# 2007 European Grand Prix

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10th round of the 2007 Formula One season

For other uses, see [2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe](/source/2007_Speedway_Grand_Prix_of_Europe).

2007 European Grand Prix Race 10 of 17 in the 2007 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race → The Nürburgring (GP track) Race details Date 22 July 2007 Official name 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe Location Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany Course Permanent racing facility Course length 5.148 km (3.199 miles) Distance 60 laps, 308.863 km (191.919 miles) Weather Heavy Rain on Lap 1. Drying track at restart. Light Rain before the finish. Pole position Driver Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari Time 1:31.450 Fastest lap Driver Felipe Massa Ferrari Time 1:32.853 on lap 34 Podium First Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes Second Felipe Massa Ferrari Third Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault Lap leaders

Motor car race

The **2007 European Grand Prix** (formally the **2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe**)[1] was a [Formula One](/source/Formula_One) [motor race](/source/Motor_race) held at [Nürburgring](/source/N%C3%BCrburgring), [Nürburg](/source/N%C3%BCrburg), [Germany](/source/Germany) on 22 July 2007. It was the tenth race of the [2007 FIA Formula One World Championship](/source/2007_FIA_Formula_One_World_Championship). The 60-lap race was won by [Fernando Alonso](/source/Fernando_Alonso) driving for the [McLaren](/source/McLaren) team after starting from second position. [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa) finished second for [Ferrari](/source/Scuderia_Ferrari) with [Mark Webber](/source/Mark_Webber_(racing_driver)) third in a [Red Bull Racing](/source/Red_Bull_Racing) car.

As a consequence of the race, Alonso reduced the [World Drivers' Championship](/source/List_of_Formula_One_World_Drivers'_Champions) lead of his teammate [Lewis Hamilton](/source/Lewis_Hamilton) down to two points; in the [Constructors' Championship](/source/List_of_Formula_One_World_Constructors'_Champions), McLaren extended their lead over Ferrari to twenty-seven points.

## Report

### Background

On 29 August 2006 it was announced that the European Grand Prix had been removed from the F1 calendar for the 2007 season. Since then there has only been one GP hosted in Germany each year, alternating between [Hockenheimring](/source/Hockenheimring) and [Nürburgring](/source/N%C3%BCrburgring). However, the name for this Grand Prix was in doubt. While originally thought to be the [German Grand Prix](/source/German_Grand_Prix) from 2007,[2] the title was later changed to "Großer Preis von Europa" (European Grand Prix),[3] because the Hockenheimring held the naming rights for "German Grand Prix" and they could not reach an agreement to share the naming rights. It was the first time since [1960](/source/1960_Formula_One_season) that a Formula One World Championship race had not been held under the name "German Grand Prix".

[Lewis Hamilton](/source/Lewis_Hamilton) entered the race as Drivers' Championship leader (and due to his 12-point lead over team-mate [Fernando Alonso](/source/Fernando_Alonso) he would keep his championship lead regardless of the race result).

[Murray Walker](/source/Murray_Walker) provided radio commentary to listeners in the [UK](/source/UK) on [BBC Radio 5 Live](/source/BBC_Radio_5_Live) – the first time he had provided UK coverage of an F1 event since retiring in 2001.

[Christijan Albers](/source/Christijan_Albers) did not drive for [Spyker F1](/source/Spyker_F1) due to his failure to pay sponsorship money. His replacement was German driver [Markus Winkelhock](/source/Markus_Winkelhock), son of former Formula One driver [Manfred Winkelhock](/source/Manfred_Winkelhock). This was the last race for [Toro Rosso](/source/Scuderia_Toro_Rosso) driver [Scott Speed](/source/Scott_Speed) who was later replaced by [BMW Sauber](/source/BMW_Sauber) test driver [Sebastian Vettel](/source/Sebastian_Vettel).

