By Claas Hennig Apr 15, 2007, 15:14 GMT
Sakhir, Bahrain - Felipe Massa made no mistakes this time around, winning the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix from the pole position in a Ferrari ahead of history-making Briton Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa (front) of Scuderia Ferrari team crosses the finish line followed by British Lewis Hamilton (rear) of McLaren Merecedes at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit in Manama, Bahrain, 15 April 2007. EPA/KERIM OKTEN
Massa claimed his third career win and the second season success for Ferrari ahead of McLaren's Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari. World champion Fernando Alonso had to settle for fifth in the other Ferrari behind BMW driver Nick Heidfeld.
Hamilton became the first F1 rookie to get on the podium in each of his first three races, having finished third in Australia and second in Malaysia.
'Sweet. I am very happy with it. I couldn't ask for more.'
'It is just one more step from here and we will keep pushing in Barcelona,' he said, eyeing the top of the podium at the next racer May 13 in Spain.
Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug said: 'I never expected this, three podiums and co-leader in the championships, even though I had a lot of faith in him.'
Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton are tied on 22 points each from three races. Massa has 17 and Heidfeld 15 in what promises a dramatic season.
'The season is really exciting. Ferrari and McLaren are very close,' said Massa.
Massa also held pole last week in Malaysia, but had to settle for fifth place after several errors which made him the centre of criticism in ferrari's Italian home. He was more than pleased that things went better on Sunday.
'This time around we could put everything together. It was important to make a good start and finish in front after all the criticism from the media,' said Massa.
Massa won the start this time around, holding off Hamilton into the difficult first turn, while Alonso managed to get past Raikkonen into third place a few turns later.
The safety car came out for the first time this season after the opening lap following a crash involving Scott Speed (Toro Rosso) and Jenson Button (Honda).
Massa remained first after the restart three laps later with Hamilton, but eventually shook off Hamilton by race strategy, making his first pit stop two laps after the Briton in the 20th and then building a 10-second lead.
Ferrari were happy again a few laps later when Raikkonen pitted better than Alonso to regain his third place from the original grid. Alonso dropped to fifth Heidfeld managed to pass the world champion in the 31st lap to get his third fourth-place finish in as many races.
The second round of pit stops brought no change to the pecking order as Massa became the third season winner in as many races, clocking 1 hour 33 minutes 27.515 seconds for the 57-lap race over 308,238 kilometres to beat Hamilton by three seconds.
Massa said he had some oversteer in the first stint, but named the second 'fantastic' which enabled him to 'look after my car' in the final laps.
Hamilton said that 'we have definitely closed the gap to Ferrari' and Heidfeld was also delighted, saying 'it is so much fun this year when you can challenge for the top.'
Also into the points drove Robert Kubica of Poland in the second BMW as well as Italians Jarno Trulli (Honda) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault).
British veteran David Coulthard was the unluckiest man as he had to retire with gearbox problems after fighting from 20th on the grid to seventh place in a Red Bull.
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