2008 Bahrain Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally the V Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One
motor race held on April 6, 2008 at the Bahrain International Circuit
, in Sakhir
, Bahrain
. It was the third race of the 2008 Formula One season
. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Felipe Massa
for the Ferrari
team. Kimi Räikkönen
was second in the other Ferrari, and BMW Sauber
driver Robert Kubica
was third.
The race began with Kubica in pole position
alongside Massa; Lewis Hamilton
, the eventual Drivers' Champion, started from third, alongside Räikkönen. Kubica was passed by Massa into the first corner, and then by Räikkönen on the third lap. The Ferraris dominated at the front of the race, leading to their one-two finish. Hamilton had a slow start after almost stalling
on the grid, and dropped back to ninth. The McLaren driver ran into the back of Fernando Alonso
's Renault
a lap later, breaking off the McLaren's front wing and dropping Hamilton to the back of the field.
Kubica's strong finish promoted BMW Sauber to the lead in the Constructors' Championship, after BMW driver Nick Heidfeld
finished fourth. Ferrari and McLaren trailed, one and two points behind, respectively. Räikkönen took the lead in the Drivers' Championship, with 19 points, three points ahead of Heidfeld and five ahead of Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalainen, with 15 races remaining in the season.
, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault
, Honda, Force India
, BMW Sauber
, Toyota
, Red Bull Racing
, Williams
, Toro Rosso
and Super Aguri. Tyre
supplier Bridgestone
brought two different tyre compounds to the race; the softer of the two marked by a single white stripe down one of the grooves.
Prior to the race, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton
led the Drivers' Championship with 14 points, and Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen
was second with 11 points. Behind Hamilton and Räikkönen in the Drivers' Championship, Nick Heidfeld
was third, also with 11 points, in a BMW Sauber, and Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen
was fourth with 10 points. Heidfeld's teammate Robert Kubica
was fifth with eight points. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren–Mercedes were leading with 24 points, five points ahead of BMW Sauber. Ferrari were third with 11 points.
Ferrari dominated the previous round in Malaysia
, where Felipe Massa
had claimed pole position
, and led his teammate Räikkönen in second place through the opening stages of the race, before spinning off and retiring midway through. Räikkönen went on to win the race, and expressed his optimism about Bahrain: "I have finished third in three successive Grands Prix in Bahrain. Time and again something has gone wrong. Sakhir is one of those circuits where I really want to win. Finally."
In the opening two races, Massa came under fire from the press for two errors that left him without points: a collision with Red Bull driver David Coulthard
in Australia
and his spin at Malaysia. Massa promised that the first two races would not be indicative of the rest of the season: "It was not the start to the season that I wanted, but there are still 16 races to go and 160 points up for grabs. In the next few races I plan to get back all the points I have lost in the opening two rounds."
Hamilton won the opening race in Australia, but managed to finish only fifth after a qualifying penalty and a botched pit stop
in Malaysia. The season began well for Kubica, as he qualified second in Australia and finished second in Malaysia. Kubica predicted his team could maintain their momentum into the third race: "I'm confident that we can be very competitive here as well."
A week before the start of the Grand Prix weekend, the News of the World
alleged that Max Mosley
, the president of Formula One's governing body
, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
(FIA), had engaged in sexual acts with five prostitutes. While Mosley denied the allegations, he cancelled his scheduled appearance at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Several teams condemned Mosley's alleged actions and asked for his resignation, and while for a time the controversy threatened to overshadow the race, Mosley eventually retained his position and successfully sued the News of the World for the report.
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday, and a third on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted 90 minutes. The third session was held on Saturday morning and lasted an hour. The Ferraris outpaced the other teams in the first session on a dusty track surrounded by the sand dune desert of Sakhir
. Massa's time of 1:32.233 was quicker than Räikkönen's, who was slowed down by an early excursion across the sand, requiring a pit stop
. Nico Rosberg
of Williams, Hamilton, McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen
, Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima
and Kubica rounded out the top seven. In the second session, Hamilton lost control of his car and slid sideways into a wall. Hamilton emerged unharmed from the collision, but his McLaren suffered significant damage. Except for the crash, the second session ended like the first: once again, Massa led Räikkönen to Ferrari one-two, ahead of Kovalainen, Hamilton and Kubica. The third session was again held on a dusty track, where Rosberg was quickest with a time of 1:32.521. Massa took second, ahead of Red Bull driver Mark Webber
, Toyota driver Jarno Trulli
, David Coulthard
of Red Bull, Nakajima and Kubica. Räikkönen was ninth quickest, and Hamilton 18th.
The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes, and cars that finished the session 17th position or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of the qualifying session lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 16. The final part of the qualifying session determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions. Cars which competed in the final session of qualifying were not allowed to refuel before the race, and as such carried more fuel than in the previous sessions.
Kubica clinched the first pole position of his career with a time of 1:33.096. Massa qualified less than 0.03 seconds behind the BMW and joined Kubica on the front row of the grid. Hamilton took third place, using his team's spare chassis
; Räikkönen was next quickest, and despite being critical of his car's set-up
was confident in its racing ability. Kovalainen would line up fifth on the grid alongside Heidfeld, who had trouble maximising performance from his tyres. Trulli took seventh place, ahead of Rosberg and Honda driver Jenson Button
. Renault driver Fernando Alonso
was the last driver to make the third session; Webber missed out on the top ten by 0.009 seconds and would start the race in 11th position. Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello
took 12th place after a gearbox problem interrupted his second session laps, ahead of Timo Glock
of Toyota, Nelson Piquet of Renault and Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais
. Nakajima was the slowest of the second session drivers, and took 16th. Coulthard qualified 17th, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella
of Force India. Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel
took 19th, and blamed his set-up: "I felt it was more a case of the car driving me than me driving the car." Fisichella's teammate Adrian Sutil
qualified 20th, ahead of Anthony Davidson
of Super Aguri. Davidson's teammate Takuma Sato
spun out and crashed into the barriers. Sato's accident damaged his rear wing and suspension
and left him unable to continue in the session.
