Lewis Hamilton kept everyone waiting for the driver’s parade before the race. He didn’t keep Massa waiting on the start/finish line though. It was a phenomenal move from the little Brazilian, and an exciting twist to the beginning of a race that I thought, to be perfectly honest, was going to be somewhat boring. McLaren had dominated in practise and in qualifying so anyone would be forgiven for presuming they would continue to do so throughout the race itself.

So watching Massa’s Ferrari shoot past both the McLaren’s was something of a shock. OK, he didn’t exactly race off in to the middle distance leaving everyone in his wake; Lewis did a great job of keeping the F2008 honest, but that Ferrari was looking good and pacy again, so crown contenders should beware.

I settled down to watch what I thought was going to be a race won, yet again in the pit stops and was feeling quite gloomy about it, especially after the excitement of Germany two weeks previously. Hamilton following Massa in to the pit lane one lap after him and McLaren re-fuelling him accordingly did nothing to improve the mood. Pit lane race, definitely!

The only bright spot at this stage was the Alonso versus Raikkonen battle being fought further on down the track. What fun, to watch the former world champion hold the current world champion at bay. For me it was an absolute joy watching Alonso, who’s been bogged down in that highly underachieving Renault, finally get to flex his muscles again and show off his super-aggressive, fantastic driving skills once again.

Of course, there was also the triple fire incident in the pit garages to keep us entertained. Three fuel fires in a row from three different teams; Toro Rosso, Honda and Williams. What was that all about?

Then the old flat spotted tyre situation came back to haunt Lewis Hamilton again. What a disaster for the poor guy. Horrible de je vu watching him crawl back to the pits with the rubber flapping in the wind, hoping against hope he wouldn’t damage the car and be unable to continue with the race. Then there was the nail biting prospect of knowing he was going to spend the remainder of the race on the super-softs. Would they go the distance for him?

But then the unthinkable happened. An engine failed, and not just any engine, but a seemingly indestructible Ferrari engine. It has to be said; I thought it was a real shame for Felippe Massa. I’m sure that won’t help me win any popularity contests with McLaren fans out there but it was. He had done such a fantastic job up until that point. It’s always a pity to see a drive lose out on the win, when it was though no fault of their own.

Yet, the outcome was a great one for Heikki Kovalainen who was there to pick up the spoils. Once again the Finn had had a relatively quiet race, just getting the job done, so it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving driver. He has had his run of bad luck along the way this season. It was about time he saw some good fortune for a change. I’m sure he would have wanted his first victory to have had nothing to do with default but when it boils down to it a win is a win and he looked great on the top step of the podium. Let’s hope this first win will open the floodgates for many more.

I couldn’t possibly finish without a word for Timo Glock either. He did a terrific job of holding off Kimi in the Ferrari to claim that second spot as his own. He did a brilliant job all weekend and it was great to see him turn his fantastic qualifying performance in to a decent result at the end of the race.

So, Massa earned himself no points as all and Hamilton had to settle for damage limitation points at the end of the day. Oh well, where’s the fun in an easy run to a world championship? Remember the Michael Schumacher era? Yawn!  

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes