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The 2007 European Grand Prix, formally known as the 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe, was the tenth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, held on 22 July 2007 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany.[1][2] The race would be won by Fernando Alonso amid changing conditions, although it was more notable for the exploits of one-time starter Markus Winkelhock.[2]

Winkelhock, the son of former F1 racer Manfred Winkelhock, got his F1 debut after being called up by Spyker-Ferrari, who had decided to drop Christijan Albers.[3] The cause of Albers' absence was due to a lack of payment from his sponsors, with his future in F1 in serious doubt as Spyker were actively seeking a replacement driver.[3]

Qualifying would see Winkelhock lap a second and a half off his teammate Adrian Sutil at the back of the field, a fact which proved significant on race day.[2] At the head of the field, meanwhile, the familiar Ferrari/McLaren-Mercedes duel for pole position was concluded in the Scuderia's favour, as Kimi Räikkönen beat Alonso to the top spot on the grid.[2]

Heavy rain greeted the field as they were released to start the formation lap, with everyone starting on slick Bridgestone tyres.[2] Seeing this, Spyker decided to call Winkelhock in at the end of the formation lap to stick him on wet tyres, a worthwhile gamble given that he was starting at the back regardless.[2]

The start itself was fairly even at the front, with Räikkönen easing ahead while Felipe Massa beat Alonso into the first corner.[2] Behind, Championship leader Lewis Hamilton charged up to sixth off the grid, having qualified in tenth after a heavy accident in qualifying, but would get caught in a collision with the two BMW Saubers and picked up a puncture.[2]

The opening lap proved chaotic, with many drivers slithering off circuit and hence prompted most of the field to dive in for intermediate tyres.[2] The rest, bar Räikkönen who had slid wide trying to enter the pits on lap one, would stay out in hopes that the rain would clear, leaving Winkelhock with a fair lead in the #21 Spyker.[2]

The German debutante's lead would only grow, however, for the rain continued to pound the circuit and make it necessary for everyone bar Winkelhock to stop for full wets.[2] However, an en-masse slide into the gravel at turn one would bring the race to a halt on lap four with a red flag, although only Hamilton was put back on track, a controversial decision.[2]

The race restarted once the rain had cleared behind the Safety Car, with the order restored to how it had stood at the end of lap three.[2] It was further agreed that those who were a lap down would be allowed to overtake the SC train, a major benefit to Hamilton who had lost a lap while beached at turn one.[2]

The Brit duly unlapped himself and then stopped for slicks, although this gamble backfired when he slid off the circuit while trying the catch the SC train.[2] Winkelhock, meanwhile, would do his best to hold the lead, but the Spyker simply lacked the pace to keep the rest of the field at bay, being the only car still on full wets.[2]

With that the race became a duel between Massa and Alonso, with Räikkönen out of serious contention after his pit-in issues.[2] Their fight would continue through to the point when the circuit finally dried out, with the field switching to drys with twenty laps to go.[2]

It would take a robust move from Alonso to settle the fight, with the Spaniard barging his way around the outside of Massa through turn five to claim the lead, before escaping up the road to claim victory.[2] Massa was irate at the Spaniard's move but settled for second, while Mark Webber completed the podium for Red Bull-Renault.[2] Alexander Wurz, David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen completed the scorers.[2]

Star of the European Grand Prix Winkelhock retired with a hydraulics failure on lap thirteen, while Hamilton failed to score points, or a podium finish, for the first time in his F1 career. The race was also set to be named the 2007 German Grand Prix, but a naming rights dispute with the Hockenheimring resulted in the race being labelled as the European Grand Prix.[2]

Background[]

A second consecutive victory for a resurgent Kimi Räikkönen had moved the Finn up to third in the Championship leaving the UK, and left him just six behind Fernando Alonso in second. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, had seen his lead reduced to twelve at the head of the field, with nineteen points covering the top four at the halfway point in the season. Elsewhere, Nick Heidfeld had lost ground to teammate Robert Kubica as the Polish racer challenged him for fifth, with seventeen drivers on the scoresheet after nine races.

