Formula One news
Massa storms to Valencia victory
24 August 2008 / Results / PhotosFelipe Massa drove a dominant race to win the European Grand Prix at Valencia ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica. The Ferrari driver escaped a possible penalty for a pit lane incident with just a warning, stewards confirmed after the race.
In hot and sunny conditions the race got underway with Felipe Massa making a perfect getaway while Lewis Hamilton struggled of the dirty side of the grid and had to fend off a challenge for second from Robert Kubica. Raikkonen lost a position to Kovalainen while Fernando Alonso's home Grand Prix hopes ended on lap one after Kazuki Nakajima hit him from behind.
Meanwhile Massa was leading Hamilton by 1.4s with Kubica third. Kovlainen was fourth ahead of Raikkonen and Vettel. Massa though looked on fearsome form as he continued to build his lead over Hamilton - up to 2.9s by lap five and 3.8s by lap ten. Kubica struggled to match the leaders and by lap ten had slipped 13s behind Massa with Kovalainen and Raikkonen right on his tail.
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Massa was the first to pit at the end of lap 15 rejoining in between Kovalainen and Raikkonen. Hamilton meanwhile put in a new fastest lap of the race before pitting one lap later and rejoining behind Massa and Raikkonen.
It was lap 18 before Kubica and Raikkonen made their first pit stops, leaving Kovalainen in the lead until his first stop on lap 20. Massa resumed the lead, three seconds ahead of Hamilton and 16 seconds ahead of Kubica.
Massa, however, was not about to let up and by lap 24 had extended his lead over Hamilton to 5.1s and by lap 27 was up to 6.5s. Kubica had fallen 20 seconds away but had the measure of Kovalainen and Glock, who was up to fifth on a one-stop strategy and ahead of Raikkonen before making his stop.
Massa's charge continued undeterred and by lap 36 he had a 10.2s lead over Hamilton. He pitted on lap 37, but was released almost into the path of Adrian Sutil's Force India and soon came under the investigation from race stewards for a potentially unsafe release from his pit stop.
Hamilton pitted two laps later while a cloud hung over Ferrari and Felipe Massa. After several laps of fervent speculation, race control announced that Massa's incident would be investigated after the race.
On lap 43, Raikkonen trailed Kovalainen into the pits as more drama struck the Ferrari pit crew with Raikkonen released before his fuel hose had been disengaged, dragging one of his mechanics to the ground. Raikkonen was soon on his way though and the mechanic carried on a stretcher to the medical centre.
The drama continued at Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen's engine blew up dramatically on the pit straight on lap 47, dropping him out of the race. Meanwhile Massa continued to push out front, 7.5s ahead of Hamilton.
Felipe Massa cruised to victory, showing a dominant drive, but will the stewards undo all his hard work and apply a penalty after the race? Hamilton brought his McLaren home a comfortable second, but never had the raw pace to challenge Massa on track.
Kubica made a happy return to the podium in third, ahead of Kovalainen, Trulli, Vettel, Glock and Rosberg taking the final point.
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