BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Kovalainen claims maiden victoryDespite the domination shown by Lewis Hamilton over the past couple of races and the storming performance of the McLaren Mercedes in practice and qualifying, the race was anything but straightforward. With Hamilton and Kovalainen on the front row of the grid, it would not have been much of a stretch to imagine that with a reasonable start they would be first and second going into the first corner.
However, Philipe Massa had other ideas. When the red lights went out he quickly got past Kovalainen and then forced Hamilton to yield into the first corner. He then set about ensuring that he could keep the rest of the field behind him and was very successful in this endeavour. The McLarens did not seem to have that speed and handling that they have displayed in the last 2 races and during the previous few days and Hamilton could not keep up with Massa. He then suffered a puncture half way through the race which dropped him to 12th place and if things had remained that way Massa would take the championship lead. Hamilton did do a good job of reducing the probable deficit by working his way up to a creditable 6th place, but on tyres that were fast wearing out, he was not really a factor in the end of the race.
Massa continued to dominate the race with Kovalainen in the other McLaren a distant 2nd. To his credit Heikki did close the gap over the latter part of the race but it was obvious that barring a disaster Massa in the surprisingly fast Ferrari would not be troubled. Then with 3 laps to go disaster struck. Massa’s Ferrari engine blew in a big way on the finishing straight and put him out of the race handing the Finn his first ever formula 1 win.
This has been a long time coming and though it was a surprise, it was a bigger surprise to see Timo Glock in the Toyota cross the line in 2nd place. The podium was rounded out by the other Finn, Raikonnen, who had a good second half of the race and looked at one point to be ready to overtake Glock.
All in all not too bad a result for Hamilton whose 5th place helped ensure he increased his lead in the championship.
