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Felipe Massa wins Bahrain Grand Prix to rejoin title race

Felipe Massa finally joined Formula One’s championship hunt by winning his second-straight Bahrain Grand Prix.

Massa, who failed to finish the season’s opening two races, edged teammate and new overall leader Kimi Raikkonen by 3.339 seconds for his sixth career victory on Sunday.

“I like the place, the track, the people — I’m always very welcome here — so it’s very nice to have the second victory in a row and my first points,” Massa said. “Finally, after a start to the championship under dark clouds I can see the sunshine again.”

Massa went inside of polesitter Robert Kubica at the first turn.

Raikkonen followed by overtaking the Polish driver around the outside one lap later to set up the Italian team 1-2.

“Once I had consolidated my position, I managed the situation trying not to push the car too much, knowing how important it is to always bring home the points,” said world champion Raikkonen, who stood on the podium for the 50th time. “It was a difficult weekend, so second is a good outcome.”

Massa badly needed to win at Bahrain.

The 26-year-old from Sao Paulo spun out at Sepang two weeks ago after starting from pole. He retired after an accident at the season-opening Australian GP. And the Brazilian driver’s position at Ferrari came under closer scrutiny since he was a championship favorite coming in.

Massa looked determined all weekend and dominated practice at the Bahrain International Circuit.

“I had a lot of time to think about what happened in the last race. That’s pretty normal,” Massa said. “But I am sure now it’s in the past and what is in the past is one victory and that will help for the next race.”

After taking Bahrain last year, Massa went on to win at Barcelona. That’s where the F1 circus lands next, the European season getting under way with the Spanish GP on April 27.

Ferrari’s one-point weekend at Melbourne can be forgotten after a second straight victory. Raikkonen won at Sepang and leads the championship with 19 points — three more than BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld.

“After a bad start to the season, we have proved we know how to react with our actions, as usual,” Ferrari sporting director Stefano Domenicali said. “Now we have to continue down this road, without allowing our absolute concentration to slip for a moment ... it takes almost nothing to lose precious points.”
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