Notes: Ferrari still looking for answers after Indy flop

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ferrari hoped Indianapolis might be the place to turn around a subpar season. The team's drivers never had a chance.

Despite dominating the first seven races on Indy's 2.6-mile road course, winning five poles and six races -- including five straight -- Ferrari's drivers proved more afterthought than contender at Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix.

Although Felipe Massa of Brazil and Kimi Raikkonen of Finland finished third and fourth, respectively, they never seriously were in contention with the McLaren Mercedes drivers, who went 1-2 for the third time in seven races this season.

What happened to Ferrari on one of its favorite Formula One courses? Bad luck, tough starting spots, and, of course, they don't have seven-time world champ and five-time USGP winner Michael Schumacher, who retired after the 2006 season.

"We cannot deny we are disappointed with how the last few races have turned out," said Jean Todt, the Ferrari boss. "But we strongly insist that we really want to turn this thing around."

Things started out pretty well for Ferrari this season, with Raikkonen winning the opening race and Massa winning twice in the first four. Since then, however, the best finish by either has been third.

At one point late in Sunday's race, neither Ferrari driver was within 15 seconds of winner Lewis Hamilton, and although the final gap between Hamilton and Massa was 12.842 seconds, it wasn't that close. Hamilton slowed on the final lap, allowing the cars behind him to narrow the gap.

So, instead of battling Hamilton and his teammate, two-time defending world champ Fernando Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa spent more time battling among themselves and trying to find a way to contend.

Nothing worked.

"We need to work out how to improve the car to get ahead of our closest rivals," Massa said. "We need to work flat out on the technical development to make up the ground lost over these past three races."

Smoking mad

Nico Rosberg's pit strategy went up in flames -- literally.

Starting 14th, Team Williams tried to get the 31-year-old German driver through the 73-lap USGP by gambling on a one-stop strategy. It almost put him in the points.

"The strategy was good," said Rosberg, son of former F1 champion Keke Rosberg. "The race was going well. Then the engine blows up. I'm not sure if it was the engine, but something blew up in the back. With six laps to go, that's pretty bad."

Aside from a longer-than-usual stop on Lap 40, courtesy of what appeared to be a problem getting the fuel hose out of the car, Rosberg had a flawless race. He methodically moved through the field, gaining positions when stronger cars pulled off the track.

But with five laps left and the rear part of the car on fire, Rosberg lost everything.

He pulled off the track, got out of the car and showed his frustration by swinging his fist in the air. Rosberg watched in disgust as track workers doused the flames and jogged disgustedly back toward pit lane. He finished 16th.

More bad luck

German driver Ralf Schumacher didn't mince words when asked this week about this course. He doesn't like it, and Sunday's result provided yet another reason.

Schumacher got caught in a first-lap crash that took out three cars, the second straight year there has been a multiple-car tangle at the start. Scotland's David Coulthard and Brazil's Rubens Barrichello, the only former U.S. Grand Prix winner in the race, also were knocked out.

"The grip was not perfect and the tire locked a little bit," Schumacher said. "I just got in the way of David or he into my way, one of the two. It's just unfortunate."

For Schumacher, however, the accident was only the latest chapter in his discouraging Indy history. He injured his back in a crash here in 2004, couldn't race in 2005 because of a crash he had before Indy and finished 11 laps off the pace last year.

"It seems that way, pretty tough," Schumacher said of his luck. "But I'll try next year."

Schumacher's brother, Michael, has a different view of Indianapolis since he's the only driver in the famed track's 98-year history to reach Victory Lane five times.

Making a point

Chalk one up for Germany's Sebastian Vettel: One point that is.

Vettel, a 19-year-old making his F1 debut, had an impressive weekend. After learning Thursday he would replace the injured Robert Kubica in the cockpit for BMW Sauber, Vettel responded with a gritty effort.

He qualified seventh, avoided trouble in the first turn at the start by driving through the grass and stayed in points contention most of the race. It looked like the youngster would finish ninth and out of the points.

But, when Rosberg, then sixth, pulled off the track on Lap 69, Vettel took over the No. 8 spot and held on to score the first point of his F1 career.

"I think we were quite lucky to get away with one point, as the first corner was quite tight already," Vettel said. "Therefore I was stuck in traffic, which more or less destroyed our strategy. But I think it's good to finish the first race and even better, in the points."

Kubica, a 22-year old rookie from Poland, sustained a concussion and a sprained ankle in a frightening crash at the Canadian Grand Prix the previous week and was not cleared by doctors to drive in Indianapolis.

Vettel has been a test driver for BMW Sauber.

Speedy recovery

Scott Speed finished 13th and again out of the points Sunday, but it was a much better homecoming than last year's debut.

In 2006, the only American driver on the Formula One circuit got swept up in a first-turn crash and never completed a lap. This time, starting 20th, Speed avoided the first-turn tangle, stayed on the course and completed 71 of 73 laps.

Speed complained afterward that the track was too slippery for his car's setup.

"It was definitely a tough race just to keep the thing on the track, so to come away 13th is not bad," he said. "I'm pretty happy with the result."

Notes

• Hamilton, the series points leader, is following a world championship model. His first two wins have come in back-to-back races, similar to former world champions Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill. Hamilton's fellow Brits both went on to win points titles later in their careers.
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George waved the checkered flag for the second straight year after refusing to do it in 2005, when 14 of 20 drivers pulled off the track before the race started to protest tire safety concerns.