Championship points after European GP
Lewis Hamilton kept the title lead and McLaren closed in on Ferrari
Here are the drivers’ and constructors’ championship points totals in full following the European Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton has 70 points and Felipe Massa has moved into second in the championship with 64.
McLaren also made further gains on Ferrari in the constructors’ championship and are now only eight points behind their rivals.
Drivers’ championship
Lewis Hamilton 70
Felipe Massa 64
Kimi Raikkonen 57
Robert Kubica 55
Heikki Kovalainen 43
Nick Heidfeld 41
Jarno Trulli 26
Fernando Alonso 18
Mark Webber 18
Timo Glock 15
Nelson Piquet Jnr 13
Rubens Barrichello 11
Nico Rosberg 9
Sebastian Vettel 9
Kazuki Nakajima 8
David Coulthard 6
Jenson Button 3
Sebastien Bourdais 2
Constructors’ championship
Ferrari 121
McLaren 113
BMW 96
Toyota 41
Renault 31
Red Bull 24
Williams 17
Honda 14
Toro Rosso 11
We’ve got a real points race on our hands now for both championships. McLaren has done a great job digging themselves out of the deficit by improving their car. Granted, Massa has had superior pace the last two weeks, but both Hamilton and Kovalainen were quick and came home with great finishes.
Ferrari looks as though they may have some engine reliability problems on their hands. This is the second consecutive GP in which one of their engines failed on its second race.
After years of giving Raikkonen hell, could it just be that McLaren now has the most reliable car on the track? What a truly amazing turnaround from where the situation was in, say, 2005.
Slightly off topic…
That is the first time that BMW criticize publicly Nick Heidfeld:
Mario Theissen: We were hoping he [NICK] would improve one or two places at the start, but in the heat of the moment he unfortunately lost a position and then the race was basically over for him.”
Willy Rampf: Nick started from eighth, hence we expected him to score championship points. However, his pace was simply too slow. Of course we are happy about Robert’s podium finish, but overall we expected to score more points today.”
A little further astray from the topic: I was stunned to read Hamilton’s description as to being sick all weekend, with the implication that was the reason he didn’t win.
He said he “almost didn’t race this weekend”, but point in fact he did…and lost. He would have to have been on a deathbed to skip a race in a close championship fight.
Massa was the class of the field (on track anyways) regardless of your ailments. Stop making excuses Lewis, it just makes you look bad!!!!
GeorgeK, I’m sorry you found yourself stunned to read that Hamilton was sick, with the implication that was the reason he didn’t win. Try reading his statement without that implication, see if that helps. It did for me.
George,
You’re reading way too much what Lewis said. He just said he had a hard time this weekend with flu and neck spasms. He wasn’t making excuses; he was just stating the situation and said he was happy to finish as well as he did. It could have been a lot worse for him.
George,
Lewis and Mclaren kept it quite about his neck spasms and flu. ( Have you ever had flu? then you will know how he felt) Added to all that to drive in hot conditions, with all those clothes on, must have been hell. It was clear to all that he looked weak and tired, so I don’t think he was making excuses, give him a break.
Why is so hard to admit that Massa was the best of the weekend ? HAT TRICK guys…what else can I say ?
FLAWLESS WIN BOY!!!!!!
I was stunned to read about it, not surprised that he was ill.
I have no doubt that Lewis was under the weather, the point is if he brings it up after he loses it sounds like he’s offering excuses; that he could have won if he was feeling better.
I’d have liked it a lot better if he just said Felipe and Ferrari had our number this weekend, we’ll get back on pace at Spa.
As a McLaren fan I’m trying to get behind Lewis for the title, it’s a little difficult after his contributions to last year’s debacle.
Actually george, Lewis said that his health woes had not slowed him down, just made him feel miserable. So best to actually listen to what is being said before making rash judgments.
George,
After China GP last year, Malasiang GP and Canada GP in 2008 I read Lewis get all fault for the bad results. In China all we know that the team has a huge responsibility on that incident and in Malasian this year Lewis recovered a penalty, a bad pit stop made by the team and never moaning about it.
After Bahrein he said: “A very poor performance. I sort of let the team down today. I’m as disappointed as you could be, I guess. As a professional, when you start off badly you need to pick things up and still deliver, and I did none of that for the team.”
What more do you want, mate?
This year he have been recovering from a sort of penalties and bad performances and never moaning o offering excuses about it. He is a true man, mate. Look what mature guys as Felipe and David say when they spin or crash into another driver…
So its going to be Hamilton vs Massa. What kind of role will Raikonnen be willing to play? For the last couple of years Kimi R was always pushing, always one of the fastest. This has not always been the case since winning the title. Anyone remember Jody Scheckter the year after he won with Ferrari? Does Kimi need a break? or more?
In fairness to Scheckter, the 1980 Ferrari was a dog!
I did a post along these lines in May - it’s quite unusual for a defending champion to lose the title to his team mate the following year. However Alain Prost twice beat a title-holding team mate:
Could Felipe Massa ‘do a Prost’?
to be honest i wont be surprised if ferrari loose the constructors championship cuz of their own problems i.e reliability and mishaps. i have to admire lewis and mclaren how they bounced back from difficult time….it would become more interesting if kimi wins at spa…ferrari seems to be in trouble…but still anything can happen…
Guys i’m slightly confused, is the constructors championship just a summation of the drivers points? I’ve never really paid any attention to it before. Is some other factor taken into account or can i just not add up?!!
Rich
Richard - Yep that’s right, the constructors’ points are the same as those scored by whoever drives for them in each round.
Of course some times a driver scores points for two teams in one season, like Sebastian Vettel last year - his point from Indianapolis was counted by BMW and his points from later in the season went to Toro Rosso.
It’s clear to me that McLaren is progressing as a team as the season gose on- Heikki is also improving his game, just not enough to match the Ferraris every week.
If it’s not Massa v. Hamilton down the stretch, then Lewis is going to run away with the title. Ferrari has given Massa a car that can beat McLaren every week, but reliability is clearly a problem for them, and it could cost them one or both titles in the end. McLaren is clearly on top of their game- with harmony in the team as ooposed to chaos last season- and I don’t seem them fading out down the stretch.
Here’s an interesting quote from Ron Dennis on the constructors’ championship last year: