French GP 2008

JUNE 22, 2008

Race Incidents

Nelson Piquet, Lewis Hamilton, French GP 2008
© The Cahier Archive

Lap 1: With rain a constant possibility, Kimi Raikkonen leads away from pole position. Felipe Massa settles into second but Fernando Alonso is passed by both Jarno Trulli and Robert Kubica. The Spaniard repasses Kubica at the hairpin exit. Timo Glock makes a good start to take sixth from Mark Webber, Nelson Piquet, Heikki Kovalainen, Lewis Hamilton, David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel, Nick Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Bourdais, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello (who incurred a late, five-position grid penalty following an unscheduled gearbox change), Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, who appears to have front wing damage.

Lap 2: Raikkonen leads by 1.3s. Barrichello passes Sutil.

Lap 4: The damaged nose on Button's car stops him from taking the final turn and he runs wide.

Lap 5: Hamilton passes Kovalainen. Button pits.

Lap 7: Raikkonen leads by 2.8s.

Lap 8: Hamilton locks up at the hairpin behind Piquet.

Lap 10: Raikkonen leads by 3.2s. Trulli is a further 8.5s adrift.

Lap 13: Hamilton is given a drive-through penalty for missing the apex of Turn Seven on lap one and gaining an advantage. He comes in straight away and drops to 13th.

Lap 15: Alonso makes the race's first scheduled stop. He drops to 12th.

Lap 16: Raikkonen locks up and drops 0.7s to Massa but he still leads by 4.0s.

Lap 17: The lapped Button pits to retire.

Lap 19: Hamilton makes a scheduled stop and drops to 19th, temporarily one lap down. Bourdais' Toro Rosso loses some rear bodywork.

Lap 20: Trulli, Kubica and Sutil pit.

Lap 21: Raikkonen and Glock pit. Massa leads. Raikkonen resumes in second.

Lap 22: Massa and Webber pit.

Lap 24: Raikkonen leads Massa by 4.3s. Webber almost spins at the final corner.

Lap 25: Piquet and Kovalainen pit. The Finn passes the Brazilian as they exit the pits.

Lap 26: Coulthard and Bourdais pit.

Lap 28: Hamilton passes Rosberg for 16th.

Lap 29: Vettel and Heidfeld pit from fourth and sixth.

Lap 30: Raikkonen leads by 6.6s from Massa. Trulli is half a minute behind the leader in third.

Lap 32: Fisichella pits.

Lap 33: Massa takes several tenths from Raikkonen...

Lap 34: ...and does it again. The gap is 3.2s.

Lap 36: Massa closes to within 2.2s. Trulli, Kubica, Alonso and Webber run third to sixth.

Lap 37: Massa closes in again: 1.7s.

Lap 39: Massa passes Raikkonen.

Lap 40: Massa leads by 3.8s. Rosberg pits.

Lap 42: Kovalainen passes Webber for sixth. Alonso makes his second stop.

Lap 43: Sutil pits.

Lap 46: Massa leads by 10.0s. Kubica pits, as does Bourdais.

Lap 47: Hamilton passes Alonso for 12th.

Lap 48: Vettel and Heidfeld pit.

Lap 49: Webber and Glock pit.

Lap 50: Trulli and Piquet pit.

Lap 52: Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Coulthard and Hamilton pit.

Lap 54: Massa pits but retains the lead. Hamilton passes Vettel. The lapped Fisichella pits.

Lap 55: Massa leads Raikkonen by 13.4s. Trulli is third, with Kovalainen closing.

Lap 56: Barrichello pits.

Lap 57: Hamilton passes Glock for 10th.

Lap 58: Nakajima pits. Kovalainen is right behind Trulli.

Lap 62: Something comes off Raikkonen's car, without obvious consequences.

Lap 68: Piquet passes Alonso.

Lap 69: Kovalainen tries to pass Trulli but runs wide in the wake of some robust defence.

Lap 70: Massa wins by 17.9s from Raikkonen. Trulli is third from Kovalainen, Kubica, Webber, Piquet, Alonso, Coulthard, Hamilton, Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld and the lapped Barrichello, Nakajima, Rosberg, Bourdais, Fisichella and Sutil.