Lewis Hamilton didn’t make much of a race of it Sunday at the Sakhir circuit, falling to 10th on the first lap and then misjudging the available space when he attempted to pass his old buddy Fernando Alonso on the following lap. The damage from that encounter took Hamilton into the pits and ultimately out of serious contention. In the meantime Massa was rolling with authority. Kimi Raikkonen, just behind Massa, looked to make it a Ferrari parade to the finish.

When Jenson Button tried to take the inside on David Coulthard on lap 18 they got together leaving the Honda without a front wing. Most observers credited the error to Button as he returned to the pits for help, but on Lap 27 the Honda retired, too badly damaged to be competitive.

The Flyin’ Finn was doing his best to catch his Brazilian Ferrari teammate and cut a new fast time of 1:34.068 on lap 32. Felipe Massa came right back with a 1:33.709 two laps later. Kimi hit the pits and was out in just over eight seconds while Felipe lowered the lap time once again to 1:33.600. Hamilton was struggling back in the pack trying to overtake Nakajima for 13th. With maybe five laps to go a top ten finish for the McLaren star seemed well out of reach.

The BMWs of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld looked good…make that great! They showed they can run as well as anybody and should make this season even more exciting than last. Kubica had taken the pole, Heidfeld started sixth. At the finish the BMW Sauber teammates followed the Ferraris across the line in third (Kubica) and fourth (Heidfeld).

On the final lap Massa blasted down the home straight one more time to take his second straight win at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen was three and one-third seconds back delivering the Ferrari 1-2. The rest of the top five: Kubica 3rd, Heidfeld 4th, Kovalainen 5th.