Europe 2008 : It’s Massa all the way

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa revived his title challenge on Sunday with a convincing victory in the European Grand Prix at Formula One’s newest street circuit.

The 27-year-old Brazilian led a processional race from pole position to beat McLaren’s championship leading Briton Lewis Hamilton by 5.6 seconds with Poland’s Robert Kubica third for BMW Sauber.

The result remained subject to a post-race stewards’ enquiry, however, after Ferrari released the race winner into the path of Force India’s Adrian Sutil during his second pitstop. Massa’s win lifted him up to second in the drivers championship with 64 points, six fewer than Hamilton on 70, with six of the 18 rounds remaining.

It was Massa’s fourth win this season and helped him wipe away the disappointment of his enforced retirement, while leading with three laps remaining, from the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago. It was also the ninth win of the Brazilian’s career, achieved in exemplary fashion, and ended McLaren’s run of three victories in a row.

Massa’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was involved in a nightmare pitstop, with the world champion accelerating away with the fuel hose still attached in an incident that left a mechanic on the ground.

The Finn, who had started the day second overall in the championship, retired two laps later when his car's engine blew. He fell to third overall with 57 points while Kubica moved closer on 55.

Force India’s Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella finished 14th while teammate Adrian Sutil crashed out.

Kimi runs over team mechanic

A Ferrari mechanic was hospitalised after being run over by Kimi Raikkonen during refuelling on Sunday. Raikkonen was refuelling for the second time at the same time as McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. Under pressure, the world champion took off while the fuel pump was still in his car. He reversed and apparently ran over the leg of the Ferrari mechanic, who was quickly stretched off. The Italian team has not yet revealed details of the mechanic’s condition.

HOW THEY FINISHED
1. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1h 35m 32.339
2. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) +00:05.611
3. Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) 00:37.353
4. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) 00:39.703
5. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 00:50.684
6. Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) 00:52.625
7. Timo Glock (Toyota) 01:07.990
8. Nico Rosberg (Williams) 01:11.457
9. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 01:22.177
10. S Bourdais (Toro Rosso) 01:29.794
11. Nelson Piquet (Renault) 01:32.717
12. Mark Webber (RedBull) 1 lap
13. Jenson Button (Honda) 1 lap
14. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) 1 lap
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) 1 lap
16. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) 1 lap
17. David Coulthard (RedBull) 1 lap

Retired:
Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 12 laps
Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 16 laps
Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 57 laps

Fastest Lap:
Felipe Massa, 1:38.708, lap 36

HOW THEY STAND
Drivers
1. L Hamilton 70 pts
2. F Massa 64
3. K Raikkonen 57
4. R Kubica 55
5. H Kovalainen 43
6. N Heidfeld 41
7. J Trulli 26
8. F Alonso 18
9. M Webber 18
10. T Glock 15

Constructors
1. Ferrari 121 points
2. McLaren 113
3. BMW Sauber 96
4. Toyota 41
5. Renault 31