Team by team analysis of European Grand Prix
VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) - Team by team analysis of Sunday's European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain (listed in current championship order):
-
FERRARI (Felipe Massa 1, Kimi Raikkonen retired)
Massa started on pole and celebrated his 100th grand prix with his fourth win of the season, and Ferrari's sixth. Massa leapfrogged team mate Raikkonen, who retired with an engine failure, to go second overall, six points behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
-
MCLAREN (Lewis Hamilton 2, Heikki Kovalainen 4)
McLaren's run of three wins in a row ended but Hamilton stretched his overall lead to six points thanks to Raikkonen's retirement. Both drivers were on two stop strategies. McLaren cut Ferrari's lead in the constructors' standings from 11 to eight points. Team boss Ron Dennis said Hamilton lost the chance of victory in qualifying and McLaren had taken the "championship-strategic option" of settling for second.
-
BMW-SAUBER (Robert Kubica 3, Nick Heidfeld 9)
Kubica took BMW Sauber's eighth podium, and his fifth, of the season. He lost time early on when a plastic bag was caught under his car, affecting the steering. Heidfeld lost a place at the start in what he called one of his worst races ever.
-
TOYOTA (Jarno Trulli 5, Timo Glock 7)
Trulli started seventh but passed Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel at the first pitstop and then went clear of Raikkonen after the Ferrari driver's bungled stop. Glock had been struggling with a cold and started 13th. He then gained three places at the start despite being on a one-stop strategy.
-
RENAULT (Nelson Piquet 11, Fernando Alonso retired)
Alonso retired on the first lap after a collision with Kazuki Nakajima's Williams. Piquet lost several positions at the start and then damaged his front wing.
-
RED BULL (Mark Webber 12, David Coulthard 17)
Team boss Christian Horner described it as a "disastrous race". Coulthard was hit from behind on the first lap and then made contact with a Force India car while trying to go past, damaging his car's aerodynamics. Webber, on a one-stop strategy, said his car was just not quick enough.
-
WILLIAMS (Nico Rosberg 8, Kazuki Nakajima 15)
Rosberg handed Williams their first point since Silverstone on July 6. Nakajima had his highest grid position of the year (11th) ruined when the anti-stall kicked in at the start and he then had to pit for a new front wing after colliding with Renault's Alonso.
-
HONDA (Jenson Button 13, Rubens Barrichello 16)
Both drivers were on a one-stop strategy. Barrichello started from the pit lane after suffering brake problems on Saturday. He was up to 17th by the end of the first lap.
-
TORO ROSSO (Sebastian Vettel 6, Sebastien Bourdais 10)
Vettel had his best result since finishing fifth in Monaco. Bourdais clashed with BMW Sauber's Heidfeld and broke a wing. Toro Rosso are now just three points adrift of Honda.
-
FORCE INDIA (Giancarlo Fisichella 14, Adrian Sutil retired)
Fisichella drove a one-stop race after gaining four places in the opening laps. Sutil, on a two-stop strategy, retired after hitting the barriers under-braking on lap 41.
-
SUPER AGURI have withdrawn from the championship.
(Compiled by Alan Baldwin, editing by Rex Gowar)
