Massa Reigns but Lewis Leads in Spain.

So after the month break from the Bahrain G.P. and the teams were ready for the Spanish race. Having tested at the circuit the week before it seemed that Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen came away happiest believing he had a break through with the set up of the car. Ferrari had also reworked the car to cope better with its cooling. Mclaren had also been pushing forward with its new front wing, which was very bold but odd looking.

From the drivers side Fernando Alonso was under pressure to perform this weekend not only from the fact his team mate beat him last round but this was his home race. Since Alonso’s success in formula 1 Spanish interest in the sport has rocketed. The circuit was a sell out and had also had extra grand stands in to accommodate an extra 30,000 fans. The pressure was on. Also Kimi Raikkonen needed to beat his teammate and establish himself as the teams No.1 Driver. With his team mate Felipe Massa winning last time out Kimi needed to get one up on him. Now the standings had a three way tie at the top with 22 points each Raikkonen, Alonso and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. With Felipe Massa only 5 points behind. BMW were easily the third fastest team, but finally starting to show its promise was the Red Bull team. They were in the mix with Williams, Toyota, Renault Super Aguri and Honda with only one to two tenths of a second covering them.

The circuit also had under gone a change with a new chicane being installed before the final turn. The idea being to encourage more overtaking by allowing the following car to close up at the chicane then try and pass into turn one.

Qualifying was a very close affair. Massa managed to steal pole almost in stealth with all the eyes focused on Alonso, Raikkonen who were battling it out. The grid was set With Massa on pole from Alonso then Raikkonen with Hamilton 4th Kubica 5th for Bmw and out qualifying his team mate for the first time this season. Jarno Trulli 6th out qualifying his team mate Ralf Schumacher who was only 17th Nick Heidfeld 7th Kovalainen 8th for Renault his team mate 10th split by Coulthard in 9th for Red Bull.

Race day and as the cars set off on the parade lap Massa Almost looked as if he had stalled. A marshal putting the yellow flag up straight away but it seemed nothing was up and he set off on his way. It was to be the first of a few worrying moments for the Ferrari team. So with the warm up lap completed the cars lined up ready to go. Suddenly yellow flags were waving aborting the start straight away. Jarno Trulli had stalled from p6 on the grid. He’d Lost fuel Pressure and had to start from the pit lane reducing the race from 66 to 65 laps.. So they lined up for the start again minus the Toyota. The red lights went out and Massa managed to get away fine with Alonso right behind him. But Alonso managed to tuck right behind him then use the extra mid range power the Mclaren seems to have to pull aside. With the Spanish crowd on its feet Alonso tried to take the lead he squeezed Massa into the first corner. But Massa had the inside and as Alonso continued to try and squeeze him out He held his line and had nowhere to go. He two cars clashed with Alonso coming off worst as Massa went through the first t Alonso went skating through the gravel losing two places to Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton Making another good start and jumping the Ferrari. Alonso now back on track in 4th immediately started to chase after Raikkonen And Massa showing no ill effects from the clash pulled away in front. mid way round the lap Fisichella went off at the fast but blind turn nine. On returning to the circuit he managed to cause a small traffic jam this cause Alexander Wurz in the Williams to go into the back of Ralf Schumacher. Wurz losing his front wing and breaking his suspension. Sending him into retirement.

Massa pushed hard up front setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Behind Mark Webber who went out with hydraulic problems that had also ruined his qualifying. Trulli who had made the start also retired when his fuel pressure failed again. Though more significant was on lap 9 when the Ferrari of Raikkonen slowed, His electronics failing and ruining his race and damaging his title chances. In the mid field the other Red Bull of Coulthard had managed to jump Kovalainen at the start and was pushing hard to catch the Bmw’s. Meanwhile on lap 10 Scott Speed suffered a left rear blow out on the start/finish straight coming to the rest on the grass before turn one.