During the weeks leading up to the race it was announced that [McLaren](/source/McLaren) would appear in front of the [FIA](/source/FIA) on 26 July regarding claims they had received information from [Ferrari](/source/Scuderia_Ferrari). Lewis Hamilton said he was confident it would go well.[4]

As a tribute to the passengers of [TAM Airlines Flight 3054](/source/TAM_Airlines_Flight_3054), [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa) had a black stripe on his helmet in memory of the victims. [Rubens Barrichello](/source/Rubens_Barrichello) also had stripes on his helmet, and [Red Bull](/source/Red_Bull_Racing) drivers [David Coulthard](/source/David_Coulthard) and [Mark Webber](/source/Mark_Webber_(racing_driver)) had small Brazilian flags on their helmets in reference to the accident.[5]

### Qualifying

[Kimi Räikkönen](/source/Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen) overtook [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa) during the final minute of qualifying and Fernando Alonso pushed him further down into third. The final session of qualifying was delayed for half an hour when Lewis Hamilton crashed into the barriers due to a wheel gun failure which caused the wheel to not be secured on the car. The wheel rubbed against the car, destroying the wheel and tyre, and sending the car into the wall. His time from the "fuel-burn" phase of Q3 was not good enough to elevate him higher than 10th position. Toyota had a strong qualifying with both drivers making it into the top 10, ending up 8th and 9th. [Mark Webber](/source/Mark_Webber_(racing_driver)) qualified an excellent 6th just in front of Renault's [Heikki Kovalainen](/source/Heikki_Kovalainen) and behind the two BMWs.

As for the rest of the field, [Giancarlo Fisichella](/source/Giancarlo_Fisichella) endured a miserable session qualifying with a poor 13th, which was incidentally the same place he had qualified for the previous year's race. [Red Bull](/source/Red_Bull_Racing) had mistakenly let [David Coulthard](/source/David_Coulthard) out too late from the pits in Q1 which led him to be stuck back in 20th place, only ahead of the two Spykers of [Adrian Sutil](/source/Adrian_Sutil) and debutant Markus Winkelhock who had not been expected to do much better.

### Race

The race started dry, but rain was expected, and at the start of the warm-up lap, an imminent downpour was predicted. [Markus Winkelhock](/source/Markus_Winkelhock) for [Spyker](/source/Spyker_F1) pitted for wet tyres, the only driver to do so, starting the race from the pit lane as a result. The Ferraris led into the first corner as a pair with Alonso trailing in third. [Lewis Hamilton](/source/Lewis_Hamilton), meanwhile, coming back from his 10th-place qualifying, was up to sixth at the first corner, but after a collision between the two BMWs, Hamilton received a puncture, causing him to fall back into the rest of the pack.

During the first lap it started to rain, sooner and more heavily than most teams had expected. A number of drivers lost control, and many pitted at the end of the lap to change into intermediate-weather tyres. Leader [Kimi Räikkönen](/source/Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen) attempted to pit, but lost grip and ran wide, having to do an extra lap on dry tyres and dropping to seventh place. Winkelhock thus found himself in the lead as a result of his early gamble, the first time that a Spyker had led a Grand Prix.

Some drivers had stayed out in the hope that the rain would stop, but it worsened, such that full wet tyres were required, rather than intermediates. Winkelhock had a huge advantage as the only driver on the right tyres, and led the race by 33 seconds ahead of [Felipe Massa](/source/Felipe_Massa) and [Fernando Alonso](/source/Fernando_Alonso), who had pitted at the end of lap one along with other drivers. By the start of lap three, the weather had become so bad that water was flowing round turn 1 and was nicknamed the 'turn 1 river'.

[Jenson Button](/source/Jenson_Button) had moved up from a mid-grid position to 4th despite coming in on the 1st lap to change tyres. However, he spun off into the wall at the start of the 3rd lap, quickly followed by Lewis Hamilton who locked up. [Adrian Sutil](/source/Adrian_Sutil) had a huge spin into the same place as Button and Hamilton and just missed both of them as he hit the wall. [Nico Rosberg](/source/Nico_Rosberg) and [Scott Speed](/source/Scott_Speed) also went off at turn 1. [Anthony Davidson](/source/Anthony_Davidson) then locked up at the "river" but stopped his car just before the gravel and was able to reverse out. The safety car was brought out, just as [Vitantonio Liuzzi](/source/Vitantonio_Liuzzi) spun off at high speed. The gravel trap slowed him and he gently tapped a recovery tractor. Hamilton had kept his engine running after his spin and was hoisted back on the circuit to continue a lap down. Not long after the safety car was deployed, race director [Charlie Whiting](/source/Charlie_Whiting) decided the conditions were too dangerous to continue, and the race was red flagged. It was the first race to be stopped since the [2003 Brazilian Grand Prix](/source/2003_Brazilian_Grand_Prix), when a crash by Fernando Alonso halted the race, and the first race to be red-flagged and then restarted since the [2001 Belgian Grand Prix](/source/2001_Belgian_Grand_Prix).[6]

At about 2:20 p.m. local time the rain stopped and the drivers were pushed on to the starting grid, in the order that they were one lap before the red flag. Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil, [Nico Rosberg](/source/Nico_Rosberg), Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi did not take the restart as they all aquaplaned off the track at turn one on lap three, causing the red flag.

