Bahrain GP - Ferrari - RaceFelipe Massa needed to deliver today for Ferrari and deliver he did with a flawless drive from the Pole Position to the chequered flag to take a well deserved points haul in Bahrain. The result was Massa's third win of his career and the first
of the season.
Kimi Raikkonen collected six points for third position and joins
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at the top of the championship standings with 22 points. Massa moves fourth with 17 while Ferrari close to within five points of rivals McLaren in the constructors' championship.
Felipe Massa
"A great result and it's nice that we now have a long break during which I can enjoy thinking about it! After the first two races did not go so well for me, we put everything together today. The team did a great job today in terms of the strategy and the car set-up and everything else. But I will dedicate this win to my girlfriend Raffaela who has had to be very patient with me this weekend! “
“But we still need to work hard to maintain the momentum and the slight advantage that we have. During the first stint my car was not so well balanced, I had a bit too much understeer and then the second was fantastic for me with the tyres working very well. On the final stint, after my second pit stop, I had the harder tyres and having looked at the gap, I concentrated on looking after the car and did not need to increase the gap.
I lost a bit of time to back markers too. The championship is very close now so these are ten very important points!"
Kimi Raikkonen"I am happy with these six points, but I can't be completely satisfied with this result. At the start, I think I made a small mistake but I was still in a position where I could try and overtake Lewis, but in the end I lost a place to Alonso and spent all of the first stint right behind him, with no chance of getting by. We managed it at the pit stop, but to be on the safe side we decided to shorten slightly the second stint. I managed to close on Lewis but then, with the different strategy it wasn't possible to get by him. In the final stint, I chose to manage the situation given that I could not get past Lewis. When you come up behind a car it gets hard to drive and today's strong wind certainly didn't make things any easier. We now have to work on improving our performance. In the next test in Barcelona, we have some new parts coming and I hope they will mean we can make a good step forward."
Jean Todt
"Pole position, quickest race lap and the win: a truly perfect weekend for Felipe. This great result was completed with a third place for Kimi, which helped bring home some precious points for the two Championships. It was a very had and closely contested race, with three teams in the running. We have made up ground in both classifications and now we plan to make the most of the weeks leading up to the race in Barcelona to try and improve every aspect of our package, from performance to reliability. I want to thank our technical partners, first and foremost Shell and Bridgestone, which in its new role as sole tyre supplier, has provided the teams with two types of tyre that are competitive and consistent in terms of performance. We can see that the fight for the titles will be very tight."
Luca Baldisserri
"That was a really great race, especially from Felipe, who has been very quick all weekend. It was a shame that Kimi's race was compromised after he lost a place after the start. He managed to get by Alonso in the pit stop, but having shortened the second stint, he was unable to do the same thing to Hamilton, even though he had completely closed up the gap that had grown in the previously. The two F2007 worked very well and there were no technical problems at all. This is result is a reward for all the hard work from the team here at Sakhir and in Maranello, after a difficult weekend in Sepang. Now there is a bit of a break in the calendar and we will have to make the most of it to improve our performance and up the level of reliability of the cars. In the Barcelona test prior to the race at the same track, we will have some new parts, but we know that our rivals won't be standing still either."
Source Ferrari
