This weekend saw the fourth Formula One Grand Prix of the season and the first on the European continent. Host for this first race of the European round is Spain, which is located on the Iberian Peninsula in the southwest of Europe, and it was in Barcelona, Catalunya’s largest city, that the first practice session got underway on Friday.

Panasonic Toyota Racing headed into the weekend complete with a new aerodynamics package following positive results with it during testing here at the Circuit de Catalunya the previous week. Unfortunately, though, the track’s surface was a very different beast from the week after it was struck with lightening on Wednesday, leaving the team scrambling to make changes to the package. The result was a tough first day for the two Toyota drivers.

Despite these conditions though, in the first session Timo Glock finished in 11th and Jarno Trulli in 14th. The afternoon was a different story, however, with Trulli not managing to do any better than his morning’s 14th, while Glock dropped well back in the field to 20th.

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) marked his best and the top time of the day of 1’20”649 in the morning’s practice.

Conditions on the second day of the Spanish Grand Prix remained clear, with the afternoon’s qualifying getting underway at 2pm to early summer-like temperatures of 23 degrees C (ambient) and 39 degrees C (track temperature).

During the morning’s practice, Panasonic Toyota Racing performed well, marking the fifth and 10th fastest times. Then in Q1, Jarno Trulli put in a blistering run for second and Timo Glock a solid run for seventh.

The competition became closer and closer throughout Q2. At the completion of their first time attacks, Trulli and Glock were in third and 10th positions, respectively – both in the top 10, but with barely a hair’s breadth between them. In the second round of time attacks, many drivers marked personal bests; however, Glock was not to be one of them, failing to move through to Q3 when he finished in 14th.

Team mate Trulli finished Q2 in ninth to secure a berth in Q3 for the fourth race in a row. The result of his efforts will see him start from eighth on the grid in the race on Sunday, thereby keeping alive his chances for his third points finish this season.

A time of 1’21”813 gave Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) his first pole of the season to take his career total to 15th.

Race day at the Spanish Grand Prix – opener for the European round – and as the race got underway, air and track temperatures were sitting at 23 and 39 degrees C, respectively.

Both Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers were a little slow off the mark at the start, but the effects of this were not as obvious as they may have been had it not been for an accident immediately after the start bringing the safety car out. The race restarted two laps later.

As the race continued, Trulli gained a position thanks to a pit stop by then third-positioned Fernando Alonso (Renault). He then pitted for the first time in the 20th lap. Just moments later, Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) crashed into a tyre barrier, bringing out the safety car for the second time. Timo Glock used the opportunity to take his first pit stop as soon as pit lane opened and when the race restarted in the 29th lap, Trulli was in eighth and Glock in 15th.

By the 35th lap, Trulli had further improved his position to sixth. He continued on in a steady performance until he pitted for the last time in the 46th lap. After returning to the track, he powered on, looking good for a sixth-position finish.

Unfortunately, however, a communications error after Glock collided with David Coulthard and damaged his front wing saw Trulli head in unnecessarily for a third pit stop. Upon his return to the track, he had dropped back to tenth; however, he made it back to eighth in a spirited performance before the finish line brought the race to an end. Team mate Glock also went on to overcome the damage incurred in that late collision and see in the chequered flag for his second consecutive race.

Result:
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) took out the honours at the Spanish Grand Prix after starting from pole position. The win was his second for this season and the 17th of his career.