Getting rather too close to Montreal walls on more than one occasion, Kovalainen was enduring a scrappy weekend that betrayed his rookie status but held his own in the race to finish a strong fourth from 19th on the grid.
Fisichella on the other hand had the indignity of being shown the dreaded black flag when he followed
Felipe Massa out of the pit lane when the red light was still on. Up to that point, the Italian was having another strong race, keeping up with the Ferraris and looking well on course for another strong points haul.
As it happens, Fisichella finds himself in a quandary between the front runners and the mid-fielders, a position he will be keen to re-establish at Indianapolis, scene of one of his finer races in 2006. Finishing on the podium and – most crucially – well ahead of Alonso, Fisichella will be chasing a similar result this weekend, but knows he will have
McLaren,
Ferrari and
BMW to take on first.
Kovalainen meanwhile needs to build upon his fourth place in Montreal with an equally strong result that doesn’t come as the result of luck. At least, he will need to match Fisichella at Indianapolis.
Ferrari – Felipe Massa (#5), Kimi Raikkonen (#6):
Ferrari will want to draw a line under the Canadian Grand Prix after failing to see one of their cars feature on the podium for the first time in eleven races when Massa was disqualified for his pit lane indiscretion, while Kimi Raikkonen complained of handling problems on the way to another lacklustre fifth place.
Indeed, Raikkonen has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks for his failure to match the pace of team-mate Massa, let alone the McLarens that have seemingly found their form mid-way through the season. Although contact on the first corner in Montreal and an unlucky pit strategy can explain his eventual finishing position, Raikkonen never had race winning pace in Canada.
