Singapore GP 2008

SEPTEMBER 28, 2008

Race Incidents

Felipe Massa, Singapore GP 2008
© The Cahier Archive

Lap 1: On pole for the fifth time this season - and the 14th in his Formula One career - Felipe Massa makes a clean start to lead Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen into Turn One. Heikki Kovalainen briefly gets ahead of Robert Kubica for fourth but the two touch at Turn Three and the Pole reasserts himself. Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock then pass Kovalainen to take fifth and sixth. Nick Heidfeld runs eighth ahead of Jarno Trulli, Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Sebastien Bourdais, Rubens Barrichello, Nelson Piquet, Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella (who starts from the pits following some unscheduled set-up changes). Massa leads by 1.2s.

Lap 2: Massa laps in 1m47.658s, Hamilton in 1m47.656s. The gap remains 1.2s.

Lap 3: Massa leads by 1.7s.

Lap 4: Rosberg briefly passes Trulli at Turn One but runs wide and drops back again.

Lap 5: The leader's advantage grows to 2.0s.

Lap 6: Massa laps in 1m46.342s. He leads by 2.6s.

Lap 7: Rosberg passes Trulli for ninth.

Lap 8: Nakajima passes Trulli.

Lap 9: Fastest lap to Raikkonen: 1m46.115s. Alonso passes Trulli.

Lap 10: Massa leads by 3.3s. Raikkonen posts a 1m46.105s to trail Hamilton by 3.9s.

Lap 11: Raikkonen laps in 1m45.764s.

Lap 12: Alonso makes the race's first scheduled stop.

Lap 13: Massa laps in 1m45.757s. He leads by 4.5s. Bourdais spins at Turn 18 and drops to 18th.

Lap 14: Raikkonen laps in 1m45.599s. He is 2.2 s behind Hamilton. Piquet crashes heavily at Turn 17. Webber, Coulthard and Barrichello pit.

Lap 15: Safety Car deployed. Rosberg pits. Barrichello stops on the circuit.

Lap 16: Kubica pits.

Lap 17: Pit lane opens. Massa, Hamilton, Vettel, Glock, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Nakajima, Button and Sutil pit. Raikkonen is behind Massa who leaves prematurely. The Brazilian knocks down a member of his crew and rejoins with his fuel rig still attached. He eventually leaves the pits again.

Lap 18: Behind the Safety Car Rosberg leads from Trulli, Fisichella, Kubica, Alonso, Webber, Bourdais (who pits), Coulthard, Hamilton, Vettel, Glock, Heidfeld, Nakajima, Button, Kovalainen, Sutil, Raikkonen and Massa.

Lap 20: Restart. Rosberg immediately pulls clear of Trulli to lead by 2.8s. Glock passes Vettel. Raikkonen passes Sutil. Massa runs slightly wide over the kerbs at Turn 23.

Lap 21: Rosberg leads by 5.1s.

Lap 22: Rosberg leads by 6.9s. Rosberg and Kubica are under investigation. Massa passes Bourdais.

Lap 24: Massa serves a drive-through penalty for unsafe release from the pits.

Lap 26: Rosberg leads by 12.2s but must serve a 10s stop-go penalty for having refuelled before the pit lane opened. Kubica receives the same penalty.

Lap 27: Kubica comes in for his penalty. Rosberg runs wide at Turn 14.

Lap 28: Rosberg pits. Trulli leads. Webber runs wide at Turn One and drops to 14th.

Lap 29: Trulli leads by 11.9s from Alonso and Rosberg. Fisichella pits, as does Webber. The latter retires.

Lap 31: Kubica passes Massa who pits at the end of the lap.

Lap 32: Trulli leads by 10.8s.

Lap 33: Trulli pits and drops to eighth. Alonso leads Rosberg by 4.3s. Kubica and Bourdais pit, too.

Lap 34: Kovalainen pits.

Lap 35: Alonso extends his lead to 5.6s. Button pits.

Lap 37: Alonso sets a personal best: 1m46.020s. Rosberg is 7.0s behind. Massa runs wide at Turn One.

Lap 38: Nakajima passes Trulli for eighth.

Lap 39: Raikkonen passes Trulli. Sutil pits.

Lap 40: Alonso laps in 1m45.843s. Rosberg pits and drops to seventh.

Lap 41: Alonso pits. He rejoins without losing the lead.

Lap 42: Hamilton passes Coulthard. Both pit at the lap's end. Coulthard is delayed as one of his crew members slips over. Nakajima pits.

Lap 43: Alonso leads Glock by 4.8s. Vettel and Heidfeld pit. Hamilton lies seventh, behind Raikkonen.

Lap 44: Raikkonen runs wide at Turn Two.

Lap 45: Alonso leads from Glock, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Trulli. Kubica passes Fisichella.

Lap 46: Glock pits and drops to fifth. Massa runs wide at the first turn.

Lap 50: Raikkonen pits and slips to fifth. Trulli slows to a crawl and retires at the end of the lap. Massa spins at Turn 18 and rejoins just before Sutil crashes at the same spot. Safety Car deployed.

Lap 54: Restart. Alonso leads Rosberg by 3.7s.

Lap 58: Raikkonen crashes at Turn 10.

Lap 61: Alonso wins by 2.9s from Rosberg, Hamilton, Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld, Coulthard and Nakajima. It is the Spaniard's first Formula One success since Monza 2007.