Massa pushed getting the gap between him and second placed Hamilton to just over nine seconds. He pitted on lap 19. Tires went on but the fuel nozzle didn’t come off to easily. A few drops of fuel ignited causing a spectacular flame that ripped across the back of the car. Though this soon blew out not damaging the car. Alonso pitted on the same lap and Hamilton 3 laps later. But while Massa and Hamilton went for the soft compound tires again Alonso went for the harder of the two compounds. With bargeboard damage from his clash with Massa he dropped back away from the top two. Heidfeld pitted from the lead but his stop turned out to be a disaster. The right front wheel gunman was still attaching the wheel when the signal was given for Heidfeld to go. The nut flying off the car a Toyota mechanic picking it up and trying to point it out to the Bmw mechanics. Heidfeld completed a slow lap around the circuit and returning to the pits to get it put on properly. Button who was neck and neck with his teammate exited the pits only to slide across the curb and lose his front wing on his teammates rear wing. Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen had already left the circuit...

After the stops Massa easily pulled away from Hamilton who in turn left Alonso behind. Renault Brought Kovalainen in early for his second stop. This seemed to be a brilliant strategy for Renault as it made the rookie the fastest driver on the track at the time. Then disaster struck when it was realized that the fuel rig had under filled both cars causing a third splash and dash stop for both cars. This promoted the Super Aguri of Sato to 8th with Kovalainen still managing to stay in 7th despite his problems. Mean while Rosberg has worked his way up the grid from 11th to 6th. Towards the end of the race he managed to reel in Coulthard who had lost 3rd gear. It had cost him 7 seconds in one lap alone, but Coulthard had managed to drive around the problem managing to get the time he was losing down to around a second to seven tenths a lap. Meanwhile Massa took a dominant win from Hamilton who now leads the world championship. With Alonso a distant 3rd Robert Kubica getting his best result of the season with 4th Coulthard finish 5th minus a gear Rosberg a career best 6th Kovalainen 7th and Sato scoring Super Aguri’s first ever point in 8th.

As the teams celebrate or commiserate the season is getting tense. A rookie leads for the first time in F1 history. But look at the season results and a more interesting picture emerges. Ferrari have won 3 of the first for races yet the Drivers lie 3rd and 4th with Massa 3 points behind and Raikkonen still on 22 points due to his dnf. Lewis Hamilton who has yet to win a race leads the title hunt. His consistent scoring doing him no harm. With the Ferrari drivers taking points off each other this is not like the Schumacher years where there was clear No.1 Driver status. The effect of this has been lessened by the fact that Hamilton has now beaten Alonso for the second time in a row and in his home race. Alonso will know that move on the first corner cost him He said after the race “I think I was much in front of him into the first corner, but unfortunately he didn't think so and we touched.” I would hope he hadn’t seen the replay when he said this. As Im not sure where he expected Massa to go. It was also interesting to see Massa hold his ground and not be fazed slowly hew is showing maturity and putting his fast but wild days behind him. Alonso does not like to be beaten by his teammate. Renault mechanics have said that on the few occasions Trulli or Fisichella beat him he was very moody. The fact being there are rumors that Alonso is already unhappy about the amount of attention his teammate is receiving. If Hamilton is able to keep beating him week in week out it will not look good and Team boss Ron Dennis does not like whiners in his team.

The Midfield scrap is tight. But the fact being that while both Toyotas failed to finish and Honda Finishing 10th and a lowly 13th for Button. It will not please them to see there customer teams beating them. With Super Aguri getting a point before Honda this season maybe Honda should have there old car back. Renault meanwhile are defiantly stuck in the Mid-field. Many people will point to the lost of Alonso, But the loss of Michelin is hurting them more. The team believes it will start to make progress this season. But it knows that there’s no hope of retaining ether title and that will be a bitter pill to swallow. Red Bull seem to be getting on top of there car now the speed is getting better each race. The reliability isn’t how ever. With Webber having hydraulic problems in both qualifying and the race and Coulthard finishing but minus 3rd gear. But Bmw may have to watch there backs soon.

Next Race is Monaco on the 27th May and Lewis Hamilton is aiming for his first win. His record there in lower formulas shows hes yet to be beaten. Massa and Raikkonen will no doubt want to spoil that record. But something tells me Alonso wants to more than anyone.

Drive of the race- Felipe Massa for his dominant display. Though Coulthard drive was also a top performance.