Grid Crasher’s Valencia report card

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (DNF)

The engine explosion which put him out of the race was not his fault, but the Finn had looked lethargic for most of the race. He completed a thoroughly miserable afternoon by running over a member of the Ferrari pit-stop team holding the refuelling house as he attempted to get a quick getaway from his stop. 4/10

Felipe Massa, Ferrari (1st)
Another quality performance from the Brazilian, who looks the man most likely to thwart Lewis Hamilton’s title bid. Nearly had his race ruined by Ferrari’s pit-lane system, but everything that was under his control was done to perfection. 9

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (2nd)
Recovered from a difficult start on the dirty side of the grid. Never looked under pressure from those behind him, but lacked the pace to challenge Massa and dropped off towards the end of the race. 7

Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren (4th)
Again lacked the pace to challenge his team-mate, but fourth place was a decent finish from McLaren’s point-of-view with only one Ferrari finishing the race. He was the pick of the drivers at the start as he leapfrogged Kimi Raikonen into 4th place. 7

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (3rd)
Almost overtook Hamilton into the first corner, but having ultimately failed he ended up in no man’s land. He was unable to challenge the front two, but was comfortably faster than the chasing pack. Another decent podium from the Polish driver. 7

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber (9th)
Had a very uneventful race. Having qualified in 8th place ahead of Nico Rosberg, Heidfeld dropped down to 9th and out of the points in the process. 6

Mark Webber, Red Bull (12th)
Amid grumblings from the Aussie about the Red Bull’s performance, Webber put in a solid performance to finish 12th after qualifying in 14th place. 6

David Coulthard, Red Bull (17th)
Started 17th and finished… 17th. His progress was not helped by an early collision with Nelson Piquet, for which he was not to blame. 6

Nico Rosberg, Williams (8th)
Didn’t set the world alight, but quietly went about his business and jumped a place from his starting position to snatch a point. 7

Kazuki Nakajima, Williams (15th)
The villain of the race. On a personal level he dropped from 11th on the grid to 15th at the chequered flag, but of more concern to the Spanish crowd was his clumsy first-lap shunt which put Fernando Alonso out of the race. 4

Fernando Alonso, Renault (DNF)
Put out of the race through no fault of his own when Nakajima took his rear wing off. But you make your own luck, and qualifying in 12th didn’t help him at all. 5

Nelson Piquet Jnr, Renault (11th)
A decent effort from Piquet to move from 15th on the grid to 11th, but blotted his copybook by running into the back of David Coulthard’s Red Bull. 6

Jenson Button, Honda (13th)
Another of the drivers lost in the midfielder. You could have been forgiven for forgetting Jense was out there. Improved his grid position by three places in the race. 6

Rubens Barrichello, Honda (16th)

Looking increasingly out of sorts as he lurked around the back of the field all weekend. Slower than his team-mate, and slow in general. 5

Sebastian Bourdais, Toro Rosso (10th)
Started 10th and finished 10th for his second best performance in F1, although he hasn’t exactly set himself the hardest targets to beat so far Another drive caught up in the midfield monotony. 6

Sebastien Vettel, Toro Rosso (6th)
Continuing to do very impressive things with a distinctly average cars. It is easy enough to score points when you are in one of the fastest cars but, as the likes of DC, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will testify, it is much harder when your are driving for a smaller team. 9 MAN OF THE RACE

Adrian Sutil, Force India (DNF)
At the centre of the race’s most controversial incident when Massa nearly took him out in the pit-lane. Crashed out shortly afterwards. 5

Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India (14th)

Steadily improving after finishing 16th, 15th and now 14th in consecutive races. 6

Jarno Trulli, Toyota (5th)
The Italian continues his good recent run with a solid fifth place . 7

Timo Glock, Toyota (7th)
The biggest leap from qualifying to final standings went to Glock who improved his 13th place on the grid to finish in the points. 8

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