Once he caught back up with the
BMW again, though, it was a familiar story of immovable object meets irresistible force, with Alonso trying every which way to find a way past. Although his favoured spot seemed to be Adelaide, ultimately it was a massively committed lunge into the Imola chicane that got the job done, with a stunned Heidfeld having to take to the escape road in avoidance as the silver arrow came barrelling down the inside of him at an almost impossible speed. And with that, Alonso was off after Kubica.
Up at the front, meanwhile, both Raikkonen and Hamilton were starting to close race leader Massa down as the tussle at the top moved towards being a three-way scrap. Button eventually made his first fuel stop having run as high as fifth – a season best for
Honda in 2007 – while the same procedure for Christijan Albers almost ended in disaster when the Dutchman pulled out of the Spyker box still with the fuel rig attached. The mistake was quickly realised and Albers parked the car within seconds, but his race was over.
Hamilton was once again the first of the big-hitters to make his second stop, coming in at the end of lap 37 just as he was coming up to a glut of backmarkers all in a line. There was more side-by-side action as the Brit rejoined, going at it hammer-and-tongs with Kubica on the run down to Adelaide. The Pole initially seemed to have retained the place by keeping his foot in and forcing Lewis to try and go the long way round, but Hamilton switched back across before the corner and dived neatly down the inside.
