Hello and welcome to the 2006 British Grand Prix from Silverstone. Yesterday, we saw the first signs of the end to the McLaren dominance after became only the third different driver to sit on pole position after beating Cristiano Da Matta and Franck Montagny to the privilege. Anyway, down on track, unlike last time out in Monaco, there is not a cloud in sight as all five lights are on…
And we’re away! But Da Matta is very slow off the line as Montagny sails passed the Toyota and into 2nd
And Kubica also slides past the Brazilian on run down to Maggots and Becketts
Out at the front, Felipe Massa leads the British Grand Prix with Montagny for company
Further back, Ralf is lining up Heidfeld’s 6th place
And he breaks much later than his German counterpart to move into 6th
First lap done, Montagny looks to be the quicker of the two leaders, can he fight for Toro Rosso’s second win today?
Meanwhile, Da Matta is looking up the inside of Kubica into Maggots
But he doesn’t have the speed to pull the move off
Looks as though someone’s in a bit of trouble up ahead of Kubica
And it’s Montagny! He’s out of the race with a water leak
And whilst Montagny is contemplating an early bath, his team mate takes the opportunity to chuck it up the inside of Ralf
But the Toyota man retakes his position under braking for Abbey
Up at the front, Massa now has a comfortable lead of Kubica behind
With Heidfeld now well behind, Ralf has switched his sights onto Raikkonen’s 4th place
But he’s going to have to wait
Schumacher meanwhile looks like he's got passed Glock’s Super Aguri
Indeed he has, he’s up to 8th
Massa is still pulling away out at the front
Two Britons are going head to head as Coulthard and Button bicker over 12th place
This time it is Button who prevails
Webber is looking to move passed his Red Bull team mate
But Vettel’s not going to let him through that easily
Verstappen, who’s a had a difficult opening few laps, is currently fighting with Lotterer over a lofty 17th place whilst his team mate is running away with the race
We’ve got a spinner at the back of the field in the form of Frentzen
Looks as though Montoya and Frentzen were fighting over 21st
Before the two came to blows
Frentzen rejoins in 20th with Montoya now in last place
Back at the sharp end, Ralf is all over Raikkonen’s McLaren
But he still can’t get passed
Whilst off camera, Coulthard has won the battle of the Brits and now sits pretty in 12th
Massa’s now got a healthy five second gap to Kubica behind
Kimi and Ralf are still going at it under braking for Abbey
Ralf flicks to the inside
But Kimi holds position
Further back, Coulthard has already caught up to Webber’s Red Bull who’s still stuck behind his team mate
Verstappen is up the inside of Lotterer on the run down to Abbey
And the Dutchman forces Lotterer wide and onto the gravel
He rejoins down in 19th
Ralf and Kimi are at it again
But this time they touch and both spin!
Kimi’s back underway in 15th
Whilst Ralf is in 20th
With ten down, let’s take a look at the current standings
Villeneuve looks as though he is in the process of being overtaken
And indeed Kovalainen does move up a place
The two Red Bulls are in very close proximity of each other
And this does not bode well for Vettel as Webber, Coulthard and Button all sail passed him down the Hangar Straight
And Vettel is forced to retire with a loose wheel
Coulthard has managed to stay side by side with Webber through Stowe
But that opens the door for Button under braking for Vale which allows him to retake his position ahead of Coulthard
But Coulthard is soon back alongside the Renault
And he redeems himself easily
That little battle has given Webber a small amount of breathing room behind
Appears we have another Midland that’s been pointing in the wrong direction
From the replay it looks as though Ralf’s been at it again
They rejoin right at the back of the field
Davidson, who’s been quiet so far this afternoon, is having a sniff up the inside of Button on the run to turn 1
And pulls off a very impressive move
Looks as though we have another slow moving car out there
It’s Kovalainen this time
He’s out of the race with a water leak
And there’s even more bad news for Toro Rosso fans as Heidfeld’s car gives up the ghost
It’s an engine failure that brings an end to both his and Toro Rosso’s afternoon
Now that we’re a third of the way through the race, let’s look at the current standings
And we have another poorly car out there as Coulthard pulls off the track at Bridge
But there’s disaster for Ferrari, as Felipe Massa’s front wing completely detaches itself from his car
Looking at the replay, it looks as though his front wing seemed to just... fail!. He’s not made contact with anything, incredible stuff!
And unsurprisingly Massa immediately dives into the pits, he was lucky that he was quite close when his front wing failed
And that puts Kubica into the lead of the British GP
Massa is back out in 8th
Button and Ralf are also into the pits for scheduled stops
They rejoin in 16th and 17th
Massa is quickly onto the back of Davidson’s Honda
And he moves up with relative ease
Meanwhile Kubica is slowly pulling out a gap to Da Matta
Bas is the next driver into the pits as he pulls off, releasing Schumacher
He’s back out in 13th
His team mate is then in next time round
As is Villeneuve
They rejoin 14th and 16th
Off camera, Massa has already gotten passed Webber’s Red Bull, he really is flying this afternoon
But things get worse for Webber as whilst he was ready for his pitstop, it seems as though his team wasn’t!
