This is a mega opportunity missed for Ferrari. They will go away from this event feeling really low after a 1-2 finish was there for the taking.

Ferrari were comfortably quicker than McLaren. In the race Ferrari were around 0.5 seconds quicker per lap. The track was still very warm despite it being night time so Ferrari were able to look after its tyres better than McLaren.

Also, Ferrari seemed to have found the sweet spot for the race and the Ferrari was much easier to drive than the McLaren. Therefore, Ferrari’s laptimes were far more consistent than McLaren's.

Hamilton was a little bit ragged at times, especially during qualifying. Massa got a better handle on this circuit.

Massa’s qualifying lap was supreme, six-tenths is a big gap. Hamilton may have been a couple of laps heavier but that doesn’t equal six-tenths difference.

Massa was driving away from Hamilton easily in the first part of the race. Raikkonen was also much quicker than Hamilton and was gaining on him quickly.

Without the Safety Car's intervention, Raikkonen would have very likely jumped Hamilton at the first round of pit stops, and supported Massa for the rest of the race.

Over the race distance with no Safety Cars, I think Hamilton and McLaren would have been very soundly beaten. Pace wise, McLaren had no response to Ferrari.

However Piquet’s crash completely turned the race upside down, and this is where Ferrari’s race fell apart. As soon as the pit lane re-opened after the initial pit lane closure (which hampered Rosberg and Kubica) all the leaders came in.

Ferrari have recently been using a lights system as opposed to the lollipop man. This system already caused controversy in Valencia with two fumbled pit stops there.

The system is normally automated once everyone has finished their jobs, but here it was worked manually. Basically, one of the Ferrari pit crew gave the go-ahead too early and Massa left the pit lane with the hose still on.

Massa was given a green light too soon; he wasn’t at fault whatsoever. It was a simple human error, and one which could prove very costly.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?