The race restarted under safety car conditions, with an agreement that after one and a half minutes, any lapped cars would be allowed to overtake all the cars in front (including the safety car) and unlap themselves. The only lapped car was that of Lewis Hamilton, who unlapped himself and then pitted to change to dry tyres, a gamble which did not pay off due to the track still being too wet. When the safety car returned to the pit, race leader Markus Winkelhock lost the lead very early on after another gamble, keeping wet weather tyres on while everybody else was on the more suitable intermediate tyre, in the hope that further rain would fall. It would not and eventually he was forced into retirement after a hydraulic failure on lap 15. Winkelhock had only driven the Spyker for a total of three days before the race, and had not previously experienced wet weather in a Formula One car. [Takuma Sato](/source/Takuma_Sato) and [Ralf Schumacher](/source/Ralf_Schumacher) also retired, Schumacher after a collision with [Nick Heidfeld](/source/Nick_Heidfeld) who continued. Pole position holder Kimi Räikkönen also retired due to mechanical problems while catching up to the leaders running third.

From then onwards, the track dried out, and the faster Ferrari of Massa led Fernando Alonso. [Mark Webber](/source/Mark_Webber_(racing_driver)) was in third with [Alexander Wurz](/source/Alexander_Wurz) chasing him hard. But on lap 52, more rain fell, and all drivers except for Lewis Hamilton pitted for intermediate tyres. Hamilton managed to get up to a points position of eighth, before eventually having to pit, dropping him back down to tenth. Fernando Alonso's [McLaren](/source/McLaren) performed well in the conditions, and he passed Massa on lap 56 around the outside at turn five, making contact as he did so. He proceeded to win the race, taking McLaren's first win at the Nürburgring since [1998](/source/1998_Luxembourg_Grand_Prix), on the 80th anniversary of the first Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.[7] Massa trailed him by 8.1 seconds. The final podium position was claimed by Mark Webber in the Red Bull, over a minute behind the leader. Alexander Wurz, David Coulthard, [Nick Heidfeld](/source/Nick_Heidfeld), [Robert Kubica](/source/Robert_Kubica) and [Heikki Kovalainen](/source/Heikki_Kovalainen), who had gambled on putting intermediate tyres on early and fell from fifth position to eighth, completed the points positions. [Red Bull](/source/Red_Bull_Racing) earned ten points to move past [Toyota](/source/Toyota_F1) in the Constructors' Championship into sixth. Hamilton finished the race in ninth place, the first time in his debut season that he had finished outside the points-scoring positions.[8] Alonso and Massa had a heated argument in Italian before the podium ceremony, over their collision in the final part of the race.

## Classification

### Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid 1 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:31.522 1:31.237 1:31.450 1 2 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.074 1:30.983 1:31.741 2 3 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.447 1:30.912 1:31.778 3 4 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:31.889 1:31.652 1:31.840 4 5 10 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:31.961 1:31.444 1:32.123 5 6 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:32.629 1:31.661 1:32.476 6 7 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:32.594 1:31.783 1:32.478 7 8 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:32.381 1:31.859 1:32.501 8 9 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:32.446 1:31.843 1:32.570 9 10 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:31.587 1:31.185 1:33.833 10 11 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:32.117 1:31.978 11 12 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:32.173 1:31.996 12 13 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:32.378 1:32.010 13 14 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:32.674 1:32.221 14 15 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:32.793 1:32.451 15 16 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:32.678 1:32.838 16 17 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:32.983 17 18 19 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:33.038 18 19 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:33.148 19 20 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:33.151 20 21 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:34.500 21 22 21 Markus Winkelhock Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.940 22 Source:[9]

