2007 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix, officially the 2007 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix was the third race of the FIA Formula One World Championship, which took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, on 15 April 2007.'Bahrain 2007: Massa makes it three from three.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 15/04/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/58345/1/bahrain-2007-massa-makes-it-three-from-three, (Accessed 13/02/2020) The race was won by driver Felipe Massa, as Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to finish on the podium in each of his first three races.
Qualifying had seen Massa secure an impressive pole position, topping all three sessions en-route to beating Hamilton by three tenths of a second. Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso would share the second row, while the two s secured a third row lockout, Nick Heidfeld ahead of Robert Kubica.
The start of the race would see Massa ease ahead of Hamilton to claim an early lead, while Räikkönen and Alonso squabbled for third. Alonso would emerge ahead as the field filtered through the second and third corners, before an accident at turn four brought out the Safety Car for the first time in 2007.
The cause of the SC's appearance would be a what appeared to be a three-way collision, as Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil and Scott Speed came together at the back of the field. However, replays showed that Sutil had smacked into Speed as the field braked for the right-hander, while Button had tipped himself into a spin touching David Coulthard.
The restart came at the start of lap four, with Massa attempting to escape from Hamilton and Alonso, as Räikkönen misread the happenings ahead and dropped back. He hence lost a handful of time and had to push to catch back up, with the two BMW Saubers initially able to harass him.
Räikkönen would quickly get on terms with Alonso as the leaders broke away from the pack, while Massa remained under constant pressure from Hamilton for the lead. Indeed, the British rookie was pushing the Brazilian so hard that they established a gap of their own over Alonso and Räikkönen within ten laps.
Hamilton was the first of the leaders to make a scheduled stop on lap twenty, diving in to replace his soft Bridgestone tyres with the harder prime compound. Massa ventured in a lap later and rejoined ahead, handing the lead to Alonso who seemed to be struggling the most with his tyres. He would, however, suffer the consequences for being the last of the leaders to stop, as Räikkönen swept past him to secure third when the Spaniard pitted.
Alonso's pace would not improve on fresh rubber, with the Spaniard soon slipping out of contention and behind the #9 BMW Sauber of Heidfeld without too much resistance. The rest of the second stint, however, would be focused on the fight between and customers , which saw David Coulthard and Mark Webber pass Giancarlo Fisichella for seventh and eighth, only to retire within five laps of each other.
The second round of stops would have no impact on the leaders, with Massa retaining the lead ahead of Hamilton, while Räikkönen made no ground on the lead duo. Heidfeld would likewise retain fourth ahead of Alonso, having built a ten second lead over the Spaniard, while Kubica had dropped into a world of his own in sixth.
The final stint of the race would see little action of note, with Massa able to maintain a two second lead over Hamilton to secure the race victory, also setting fastest lap to secure a maiden Hattrick. Hamilton set a record of his own by finishing second, beating Peter Arundell's record for most consecutive podiums at the start of a rookie season, while Räikkönen was a lonely third.
Behind the Finn, Heidfeld resisted a late recovery charge from Alonso to secure fourth, while Kubica, Jarno Trulli and Fisichella collected the remaining points. Furthermore, the results of the race meant that there were three drivers tied for the lead of the Championship, with Alonso, Räikkönen and Hamilton all level on 22 points, the first time that this had happened in the World Championship since the 1950 Indianapolis 500.
==Background==
Victory, combined with second place on the opening day, meant it was reigning Champion Fernando Alonso who led the title hunt after the Malaysian Grand Prix, holding eighteen points to his name. Kimi Räikkönen had been forced to make way for him, a first and a third in the opening races leaving him two behind on sixteen, while Lewis Hamilton had retained third on fourteen. Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa had likewise held station behind, as Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen had added their names to the scoresheet.
In the Constructors Championship it was status quo at the head of the pack, as had opened out a nine point lead in Malaysia. retained their spot in second as the Anglo-German alliance's closest challengers, before a thirteen point gap back to in third. and completed the early top five, the latter having overhauled customers in Sepang.
