Background
Robert Kubica 's massive crash at the Canadian Grand Prix resulted in the season's first driver change. Although Kubica passed the medical examination and did not seem to show any ill effects, the FIA medical delegate decided it would be best to rest him for the weekend, and not risk another concussion so close to the previous one. He was replaced in the BMW Sauber team by Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship leader, 19-year-old German Sebastian Vettel , who made his Formula One debut at the ...
Qualifying
David Coulthard 's Red Bull - Renault was the first car to leave the pit lane in part one of the qualifying session. His partner, Mark Webber , was close behind followed by the Spyker and Williams cars. With about six minutes left in the session, Coulthard spun out in turn eight. Fernando Alonso ran first, Nick Heidfeld second, and Lewis Hamilton closely behind in third. Although they struggled, both Ferraris made it, as well as Vettel. Scott Speed failed to make it out of Q1 in his native count... McLaren and Ferrari began part two of their battle with Hamilton taking the top spot early. However, his team-mate, Fernando Alonso took top spot midway through. Felipe Massa , Kimi Räikkönen , and Heidfeld along with the two McLarens made the top five again. Webber made it to the next session, although his team-mate Coulthard was relegated along with 2002 United States Grand Prix winner Rubens Barrichello . Barrichello's partner Jenson Button was also relegated, along with Nico Rosberg, Anthony... In part three Hamilton was first out and set the quickest time with a 1:13:089. Alonso was about four tenths behind, followed by Heidfeld and the Ferraris. Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen , both Renault drivers, also were near the top, but Jarno Trulli and Webber knocked Fisichella down the order. With about 5 minutes left, Massa took first spot and Räikkönen took second. Hamilton was bumped to third, Alonso fourth, and Heidfeld remained fifth. About one minute later, Hamilton took th...
Race
Lewis Hamilton, on the pole, sped off the grid. Fernando Alonso stayed close behind, followed by the Ferraris. The drama in turn one was in the middle of the pack. Vettel ran wide and lost places, but escaped damage. Ralf Schumacher, who started in 12th, turned in late, and ended up crashing into David Coulthard, who he had started alongside. Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, 13th and 14th respectively, escaped but Rubens Barrichello got caught up. Schumacher was out on the spot, while Coulthard a... Later, Kimi Räikkönen was caught by Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen. Up front, the top four were running strongly until the pit stops came around. The top four all went in early, soon followed by Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber, leaving sixth place qualifier Kovalainen in first. He led five laps, and Hamilton then regained the lead (Alonso and Massa led one lap each). Takuma Sato spun off at turn 3 after managing to pass Adrian Sutil. Sato had been due a drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, but this was changed to a 10-place grid penalty for the next race . There were also three mechanical retirements – Nico Rosberg in the Williams suffered an engine failure with only five laps to go, while BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Toro Rosso 's Vitantonio Liuzzi also retired from the race due to mechanical failure.
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39°47′42″N 86°14′05″W / 39.79500°N 86.23472°W / 39.79500; -86.23472
Race Result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 73 | 1:31:09.965 |
| 2 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 73 | +1.518 |
| 3 | 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 73 | +12.836 |
| 4 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 73 | +15.422 |
| 5 | 4 | Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 73 | +41.402 |
| 6 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 73 | +1:06.703 |
| 7 | 15 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 73 | +1:07.331 |
| 8 | 10 | Sebastian Vettel | BMW Sauber | 73 | +1:07.783 |
| 9 | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 72 | +1 lap |
| 10 | 17 | Alexander Wurz | Williams-Toyota | 72 | +1 lap |
Qualifying
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:12.563 | 1:12.065 |
| 2 | 1 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:12.416 | 1:11.926 |
| 3 | 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:12.731 | 1:12.180 |
| 4 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:12.732 | 1:12.111 |
| 5 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:12.543 | 1:12.188 |
| 6 | 4 | Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 1:12.998 | 1:12.599 |
| 7 | 10 | Sebastian Vettel | BMW Sauber | 1:12.711 | 1:12.644 |
| 8 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:13.186 | 1:12.828 |
| 9 | 15 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:13.425 | 1:12.788 |
| 10 | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 1:13.168 | 1:12.603 |
Championship Standings After This Race
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
The air hung thick with the ghosts of a thousand engines – a symphony of 850 horsepower battling for supremacy across the unforgiving asphalt of Indianapolis. A Williams-Toyota, driven by Rosberg, flirted with the lead for a precious few laps, its 2. 4-liter V10 screaming a defiant hymn against the McLaren-Mercedes's 2. 4-liter unit. It's a curious detail, you see, that BMW Sauber's engine, though smaller, consistently demonstrated a peak power advantage of nearly 20 bhp during qualifying sessions – a testament to their aggressive turbocharger mapping. The final curtain fell on American soil, a poignant farewell to a circuit that, for a time, held the very heart of racing's grand ambition.
A hush fell over the Brickyard, a reverence palpable in the air – it was the last hurrah. Sixty-seven thousand souls witnessed a drama unfold, a testament to Hamilton's raw speed and a strategic ballet orchestrated by McLaren-Mercedes. Observe, if you will, the curious symmetry: Hamilton secured his maiden victory, a feat mirroring Alonso's own first triumph in 2005, yet the gap between them, a staggering 29. 6 seconds, painted a stark picture of the evolving sport's dominance. The statistical echo of a champion's birth, a poignant reminder of racing's cyclical nature.
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
The air… a thick, humid blanket clinging to the asphalt, smelling of gasoline and anticipation. Hamilton, a blur of scarlet and silver, wrestled the McLaren through Turn 16, the engine screaming a defiant hymn against the roar of the crowd. A fraction of a second. That's all it took. Alonso, relentlessly pursuing, shadowed his every move, a predator mirroring the machine. The ghosts of Indy's past – Unser, Pettit, Foyt – seemed to lean in, a silent chorus of legends observing this final, desperate dance. The track, a scarred veteran, held its breath.
The rain, a silver curtain descending upon the Brickyard, mirrored the apprehension in Sam Wright's eyes. A former IndyCar champion, he'd spent countless evenings under this very sky, chasing a different kind of glory. Now, a consultant for BMW Sauber, he watched Sebastian Vettel, a boy barely out of his teens, navigate the treacherous first lap. The weight of expectation – the entire nation's – seemed to settle upon the young German's shoulders, a burden far heavier than any Formula 1 gearbox. A ghost of the past, the roar of IndyCar engines, seemed to whisper in the spray, a poignant reminder of this circuit's storied lineage. This was more than a race; it was a punctuation mark, a final, dramatic flourish before Formula 1 departed these hallowed grounds.