Spanish Grand Prix 2008 Awards
Kimi Wins Easily, Kovalainen Survives Crash, Ferrari Takes Lead
Every race has its highlights. Some drivers shine while others confound us with what they try to achieve. Here are some of the winners and losers of the 2008 Spanish GP
Driver of the day
Kimi Räikkönen has now won two races for Ferrari this season and extended his lead in the drivers championship over his rivals. Kimi is so far successfully defending his championship against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and upcoming contenders like Robert Kubica and the newly resurgent Felipe Massa. With the Turkish Grand Prix just two weeks away, Kimi does look in a strong position to have another good race and solidify his position on top of the standings.
Team of the day
Ferrari again took a magnificent 1-2 in the race and made sure to overtake BMW in the constructors standing and widening the gap between them and rival McLaren in the process as well. A solid 18 points compared to the six for McLaren and five for BMW has really put the ball back in the court of the other two teams to step up and catch up, if they can.
Charger of the day
Jenson Button started his race in 13th position on Sunday, not being able to get thru to the second part of Saturday qualifying. He made up for it by getting his car all the way to 6th spot and gaining three points by the fall of the flag on Sunday afternoon, in the process finishing ahead of people like Nick Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima and Jarno Trulli.
Honorable mention
Nick Heidfeld did not have a great qualifying on Saturday and only started in 9th spot. He did however actually lead the race for a brief period after Heikki Kovalainen's accident. Unfortunately for him he was forced to pit during a period that the pit lane was closed and after the race restarted again he had to come in to serve a 10 second stop and go penalty that completely ruined the rest of his race. This is a rule that needs to be changed. It is not fair to a driver like Heidfeld to be compromised and penalized for another driver’s misfortune. If not for this unfortunate chain of events however, Heidfeld might have finished as high as fifth and kept his second place in the drivers championship.
Doofus of the day
Nelsinho Piquet had started in a respectable 10th spot. However on lap five he went off into the gravel and rejoined behind Sebastien Bourdais. He then tried to overtake the Frenchman a few laps later by diving thru on the inside, unfortunately he crashed into Bourdais not only taking himself out of the race, but also ending Sebastien's race when he limped back to the pits and had to retire due to a problem with his suspension. Nelsinho is now still tied for last place in the drivers championship with zero points out of the first four races.
