European GP 2007: Alonso beats Massa in the Nürburgring rain

Fernando Alonso won the 2007 European GP at the Nürburgring for McLaren, ahead of Felipe Massa in the Ferrari and Mark Webber in the Red Bull. For a long time Massa looked like the certain winner. Towards the end, however, the rain returned, and five laps from the flag Alonso went round the outside of him at Turn 5. Earlier, a cloudburst in the opening phase had washed half the field off the track and brought out the first red flag since the 2003 Brazilian GP.

In qualifying, Kimi Räikkönen took pole position ahead of Alonso and Massa. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton crashed in the final session because a wheel had not been properly fitted after a problem with the wheel gun. He had to start from grid position 10. David Coulthard was down in 20th place after Red Bull sent him out too late in the first session.

Spyker were without Christijan Albers, who had failed to pay promised sponsorship money. In his place, Markus Winkelhock made his first Formula 1 start. The track was still dry at the start, but rain was forecast. Winkelhock was the only driver to switch to wet tyres on the formation lap and therefore started from the pit lane.

At the front, Räikkönen kept the lead ahead of Massa and Alonso. Behind them, the two BMW Sauber team-mates Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica tangled on the very first lap. Hamilton had made a strong start but dropped back again with a puncture following that collision.

The rain came earlier and harder than most teams had expected. Almost the entire field headed for the pits. Räikkönen overshot the pit entry and had to do another lap on dry tyres. That suddenly put Winkelhock in front. It was the first time a Spyker had ever led a Grand Prix – and on the debut of a German driver at the Nürburgring, of all places.

A veritable river formed at the first corner. One after another, Jenson Button (Honda), Hamilton, Adrian Sutil (Spyker), Nico Rosberg (Williams) and the two Toro Rosso drivers Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi slid into the gravel. For Button, Sutil, Rosberg, Speed and Liuzzi the race was over after 2 laps; all of them are listed as "Spun off". Hamilton was luckier: a crane lifted his McLaren back onto the track, and he continued a lap down.

First the Safety Car came out with Winkelhock leading, and shortly afterwards race director Charlie Whiting stopped the race with the red flag. According to grandprix.com, that decision came on lap 4.

When the rain eased, the race resumed behind the Safety Car. Hamilton used the opportunity to make up his lost lap and switched to dry tyres early. That was too early for the still-wet track, and he lost another lap. After the restart Massa passed Winkelhock and led from lap 8. Winkelhock had stayed on wet tyres, gambling on more rain, but it never came. He retired after 13 laps with a hydraulic failure.

As most drivers switched to dry tyres, Coulthard led for one lap on lap 13. After that, Massa had the race under control. According to grandprix.com, he was around 4.8 seconds ahead of Alonso on lap 25, with Räikkönen close behind. The race was over for Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) after 18 laps: following contact with Heidfeld, he spun into the gravel at the final corner. Heidfeld carried on. After 19 laps Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) parked his car, according to Wikipedia because of the hydraulics.

Ferrari took the heaviest blow. Räikkönen had started from pole and was running in 3rd place when he coasted into the pits after 34 laps with a hydraulic failure.

After the second stops, Massa was already 7.2 seconds ahead of Alonso on lap 40, according to grandprix.com. The Spaniard then closed in, and by lap 50 the gap was down to just 4.4 seconds. Then dark clouds gathered again. Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) was the first to switch to intermediates, on lap 49. It was too early and cost him an almost certain fifth place. In the end he finished eighth.

When the rain actually arrived, Massa and Alonso pitted together for new tyres. On the slippery track Massa was visibly struggling more. Alonso pulled alongside him on the outside at Turn 5, the two cars touched, and from lap 56 the McLaren was in front. According to Wikipedia, Alonso took the win by 8.155 seconds.

The duel continued after the chequered flag. Before the podium ceremony, Alonso and Massa argued loudly in Italian about the contact.

• Mark Webber: He started sixth and finished in 3rd place. It was only the second podium for him and for Red Bull. Webber was more than a minute behind Alonso, but held off the pressure from behind all the way to the flag.
• Alexander Wurz: The Williams driver went from grid position 12 to 4th place, gaining 8 positions. According to grandprix.com, he was just 0.2 seconds short of the podium.
• David Coulthard: He was the big climber of the day, going from grid position 20 to 5th place – 15 positions up.
• BMW Sauber: After the first-lap collision, Heidfeld in sixth and Kubica in seventh still salvaged 5 points.
• Lewis Hamilton: He finished ninth, a lap down. For the first time in his young career he failed to score.
• Kimi Räikkönen: The pole-sitter lost 13 positions and all his points through his retirement.

Giancarlo Fisichella (10th), Rubens Barrichello (11th), Anthony Davidson (12th) and Jarno Trulli (13th) also finished, all a lap down.

Alonso won, Hamilton came away empty-handed. That reduced the gap in the McLaren duel to a minimum: Hamilton led with 70 points, Alonso had 68. Massa moved up to 3rd place with 59 points, ahead of Räikkönen on 52, with Heidfeld following in 5th place on 36 points. Webber climbed four places to 10th. You can find the full 2007 standings in our archive.

The afternoon at the Nürburgring had it all: a debutant in the lead, a crane lifting the championship leader back onto the track, and a win that was only decided in the last shower of rain. At the same time, it showed just how tense the title fight between McLaren and Ferrari had become.