool looking venue.
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Dustin 2:06PM (8/25/2008)
All those laps, yet they finished in the same order they started. Exciting! Or not.
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Franz 2:07PM (8/25/2008)
I was kinda disapointed... great win for Massa, but I thought the track would have provided more overtaking opportunities but it was still too green and nobody wanted to venture off the racing line. It was a joy to watch the drivers string sector three together though... personally I think that's the most exciting series of corners currently in F1.
Ferrari's engine woes continue... I'm thinking their engines are on the ragged edge of tuning, because Massa's falied on his 2nd race weekend and now Kimi's. I wouldn't be surprised if Massa's pace falls of at Spa because that'll be the 2nd race on his motor.
As a side note, it was a good Sunday on Speed... the Rolex series @ Infineon and especially ALMS @ Mosport was great racing to watch.
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hashiryu 2:09PM (8/25/2008)
P.S. who writes this stuff?
Kamikaze driving? watch the race again [you deserve to be bored to death]
Toyota's showing a surprise? Apparently you missed the last couple of races......or maybe the entire first half of this season.
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tankd0g 2:19PM (8/25/2008)
The GP2 was awesome, the F1 was a non event except for Alonzo getting knocked out right at the start. The Spanish fans that left after that happened were the lucky ones.
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azzo45 4:29PM (8/25/2008)
I totally disagree. Like SPEED's David Hobbs said... Pay all that $$$ for a grandstand seat & LEAVE after the 1st lap due to Alonso's DNF???
Allan 2:25PM (8/25/2008)
Was a fun race to watch - if just for the views. Wasn't too much excitement compared to a few of the races this season. Looks like a gorgeous course though.
With two decent points spots, McLaren can catch up a bit in the constructors points. Also doesn't hurt them that Raikkonen blew up.
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4agze 2:26PM (8/25/2008)
its funny fans from spain booooed Alonso lol first turn on his home track yeah
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master811 4:38PM (8/25/2008)
Erm I think you will find they were booing at Nakajima who went into the back of Alonso and destroyed his race.
Hugh G 2:31PM (8/25/2008)
THat track SUCKED! I normally love in-car shots, but all you saw on this track was concrete wall and fencing the whole way around. Terrible!! The only good views were from the helicopters. Street circuits suck.
ON TO SPA....the best track on the planet!!!
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Brad 4:06PM (8/25/2008)
I can't wait for the next race either. Spa is my favorite F1 track.
Kayne001 7:11PM (8/25/2008)
I agree with you. Don't like the new track.
Ian 2:56PM (8/25/2008)
Peter Windsor interviewed Sebastian Bourdais on the grid and likened the track to a Champcar Street race. SB was having done if it, he said: "The circuit is much wider, the surface as far smoother and there are lots of run-offs".
In essence F1 transplanted a road circuit into a City with the predictable result that all the fun and action of running on confined, bumpy roads was lost.
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kfj 2:57PM (8/25/2008)
I like to watch the British coverage of the race and they asked SB the same question and he gave the same reply. I wonder how many people asked him that question this weekend.
JD 2:58PM (8/25/2008)
I laughed at Alonso. Can't stand the little punk, got exactly what he deserved.
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Nuieve 3:51PM (8/25/2008)
Agree, this racetrack does not belong to F1. Hideous scenery, and obviously no opportunities for overtaking (for F1 cars).
A complete entertainment disaster.
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nmt 3:58PM (8/25/2008)
I was also a little disappointed there wasn't more overtaking opportunities, and I agree with a previous poster that from the in-car camera shots, all you see are ugly gray concrete walls and fencing.
I always enjoy watching regardless.
The only thing I find frustrating about F1 is that the best drivers are stuck in slower cars, and even worse, rules and agreements prevent those teams from developing things like their engines to be on par with the top teams.
F1 really needs to separate the drivers and constructors championships completely by running separate races for them. I also think it would be cool if the winner of the constructors championship would get to construct a spec car for the drivers championship the following year. I also think there should be a separation between manufacturer constructors and privateer constructors. This would give the fans the excitement of close racing and overtaking between the best drivers in the world in the drivers race using spec cars. Then fans would be wowed by the unlimited cars of the constructors races.
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Brad 4:04PM (8/25/2008)
How does that bridge open up for boat traffic?
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Brad 4:10PM (8/25/2008)
Sunday was a great day if you are a fan of racing that turns to the right occasionally. I even watched the IRL race from Sonoma to round out the day.
I'm finally going to my first ALMS race at Road Atlanta in October and I can't wait.
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