===Entry list===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Fernando Alonso 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-22 	 	FO 1080T 2.4 V8 	
2 	Lewis Hamilton 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-22 	 	FO 1080T 2.4 V8 	
3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	ING Renault F1 Team 	 	R27 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	ING Renault F1 Team 	 	R27 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
5 	Felipe Massa 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F2007 	 	056 2007 2.4 V8 	
6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F2007 	 	056 2007 2.4 V8 	
7 	Jenson Button 	Honda Racing Team 	 	RA107 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
8 	Rubens Barrichello 	Honda Racing Team 	 	RA107 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
9 	Nick Heidfeld 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	F1.07 	 	P86/7 2.4 V8 	
10 	Robert Kubica 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	F1.07 	 	P86/7 2.4 V8 	
11 	Ralf Schumacher 	Panasonic Toyota Racing 	 	TF107 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
12 	Jarno Trulli 	Panasonic Toyota Racing 	 	TF107 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
14 	David Coulthard 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB3 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
15 	Mark Webber 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB3 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
16 	Nico Rosberg 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW29 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
17 	Alexander Wurz 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW29 	 	RVX-07 2.4 V8 	
18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR2 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
19 	Scott Speed 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR2 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
20 	Adrian Sutil 	Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team 	 	F8-VII 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
21 	Christijan Albers 	Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team 	 	F8-VII 	 	056 2006 2.4 V8 	
22 	Takuma Sato 	Super Aguri F1 Team 	 	SA07 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
23 	Anthony Davidson 	Super Aguri F1 Team 	 	SA07 	 	RA807E 2.4 V8 	
Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/engages.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Q1 	Q1 	 	Q2 	Q2 	 	Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	Grid
1 	5 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	1 	1:32.443 	 	1 	1:31.359 	 	1 	1:32.652 	1
2 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	2 	1:32.580 	 	2 	1:31.752 	 	2 	1:32.935 	2
3 	6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	4 	1:33.161 	 	3 	1:31.812 	 	3 	1:33.131 	3
4 	1 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	3 	1:33.049 	 	5 	1:32.214 	 	4 	1:33.192 	4
5 	9 	Nick Heidfeld 	 	 	5 	1:33.164 	 	4 	1:32.154 	 	5 	1:33.404 	5
6 	10 	Robert Kubica 	 	 	8 	1:33.348 	 	6 	1:32.292 	 	6 	1:33.710 	6
7 	3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	 	12 	1:33.556 	 	10 	1:32.889 	 	7 	1:34.056 	7
8 	15 	Mark Webber 	 	 	11 	1:33.496 	 	8 	1:32.808 	 	8 	1:34.106 	8
9 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	 	6 	1:33.218 	 	7 	1:32.429 	 	9 	1:34.154 	9
10 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	9 	1:33.349 	 	9 	1:32.815 	 	10 	1:34.399 	10
11 	17 	Alexander Wurz 	 	 	13 	1:33.759 	 	11 	1:32.915 	 	 	 	11
12 	4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	 	10 	1:33.467 	 	12 	1:32.935 	 	 	 	12
13 	23 	Anthony Davidson 	 	 	7 	1:33.299 	 	13 	1:33.082 	 	 	 	13
14 	11 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	 	15 	1:33.923 	 	14 	1:33.294 	 	 	 	14
15 	8 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	 	14 	1:33.776 	 	15 	1:33.624 	 	 	 	15
16 	7 	Jenson Button 	 	 	16 	1:33.967 	 	16 	1:33.731 	 	 	 	16
17 	22 	Takuma Sato 	 	 	17 	1:33.984 	 	 	 	 	 	 	17
18 	18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	 	 	18 	1:34.024 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18
19 	19 	Scott Speed 	 	 	19 	1:34.333 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
20 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	 	 	20 	1:35.280 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20
21 	14 	David Coulthard 	 	 	21 	1:35.341 	 	 	 	 	 	 	21
22 	21 	Christijan Albers 	 	 	22 	1:35.533 	 	 	 	 	 	 	22
Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'2007 FORMULA 1™ Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/810/bahrain/qualifying.html, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
*Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
===Grid===
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	5 	Felipe Massa 	 	57 	1:33:27.515 	1 	10
2 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	57 	+2.360s 	2 	8
3 	6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	57 	+10.839s 	3 	6
4 	9 	Nick Heidfeld 	 	57 	+13.831s 	5 	5
5 	1 	Fernando Alonso 	 	57 	+14.426s 	4 	4
6 	10 	Robert Kubica 	 	57 	+45.529s 	6 	3
7 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	57 	+1:21.371 	9 	2
8 	3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	57 	+1:21.701 	7 	1
9 	4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	57 	+1:29.411 	12 	
10 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	 	57 	+1:29.916 	10 	
11 	17 	Alexander Wurz 	 	56 	+1 Lap 	11 	
12 	11 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	56 	+1 Lap 	14 	
13 	8 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	56 	+1 Lap 	15 	
14 	21 	Christijan Albers 	 	55 	+2 Laps 	22 	
15 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	 	53 	+4 Laps 	20 	
16* 	23 	Anthony Davidson 	 	51 	Engine 	13 	
Ret 	15 	Mark Webber 	 	41 	Gearbox 	8 	
Ret 	14 	David Coulthard 	 	36 	Driveshaft 	21 	
Ret 	22 	Takuma Sato 	 	34 	Engine 	17 	
Ret 	18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	 	26 	Hydraulics 	18 	
Ret 	7 	Jenson Button 	 	0 	Collision 	16 	
Ret 	19 	Scott Speed 	 	0 	Collision 	19 	
Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)	Source:'Bahrain 2000: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein/classement.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
** Davidson was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.
==Milestones==
* Felipe Massa secured his third career victory.'3. Bahrain 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bahrein.aspx, (Accessed 13/02/2020)
** This was also Massa's first Hattrick.
* scored their 194th win as a constructor and engine supplier.
==Standings==
For the first time since the inaugural season of Formula One World Championship there would be a three-way tie at the head of the field after the opening three rounds, with three drivers on 22 points. Fernando Alonso was technically ahead by virtue of a race win and a second place, while Kimi Räikkönen was second with a win and two thirds. Lewis Hamilton was third man in the trifecta without a win, while Felipe Massa had moved into fourth on seventeen points.
In the Constructors Championship it was who led the charge, although their lead had been reduced at the head of the hunt. were the team to do the damage, moving onto 39 points, while had lost more ground in third, slipping 21 behind the Scuderia. , and were the only other scorers.
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Fernando Alonso 	22 	
2 	Kimi Räikkönen 	22 	
3 	Lewis Hamilton 	22 	
4 	Felipe Massa 	17 	2
5 	Nick Heidfeld 	15 	1
6 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	8 	1
7 	Jarno Trulli 	4 	
8 	Robert Kubica 	3 	11
9 	Nico Rosberg 	2 	1
10 	Heikki Kovalainen 	1 	1
11 	Ralf Schumacher 	1 	1
World Championship for Constructors*	World Championship for Constructors*	World Championship for Constructors*	World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	44 	
2 	 	39 	
3 	 	18 	
4 	 	9 	
5 	 	5 	
6 	 	2 	
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
** Includes points scored by before their exclusion prior to the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix.
==See also==
==References==
Images and Videos:
*
References:
Category:Bahrain Grand Prix
Category:2007 Grands Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles