2007 European GP: Major Review of the First Few Laps
After viewing the Canadian Grand Prix, the 6th "Crazy Race" since the beginning of the 2006 season (6 in 2.5 years is QUITE a lot, but they're usually fun for us fans, and great for backmarker sponsors), I thought I'd write a report on what I thought was undoubtedly the "Craziest" of those 6, the 2007 European Grand Prix. At the very least, this was the most insane and not just unbelievable, but No believable beginning to a motor sports race, in motor sports history.
- Markus Winkelhock starts from the pit lane
- Markus Winkelhock pits before he sets up from his grid position (which will be pit lane) and puts on Intermediate tires.
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- All teams put on dry tires, even though the FIA said they could change if they wanted with the rain coming.
Lap 1
- Lewis Hamilton Starts 10th, because of his accident at the “Schumacher S” in Q3 (Not his fault)
- After the start, Hamilton rockets up to 4th place, helped by the 2 BMW’s colliding at turn 2.
- Hamilton just avoids the BMW’s accident but gets a puncture in his Left Rear tire while just getting to 4th, and begins to slide back. Puncture is very likely from just nipping the rear wing of Kubica’s rear wing.
- David Coulthard slips off the track and goes back to last place with Kubica. Markus Winkelhock is now passing them because it has started to rain.
- By the middle of lap 1, the Severe Thunderstorm begins to hit and Kimi Räikkönen misses the final chicane.
- As Räikkönen goes around the final corner headed for the pits he slips off and misses the pit entrance. It is possible that Ferrari told him to go around again, because A. they didn’t want to stack up Massawith only 1 pit stall, and B. he missed the chicane so they wanted to give him a “disadvantage” so the FIA wouldn’t penalize him for the error or the unfair “advantage”. Kimi’s Grandmother was there for the first time as well.
- Alonso doesn’t have the stacking problem because Hamilton is far enough behind, struggling to get to the pits with his puncture.
- Just about Everyone pits (It seems that 6 cars did not).
- The storm is just getting going, so the conditions are not bad enough for the teams to put on Full Wet tires and everyone elects to put on Intermediates.
- Hamilton gets a break with everyone pitting.
Lap 2
- At this point Markus Winkelhock has the only “correct” tires and storms through the rest of the field (being the 6 cars that stayed on track after lap 1). By the Dunlop curve of lap 2, Winkelhock even gets to, and passes Räikkönen for the lead, who is losing loads of time as the storm increases in intensity at an alarming rate.
- Markus Winkelhock leads at the end of lap 2!
- Markus Winkelhock leads at the end of lap 2 in his first race!
- Markus Winkelhock leads at the end of lap 2, starting from pit lane!
- Markus Winkelhock leads at the end of lap 2 in his first race, starting from pit lane!
- A Spyker leads at the end of lap 2 in a Formula 1 race!
- A Spyker leads at the end of lap 2 in a Formula 1 race, with a 1st time driver!
- A Spyker leads at the end of lap 2 in a Formula 1 race, starting from pit lane!
- A Spyker leads at the end of lap 2 in a Formula 1 race, with a 1st time driver, starting from pit lane!
- By the time Kimi Räikkönen pits at the end of lap 2, Felipe Massa, leader of the people who pit, has caught up and is right behind Kimi because the weather conditions are so bad. It’s amazing to think that dry tires were 23+ seconds a lap slower than intermediates, but this proved it.
- Felipe Massa is now pulling away from Alonso, who is being caught by Jenson Button in the Honda.
Lap 3
- Markus Winkelhock now has a 36 second lead that he can use for the rest of the race, as he is not out of sync with pit strategy.
- By the beginning of lap 3, the Severe Thunderstorm now hits with full power, even hail is falling for the first time in an F1 race (remember that the sun was out on the formation lap).
- Turn 1 is about to become a parking lot.
- 6 cars crash in seconds, starting with Jenson Button who had just driven from 17thto 4th. Then Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg, Scott Speed, and Anthony Davidson (who doesn’t completely go in the gravel and gets away after a minute or so).
- Lewis Hamilton luckily (and skillfully) Just misses hitting the wall. Others come flying by, tapping him (but not damaging him) in different places, as he sits in the gravel.
- Now the Yellow Flag/Safety Car comes out.
- The Safety Car can’t even drive.
- Now Vitantonio Liuzzi spins, Almost hits the Safety Car, and Does hit the crane (first time ever I’d say) that’s heading to help any of the 6 cars to hoist them back onto the track. Issue is – Who gets First Precedence?
- Lewis Hamilton gets very lucky and the crane gets him first (this may have happened because he was still in his car as others had abandoned them). He gets going and is just behind the Safety Car and leader Markus Winkelhock, who has now lost his 36+ second lead.
- Since Markus Winkelhock knew the Safety Car was deployed, he pit for Full Wets and still of course retains the lead after he comes out. He’s now ahead of a McLaren (Hamilton) in a Spyker by 1 lap on lap 3!
- Flood on the track – and yes, this all happened in just 3 minutes. What a storm, What timing.
- Any sooner and everyone would have originally gone on Intermediate tires or full wets,
- Any later and Markus Winkelhock wouldn’t have had a 36+ second lead.
- Note - Markus Winkelhock and Felipe Massa went through turn 1 on lap 3 First and didn’t crash. Massa slipped heavily but kept it going, Alonso saw it and took note, but Button behind Alonso went off.
- Amazingly, Markus Winkelhock said “for me, it was the first time in an F1 car in rainy conditions”
- Markus Winkelhock’s dad had his last race at this track and started 22nd!
- Somehow, after sitting and having the engine run for 3 minutes, Lewis Hamilton’s car was fine
- The other “Turn 1 guys”, Speed, Liuzzi, Sutil, Rosberg, Button,, didn’t go back out. Somehow Hamiltondid, and Sato never got to the gravel and was able t recover after sitting for a little bit
- After spinning off the track on lap 1, Coulthard is now 5th!
- At the end of lap 4, the Red Flag comes and the race is suspended for the first time since the famous incident after turn 1 at Spa in 2001. (A similar situation occurred at the end of the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix)
- Now the cars are totally unorganized on the front stretch Even when the teams come out to work with the cars on the grid.
- Now at the Red Flag, the order is 1. Winkelhock, 2. Massa, 3. Alonso, 4. Webber, 5. Coulthard, 6. Kovilainen, 7. Raikkonen, 8. Wurz
- Robert Kubica was now 11th after being last after lap 1.
- Markus Winkelhock starts last and first in a race!
- Markus Winkelhock starts last and first in his first race!
- Spyker starts last and first in an F1 race!
- Spyker starts last and first in an F1 race with a first time driver!
- During the break, Lewis Hamilton is pushed to the back of the pack, only to be told to pass the entire field later just before they restart so he can go around the track to regain his lost lap, which they don’t give him enough time to do so. Make up your mind FIA, keep him a lap down behind the field, or give him his lap back, not this wondering around in the middle of the track, trying to race back and slipping off the track when the field goes green.
- Now the Sun is completely out, but rain is expected soon….although it didn’t happen, I can’t imagine what would have happened if the rain came out just as they went back to green!
- Note – Had Hamilton not slipped off when getting to the back of the field, he would have been able to get 8th place, as he finished on the back bumper of 8th place Heikki Kovalainen. Although we wouldn’t have had the unbelievable and unprecedented ending of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix if that was so.
P.S. - If you have the video of this race, read and watch together - oh man is it Ever Fun...just don't wear out the << and Pause buttons!!
Musically -
Cory Pesaturo
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