Ferrari’s Massa Is None Too Pleased With Alonso’s Antics Late In The Race

NURBURG, Germany — Thanks to sudden rain showers, Sunday’s European Grand Prix turned into an incident-filled, wild and crazy race that started with 30 pit stops in the first three laps and ended with sharp words between winner Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa after their car-banging fight for the lead.
Kimi Raikkonen started from the pole in his Ferrari and took the lead while Alonso, who qualified his McLaren Mercedes second, slipped to third behind Massa’s Ferrari. BMW Sauber teammates Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica collided but managed to keep going.
Moments later, it started to rain heavily. Raikkonen tried to dive into pit lane only to slither back out on the track while a majority of the drivers pitted for rain tires behind him.

BITTER BRAZILIAN: Felipe Massa (left) isn't happy about his second-place finish at the Nurburgring. (Steve Etherington Photo)

The leader on lap two was none other than Markus Winkelhock, who was making his F-1 debut with Spyker. At the end of the final warm-up lap, the team had him pit for rain tires, and he started the race from pit lane. When the rains came and the others pitted, Winkelhock took over first place.
By lap three, a lake had developed in the first turn, and Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil, Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi all slid off the track. At the end of lap four, officials stopped the race to clear away the stranded cars and wait for the rain to ease off. Within minutes, the sun was shining.
Once the race restarted, it was the end of Winkelhock’s glory, as cars streamed by. He later retired with hydraulic problems.
Massa led ahead of Alonso. Next came the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and David Coulthard. Raikkonen eventually moved up to third, only to stop with hydraulic problems.
With 10 laps to go, it began to rain again, and everybody pitted for rain tires. Prior to that, Massa had a nearly five-second advantage on Alonso, but the latter closed in relentlessly.
Alonso, whose McLaren was much quicker in the wet than Massa’s Ferrari, made several lunges for the lead. He finally got by, but not before one of Massa’s tires left a mark on the McLaren’s sidepod.

HIT THE SHOWERS: Fernando Alonso celebrates his F-1 victory. (Steve Etherington Photo)

Afterwards, in the room behind the podium, they exchanged harsh words. Alonso thought that Massa had been too aggressive. After celebrating on the podium, however, Alonso mellowed out.
“We touched each other two times,” he said, “and I apologize to him (Massa) because I was so stressed when I finished the race because we nearly didn’t finish the race. Now I try to enjoy the victory and forget everything.”
Massa looked pretty dour after losing the race with just five laps to go. He said he had bad tire vibrations.
After an anxious last lap holding off Wurz, Webber claimed a well-deserved third place and tasted the podium champagne for the second time in his F-1 career.