Felipe Massa in a Ferrari led from start to finish in the first Grand Prix held on the Valencia street circuit with championship leader Lewis Hamilton in second and Poland’s Robert Kubica third in his BMW-Sauber.
Massa is now Hamilton’s closest rival in the championship after his win in Valencia, six points adrift of the leader.
The race itself was pretty much processional with most overtaking being as a result of pitstop strategy rather than on-the-road racing, a common scenario these days.
Local favourite Fernando Alonso, starting from a lowly 12th position, only lasted one lap, having to retire from the race after Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima ran into the back of him and damaged the car beyond repair.
Kimi Raikkonen, in his eagerness to exit the pitlane and ‘overtake’ Heikki Kovalainen, started to drive off before the fuel pipe had been detached and bowled over one of his pit crew. Raikkonen retired from the race a couple of laps later after his engine blew in a spectacular cloud of smoke.