He’s back out in 16th after that calamity
Massa is already tucked up under the rear wing of Glock’s Super Aguri
Glock is now in as we reach the half way mark
As is Verstappen and Frentzen
Glock rejoins in 9th
And whilst we wait for the two Dutchman to re-emerge, Villeneuve and Button are side by side
And the Canadian pulls off a very ballsy move to move himself up the field
Meanwhile Verstappen and Frentzen rejoin in 16th and 17th
The yellow flags are out again
This time they’re for Webber’s Red Bull
On the replay, it appears he made contact with Button’s Renault
Kimi is now in the pits
He’s back out in 13th
Meanwhile Leinders has gotten up the inside of Alonso on the run to Stowe
And he makes it
Schumacher is now into the pits
Which releases Massa once again
Schumi’s back out in 7th
Our leader is now in along with Da Matta
Which puts Massa back into the lead
Kubica and Da Matta hold position in the pit lane
They rejoin in 4th and 5th
Schumacher is fighting with Glock once again
And this time he finds the job to be much easier as he flies passed through Copse
Now with the first round of stops completed, let’s take a look at the current standings
Davidson has quietly worked his way up the field and is currently on track for a podium finish in his home grand prix
Action on track is starting to dry up as Montoya becomes the first lap driver this afternoon
Whilst it’s squeaky bum time for Honda as their two drivers are getting very cosy over the fight for 2nd place
And they’re side by side down the main straight
But Davidson can’t find a way through, and all the while the Hondas are fighting, Kubica is slowly but surely catching
What’s this then, Montoya has just un lapped himself with very little trouble…
But before we can find out what’s happening further up the road Davidson is having another go at his team mate
But the two come to blows as Davidson rams his team mate from behind!
And Davidson spins!
And whilst Leinders is concentrating on keeping his Honda pointing in the right direction, Kubica sneaks round the outside and moves into 2nd
And things get better for Kubica as Massa pits with an electronics problem! Disaster for Ferrari
Davidson meanwhile is back underway in 13th
Even with the huge lead he had, Massa rejoins back in 4th place, can he fight his way back to the front?
Massa's woes has put Kubica into the lead once again
Davidson also into the puts for what appears to be a scheduled stop
He rejoins just ahead of Montoya in 16th
Massa is not wasting time as he is already rolling up onto the back of Da Matta and Leinders
Button becomes the latest driver to be facing the wrong way
And who’d have thunk it, it’s Ralf Schumacher who’s to blame once again
That error from Ralf has put Raikkonen back up into the points again
Schumacher is now back in 10th
Whilst Button is in 12th
Up at the front Massa has caught right up to Da Matta
But he can’t find a way through just yet
And he’s having another go up the inside down the Hangar Straight
They’re side by side
But Da Matta somehow manages to hold on
Ralf is into the pits
As is Button
Whilst Massa is still stuck behind Da Matta, he’s got to get the job done soon if he wants a crack at Leinders and Kubica
And whilst this is going on, Schumacher is quietly sneaking up behind
His brother meanwhile is back out in 13th
Here comes Massa again
They’re still side by side through Copse
And even through Maggots
But Da Matta holds his ground as Schumacher joins the party
13 to go and Massa still can’t find a way passed the Toyota
Leinders is now in for his final stop
As is Villeneuve and Webber
Bad news for Williams fans as Schumacher pulls off the track, he was easily on track for another points finish
Leinders meanwhile rejoins, with Schumacher’s retirement, in 8th with Villeneuve and Webber in 9th and 12th
Here comes Massa once again
And they’re side by side through Copse
But Massa is still stuck behind the Toyota, Da Matta seems determined to hold onto his 2nd place at all cost
With just 9 to go, let’s take a final look at the standings
Whilst Massa looks to have gotten a run on Da Matta
And he’s finally through! But does he have enough time to catch and pass Kubica?
If he’s going to do it, he needs to make up 9 second in 7 laps, is that asking too much?
And whilst the Massa – Da Matta duel is over, Kimi and Glock and trading blows over 4th place
But Glock holds on for now
Massa is flying in 2nd place, taking 6 tenths out of Kubica’s lead in the final sector alone! Only 6 to go now
Ralf is on the move again as he goes head to head with Alonso
And in true Ralf fashion he forces the Spaniard off the track to move into 11th
Alonso gets back underway in 16th
Massa’s already taken almost a second out of Kubica’s lead so far this lap
And he takes another half a second in the final sector. At this rate he might just be in with a shot at the win
Another lap gone, and the gap is down to 5 and a half seconds, that means that Massa is about 1 and a half second quicker per lap at the moment
And now we can see the pair on the same stretch of road, this one’s going to be close!
That’s another 5 tenths gone in sector one alone. Massa’s driving like a man possessed!
And another 4 in sector 2!
With three to go the gap is now just under four seconds
And whilst the battle up front is hotting up, so is Lotterer’s engine as a water leak ends his race
Just two second separating the top two with two to go
Whilst Kimi has got passed Glock off camera
Villeneuve is challenging Verstappen for 7th
And he gets the job done easily
Kubica and Massa are rounding Luffield for the penultimate time. After 59 laps of racing it’s going to be a one lap dash to the finish
But Massa’s not close enough down the Hangar Straight
But as they approach Abbey Kubica is forced to go defensive
And the McLaren man holds position
And as they round Brooklands Massa is right behind Kubica
It’s going to be a drag race to the line!
But Robert Kubica holds on to win the British GP by two tenths of a second!
Massive disappointment for Massa, just one more lap or even just a couple more corners and this race would have been his
And Da Matta completes the podium
Full Results to follow