### Race

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 60 2:06:26.358 2 10 2 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 60 +8.155 3 8 3 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 60 +1:05.674 6 6 4 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 60 +1:05.937 12 5 5 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 60 +1:13.656 20 4 6 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 60 +1:20.298 4 3 7 10 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 60 +1:22.415 5 2 8 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 59 +1 lap 7 1 9 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 59 +1 lap 10 10 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 59 +1 lap 13 11 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 59 +1 lap 14 12 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 59 +1 lap 15 13 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 59 +1 lap 8 Ret 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 34 Hydraulics 1 Ret 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 19 Hydraulics 16 Ret 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 18 Collision 9 Ret 21 Markus Winkelhock Spyker-Ferrari 13 Hydraulics PL1 Ret 7 Jenson Button Honda 2 Spun off 17 Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 2 Spun off 21 Ret 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 2 Spun off 11 Ret 19 Scott Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 Spun off 18 Ret 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 Spun off 19 Source:[8]

**Notes**

- **[^1](#ref_1)** – [Markus Winkelhock](/source/Markus_Winkelhock) started the race from the pitlane.

## Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings +/– Pos. Driver Points 1 Lewis Hamilton 70 2 Fernando Alonso 68 1 3 Felipe Massa 59 1 4 Kimi Räikkönen 52 5 Nick Heidfeld 36 Source:[10] Constructors' Championship standings +/– Pos. Driver Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 138 2 Ferrari 111 3 BMW Sauber 61 4 Renault 32 5 Williams-Toyota 18 Source:[10]

- **Note**: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

## See also

- [2007 Nürburgring GP2 Series round](/source/2007_N%C3%BCrburgring_GP2_Series_round)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Europe"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071024185622/http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/779/circuit_diagram.html). *Formula1.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/779/circuit_diagram.html) on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [FIA](/source/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_Internationale_de_l'Automobile). ["2007 FIA Formula One championship circuit and lap information, published on February 14, 2007"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070404174400/http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/Press_Releases/FIA_Sport/2007/February/140207-02.html). *Official FIA press release*. Archived from [the original](http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/Press_Releases/FIA_Sport/2007/February/140207-02.html) on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Nürburgring"](http://www.nuerburgring.de). *Official Homepage of the Nürburgring*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070410150111/http://www.nuerburgring.de/%23) from the original on 10 April 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Hamilton upbeat as hearing looms"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6906369.stm). BBC. 19 July 2007. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070820104559/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6906369.stm) from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Escuderia RedBull faz homenagem às vítimas do vôo 3054"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220924100558/https://esportes.estadao.com.br/noticias/velocidade,escuderia-redbull-faz-homenagem-as-vitimas-do-voo-3054,23530). *Esportes.estadao.com.br*. Archived from [the original](https://esportes.estadao.com.br/noticias/velocidade,escuderia-redbull-faz-homenagem-as-vitimas-do-voo-3054,23530) on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Autosport](/source/Autosport) magazine, 26 July 2007, page 10 [sidebar]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** F1Fanatic (23 July 2007). ["European Grand Prix 2007 facts and statistics"](http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/07/23/european-gp-2007-facts-statistics/). F1Fanatic. Retrieved 23 July 2007.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-result_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-result_8-1) ["2007 FORMULA 1 Grand Prix of Europe – Race"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150118034709/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2007/779/). *Formula1.com*. [Formula One Group](/source/Formula_One_Group). Archived from [the original](http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2007/779/) on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["2007 FORMULA 1 Grand Prix of Europe – Qualifying"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150117174701/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2007/779/6425/). *Formula1.com*. [Formula One Group](/source/Formula_One_Group). Archived from [the original](http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2007/779/6425/) on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-champ_10-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-champ_10-1) ["Europe 2007 - Championship • STATS F1"](https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/europe/championnat.aspx). *statsf1.com*. Retrieved 15 March 2019.

## External links

Wikinews has related news:

- [Fernando Alonso wins 2007 European Grand Prix](https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Fernando_Alonso_wins_2007_European_Grand_Prix)
- [Kimi Räikkönen will start first for 2007 European Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton suffers a crash](https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen_will_start_first_for_2007_European_Grand_Prix,_Lewis_Hamilton_suffers_a_crash)

- [Official Formula1.com page](https://web.archive.org/web/20120921231131/http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/779/)

- [Detailed European Grand Prix results](https://web.archive.org/web/20070809110748/http://www.manipef1.com/results/2007/europe.php)

Previous race: 2007 British Grand Prix FIA Formula One World Championship 2007 season Next race: 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix Previous race: 2006 European Grand Prix European Grand Prix Next race: 2008 European Grand Prix Next race at the Nürburgring: 2009 German Grand Prix

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [2007 European Grand Prix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_European_Grand_Prix) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_European_Grand_Prix?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.