Results of the 2007 European F1 Grand Prix
Tempestuous weather turned the 2007 drivers standings on their head as a freak storm resulted in chaotic start at the Nurburgring. Lewis Hamilton’s comfortable lead vanished as Fernando Alonso snatched victory from Felipe Massa while his hyped teammate at McLaren failed to finish in the points.
Mark Webber celebrated his first podium of the season with Alexander Wurz and David Coulthard surprised to find themselves finishing fourth and fifth. The two BMW–Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were also lucky to salvage points after colliding with each other on the opening lap. Heikki Kovalainen picked up the final point despite finishing a lap down.
But for Hamilton, and British GP winner Kimi Raikkonen, it was a race of poor fortune which saw nine retirements, five of them on lap two. Hamilton fought his way up to fourth after starting tenth only to lose out on poor tactical decisions, while Raikkonen suffered mechanical failure mid–race while running third. It was the first time this season Hamilton hasn’t stood on the podium, and his weekend was blighted first by a crash in qualifying, then sliding off the track in intense rain on lap two and finally losing out with two ill–timed gambles on tyre choices.
The biggest villain of the day however was the weather, which turned the event into a lottery in which many cars pitted four times. Despite bright sunshine at the start, a sudden heavy storm on lap two turned the racetrack into an ice rink as cars slide off the track one after another, with an early victim being Jenson Button. None were damaged but only Hamilton managed to keep his engine running, enabling him to rejoin behind the safety car.
By the time the race was restarted it was, bizarrely, burning sunshine again with rookie new Spyker driver Markus Winkelhock leading! As the race settled down pole sitter Massa reclaimed the lead for Ferrari and fought off Alonso for most the race, with Raikkonen constantly in the mirrors of the Spaniard world champion until the second Ferrari’s retirement.
The Brazilian had built up a seven second lead at one stage but the heaven’s opened once more seven laps from the end, playing yet another hand in the outcome. With everyone suddenly pitting for soft compound tyres the better handling McLarens could suddenly compete with the quicker Ferraris and Alonso snatched the chequered flag
Hamilton, who had the disadvantage of one poor tyre decision earlier, took a chance and stayed out to try and improve on his eight position but the conditions were too wet and he lost positions to finish the lowest in his short but meteoric F1 career. He is now only two points ahead of Alonso in the Driver’s standings; while Felipe Massa solidifies his third place, nine points behind on 59. Raikkonen’s chances are looking less favourable as he trails on 52. Not much has changed in the constructor’s standings as McLaren lead on 138 with Ferrari on 111 and BMW–Sauber far behind on 61.
European Grand Prix result
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren–Mercedes two hours six minutes 26.358 seconds
- Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 8.155 seconds behind
- Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull–Renault at 1:05.674
- Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams–Toyota 1:05.937
- David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull–Renault 1:13.656
- Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:20.298
- Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 01:22.415
- Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1 lap behind
- Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1 lap
- Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1 lap
- Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1 lap
- Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri–Honda 1 lap
- Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1 lap
R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 34 laps completed
R Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri–Honda 19 laps completed
R Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 18 laps
R Markus Winkelhock (Ger) Spyker–Ferrari 13 laps
R Jenson Button (GB) Honda two laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker–Ferrari two laps
R Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams–Toyota two laps
R Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso–Ferrari two laps
R Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso–Ferrari two laps