(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Maybe there is a gremlin beginning to halt the Ferrari's progress. But It is not a gremlin that eventually halts Kimi Raikkonens' Ferrari, as the Finn stuck his into the wall towards the end of lap 45.
Amazingly he is still running, although his position in way down in 16th place.
On lap 47, Massa began to slow, and came into the pits and retired his car.
On the same lap Jenson Button pitted. It was a slow stop, because the first fuel rig had a problem, so they used a back up rig. He lost a good 5-6 seconds, but still came out in front or Vettel.
During all that Kubica found his way up to fourth position and catching everyone. He was on the hard compound tyre, where as the two leaders are on the soft tyre.
This softer tyre was going off after a few laps, so it was not the ideal tyre to be on.
He closed in on Barrichello, but Barrichello then made a pit stop, and came out behind Rosberg.
Barrichello passes a struggling Rosberg however, as his Williams is struggling on the softer compound tyre. The Toyota of Jarno Trulli also closes in on Rosberg.
Trulli passes Rosberg, as does Lewis Hamilton.
Amazing drives from the Toyota cars and Hamilton. They all started from the back of the grid. They were aided by some safety cars of course, but what a finish to the race it was turning out to be.
With 5 laps left, we had Button, Vettel and Robert Kubica all on the Pit Straight. Kubica the one with the pace, Button was told that Kubica is a threat.
Lap 56, and it is make or break time for Kubica.
Vettel ran wide on the exit of turn 1 and this compromised his line and speed, Kubica then with all the flow, came along side him heading into turn 3.
Vettel braked earlier, and Kubica went round the outside. Vettel kept his car in there though, and did not want to give up on his place. The two collided and then span off the track.
The safety car was then deployed and the race was basically over, with Button taking the victory, and the very fortunate Barrichello taking P2. Trulli took P3, but was then given a time penalty for passing Hamilton under a safety car situation.
All in all, it was one amazing season opener, we had crashes, mistakes, safety cars, and a new Team Finishing 1 -2 for the first time since 1954, when the Great Fangio took victory at the French Grand Prix. His Team-Mate, Karl Kling was 2nd.
So an historic day for Formula 1, and a historic season I think it shall be also.
A few points about the race, one comes to mind...
The Kubica and Vettel shunt right at the end. From my point of view, i think it was 50/50. Yes, Vettel was slow out of Turn 1, and he did break earlier. But he had the line into Turn 3, and Kubica could have given more room.
Honestly, he should have still stayed there to fight for his position. And in any case, there was no where else for him to go either. It was pure racing incident for me, as both drivers wanted the place, and both could have done things to avoid it.
Vettel has now been penalised for this, and he even apologized to the BMW Sauber boss Dr. Mario Thiessen after the race. And on the radio he said he was sorry.
This shows he is a gentlemen, but really, I do not believe he should be sorry. Yes sorry it turned out that way, but he was within his rights as a racer to defend his position.
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