In the Constructors Championship it had been an even day for the two main protagonists, with McLaren-Mercedes maintaining their advantage over Ferrari. Heading into the second half of the season the Anglo-German alliance were 25 points ahead of the Scuderia, although Ferrari held the advantage in terms of race wins by five to four. Behind, BMW Sauber ended the first half of the season in a secure third ahead of Renault, with Toro Rosso-Ferrari and Spyker-Ferrari the only teams yet to score.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2007 European Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 108T 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 108T 2.4 V8 B
3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
19 United States Scott Speed Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
21 Germany Markus Winkelhock Netherlands Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
Source:[4]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2007 European Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 3 1:31.522 4 1:31.237 1 1:31.450 1
2 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1 1:31.074 2 1:30.983 2 1:31.741 2
3 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 2 1:31.447 1 1:30.912 3 1:31.778 3
4 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 5 1:31.889 6 1:31.652 4 1:31.840 4
5 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 6 1:31.961 5 1:31.444 5 1:32.123 5
6 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 13 1:32.629 7 1:31.661 6 1:32.476 6
7 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 12 1:32.594 8 1:31.783 7 1:32.478 7
8 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 10 1:32.381 10 1:31.859 8 1:32.501 8
9 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 11 1:32.446 9 1:31.843 9 1:32.570 9
10 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4 1:31.587 3 1:31.185 10 1:33.833 10
11 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 7 1:32.117 11 1:31.978 11
12 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 8 1:32.173 12 1:31.996 12
13 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 9 1:32.378 13 1:32.010 13
14 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 14 1:32.674 14 1:32.221 14
15 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 16 1:32.793 15 1:32.451 15
16 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 15 1:32.678 16 1:32.838 16
17 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 17 1:32.983 17
18 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 1:33.038 18
19 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 19 1:33.148 19
20 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 20 1:33.151 20
21 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 21 1:34.500 21
22 21 Germany Markus Winkelhock Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 22 1:35.940 22
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Kimi Räikkönen 2
______________ Fernando Alonso
Row 2 3 ______________
Felipe Massa 4
______________ Nick Heidfeld
Row 3 5 ______________
Robert Kubica 6
______________ Mark Webber
Row 4 7 ______________
Heikki Kovalainen 8
______________ Jarno Trulli
Row 5 9 ______________
Ralf Schumacher 10
______________ Lewis Hamilton
Row 6 11 ______________
Nico Rosberg 12
______________ Alexander Wurz
Row 7 13 ______________
Giancarlo Fisichella 14
______________ Rubens Barrichello
Row 8 15 ______________
Anthony Davidson 16
______________ Takuma Sato
Row 9 17 ______________
Jenson Button 18
______________ Scott Speed
Row 10 19 ______________
Vitantonio Liuzzi 20
______________ David Coulthard
Row 11 21 ______________
Adrian Sutil 22
______________ Markus Winkelhock*
  • * Winkelhock would start the race from the pitlane after pitting at the end of the formation lap.[5]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2007 European Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 60 2:06:26.358 2 10
2 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 60 +8.155s 3 8
3 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 60 +1:05.674 6 6
4 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 60 +1:05.937 12 5
5 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 60 +1:13.656 20 4
6 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 60 +1:20.298 4 3
7 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 60 +1:22.415 5 2
8 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 59 +1 Lap 7 1
9 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 59 +1 Lap 10
10 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 59 +1 Lap 13
11 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 59 +1 Lap 14
12 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 59 +1 Lap 15
13 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 59 +1 Lap 8
Ret 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 34 Hydraulics 1
Ret 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 19 Hydraulics 16
Ret 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 18 Collision 9
Ret 21 Germany Markus Winkelhock Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 13 Hydraulics 16
Ret 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 2 Spin 17
Ret 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 2 Spin 21
Ret 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 2 Spin 11
Ret 19 United States Scott Speed Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 Spin 18
Ret 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 Spin 19
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Victory for Fernando Alonso had sent the Spanish ace streaking to the top of the Championship hunt in Germany, demolishing Lewis Hamilton's lead to just two points. Indeed, the Brit's first failure to score looked to have been a costly one, with Felipe Massa having also closed to within eleven of the rookie. Kimi Räikkönen, meanwhile, had effectively lost ground having also failed to score, with Nick Heidfeld a distant fifth.

