Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen finished the European Grand Prix on the new Valencia street circuit in second and fourth positions respectively. After 57 laps (310.080km), Lewis came home 5.6sec behind winner Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Heikki was 39.7sec behind Felipe. Both drivers were on two-stop strategies; Lewis pitted on laps 17 (8.9sec) and 39 (7.1sec) while Heikki came in on laps 20 (9.4sec) and 43 (9.6sec). Vodafone McLaren Mercedes scored 13 points, more than any other team today, and reduced the gap in the Constructors' Championship behind the leader, Ferrari, from 11 points to eight points; after 12 of 18 races, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes now has 113 points, while Ferrari has 121. Lewis extended his lead in the drivers' rankings from five to six points; he now leads with 70 points ahead of Felipe (64 points). Heikki improved to fifth with 43 points.
"I can't complain with second place today. This was a strong weekend for us despite my having a few problems health-wise, but we pulled through. The track was pretty difficult to overtake on, but I maintained the gap - our lap times showed that our overall pace was good, which was encouraging. Heikki and I scored 13 points today, which is very positive for the team, so I’d describe it as a satisfactory weekend for us."