In the Constructors Championship it had been a marginally better afternoon for McLaren-Mercedes, as they extended their lead by two points as they moved onto 138 for the campaign. Ferrari retained their spot in second, moving onto 111, and hence opened out a 50 point gap to third placed BMW Sauber. Elsewhere, Red Bull-Renault had been the biggest winners at the Nürburgring, moving up to fifth ahead of Toyota.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 70
2 Spain Fernando Alonso 68
3 Brazil Felipe Massa 59 ▲1
4 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 52 ▼1
5 Germany Nick Heidfeld 36
6 Poland Robert Kubica 24
7 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 17
8 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 15
9 Austria Alexander Wurz 13
10 Australia Mark Webber 8 ▲4
11 United Kingdom David Coulthard 8 ▲1
12 Italy Jarno Trulli 7 ▼2
13 Germany Nico Rosberg 5 ▼2
14 Japan Takuma Sato 4 ▼1
15 Germany Ralf Schumacher 2
16 United Kingdom Jenson Button 1
17 Germany Sebastian Vettel 1
World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 138
2 Italy Ferrari 111
3 Germany BMW Sauber 61
4 France Renault 32
5 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 18
6 Austria Red Bull-Renault 16 ▲1
7 Japan Toyota 9 ▼1
8 Japan Super Aguri-Honda 4
9 Japan Honda 1

Only points scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

See also[]

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 '10. Europe 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/europe.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 'Europe 2007: Re-born Alonso walks on water.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 22/07/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/59371/1/europe-2007-re-born-alonso-walks-on-water, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  3. 3.0 3.1 Pablo Elizalde, 'Spyker confirm Winkelhock for Nurburgring', classic.autosport.com, (Haymarket Media, 18/07/2007), http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/60889/, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  4. 'Europe 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/europe/engages.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 '2007 FORMULA 1™ Grand Prix of Europe - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/817/europe/qualifying.html, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  6. 'Europe 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/europe/classement.aspx, (Accessed 17/02/2020)
  7. [Archived] '2007 European GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190409230353/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2007&gp=European%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 17/02/2020) - Original
V T E Europe European Grand Prix
Circuits Brands Hatch (1983, 1985), Nürburgring (1984, 1995–1996, 1999–2007), Donington (1993), Jerez (1994, 1997), Valencia (2008–2012), Baku (2016) Baku City Circuit
Races 19501951195219531954195519561957195819591960196119621963196419651966196719681969–19711972197319741975197619771978–19821983198419851986–1992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013–20152016
Non-Championship Races 192319241925192619271928192919301931–1946194719481949
V T E 2007 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren • Renault • Ferrari • Honda • BMW Sauber • Toyota • Red Bull • Williams • Toro Rosso • Spyker • Super Aguri
Engines BMW • Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • Toyota
Drivers Alphabetically Albers • Alonso • Barrichello • Button • Coulthard • Davidson • Fisichella • Hamilton • Heidfeld • Kovalainen • Kubica • Liuzzi • Massa • Nakajima • Räikkönen • Rosberg • Sato • R. Schumacher • Speed • Sutil • Trulli • Vettel • Webber • Winkelhock • Wurz • Yamamoto
Drivers by Number Alonso • 2 Hamilton • 3 Fisichella • 4 Kovalainen • 5 Massa • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Button • 8 Barrichello • 9 Heidfeld • 10 Kubica • 10 Vettel • 11 R. Schumacher • 12 Trulli • 14 Coulthard • 15 Webber • 16 Rosberg • 17 Wurz • 17 Nakajima • 18 Liuzzi • 19 Speed • 19 Vettel • 20 Sutil • 21 Albers • 21 Winkelhock • 21 Yamamoto • 22 Sato • 23 Davidson
Other Drivers Badoer • De la Rosa • Doornbos • Fauzy • Gené • Glock • Karthikeyan • Klien • Kobayashi • Loeb • Montagny • Paffett • Piquet • Rossiter • M. Schumacher • Van der Garde • Zonta
Cars Ferrari F2007 • BMW Sauber F1.07 • Renault R27 • Williams FW29 • Red Bull RB3 • Toyota TF107 • Toro Rosso STR2 • Honda RA107 • Super Aguri SA07 • Spyker F8-VII • McLaren MP4-22
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • Spain • Monaco • Canada • United States • France • Britain • Europe • Hungary • Turkey • Italy • Belgium • Japan • China • Brazil
See also 2006 Formula One Season • 2008 Formula One Season • Category
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