The weather and conditions on the grid were before dry for the race. The air temperature was 29 °C (84.2 °F) with signs of a breeze which could blow sand onto the track and impede the cars' grip. Massa got the best start of the frontrunners off the line, as he passed Kubica into the first corner to take the lead. Hamilton's poor start caused his anti-stall
system to kick in, and he was passed by six drivers to fall back to ninth. Räikkönen benefited from Hamilton's start by moving up to third, ahead of Kovalainen, Trulli and Heidfeld. As Massa extended his lead at the front of the race, Hamilton, who trailed Alonso, collided with the back of the Renault, knocking the McLaren's front wing off the car. Suffering handling difficulties, Hamilton returned to the pit-lane for a new nose section, and rejoined in 18th place. Räikkönen took second place when he passed Kubica on lap three; Heidfeld took fourth when he passed Trulli and Kovalainen in separate manoeuvres. Further down the field, Vettel retired from the race on the first lap after twice colliding with other cars; Button, Sutil and Coulthard pitted to repair early damage.
By lap 10, Massa had opened his lead over Räikkönen to 4.4 seconds, ahead of Kubica, Heidfeld, Kovalainen and Trulli. Kubica was the first of the frontrunners to pit, on lap 17. Räikkönen and Trulli followed on lap 20; Massa pitted from the lead one lap later. Following the first round of pit stops, the gap between the Ferraris was 5.4 seconds, however by lap 31 Räikkönen had closed to within four seconds of his teammate. Massa held a 3.6 second lead over Räikkönen when the two Ferraris pitted for the final time on laps 39 and 38, respectively, and Massa retained his lead into the final stint. Kubica pitted on lap 41, Heidfeld on lap 45, and Kovalainen on lap 47.
Coulthard and Button collided on lap 18 when Button attempted to pass the Red Bull on the inside at turn eight; the Honda lost its front wing and retired a lap later after two pit stops. Hamilton continued his climb back through the field; he moved from 18th, passing Piquet, Davidson, Sutil and Bourdais in separate manoeuvres, to sit in 14th by the time he pitted on lap 31. Piquet retired on lap 42 with transmission failure, requiring a gearbox change before the next race.
Massa took his first win of the season when he crossed the line at the end of the 57th lap, 3.3 seconds ahead of the second-placed Räikkönen. Kubica took third, ahead of his teammate Heidfeld, and Kovalainen, who set the fastest lap of the race on lap 49, with a time of 1:33.193, despite being slower than the frontrunners for much of the race. Trulli, Webber, Glock and Alonso rounded out the top ten, after Glock's Toyota held off a quick Alonso late in the race. Barrichello and Fisichella finished strongly, ahead of Hamilton, who managed only 13th. Nakajima, Bourdais, Davidson and Sato took the next four places; Coulthard and Sutil finished last on track after their respective crashes demoted them to the back of the field. Vettel, Button and Piquet were the three retirements from the race.
Kubica said that his poor start was due to wheelspin
off the line, and the presence of oil on the track impeded the performance of his car, leading to Räikkönen's pass: "But anyway I think it was a good result: third and fourth for the team and leading the Constructors' Championship, so it was good weekend."
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Hamilton accepted responsibility for his near stall on the grid: "I hadn't hit the switch early enough and therefore we were not in the launch map and went straight into anti-stall, and when everyone else was in their launch mode, I wasn't." Renault dismissed suggestions that Alonso had brake test
ed Hamilton in the incident that led to the McLaren's wing breaking off. Pat Symonds
, Renault's head of engineering, said his team's telemetry
indicated Alonso was on full throttle down the straight, and had not touched the brakes: "I think all I can say from our side is that there is no blame attributable to Fernando, which is what some of the speculation might be." McLaren F1 CEO
Martin Whitmarsh
said that Hamilton's front wing had broken seconds before the impact, and that the resulting downforce
reduction had sucked Hamilton into Alonso's slipstream faster than expected. However, photos indicate that the front wing on the McLaren could have broken even earlier when Hamilton nudged a car (believed to be Alonso) on the opening lap. The later incident left Alonso with damage to the back of the car, impairing his attempts to pass Glock late in the race.
Räikkönen's second-placed finish gave him a three point lead over Heidfeld in the Drivers' Championship, with 19 points, ahead of Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalainen, each with 14 points. BMW Sauber's strong performance gave them the lead in the Constructors' Championship, with 30 points, ahead of Ferrari with 29 points and McLaren with 28 points.
Constructors' Championship standings
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
motor race held on April 6, 2008 at the Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain International Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 and the annual Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Grand Prix was the first held in the Middle East. Since 2006, Australian V8 Supercar has been raced at the BIC and the V8 races are named as the Desert 400...
, in Sakhir
Sakhir
Sakhir is a desert area located in the Kingdom of Bahrain, near Zallaq. It contains the Al-Sakhir Palace, built in 1870. In the past few years, it has seen many changes such as the creation of the University of Bahrain main campus, al-Areen Wildlife Park, and Bahrain International Circuit. In...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
. It was the third race of the 2008 Formula One season
2008 Formula One season
The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....
. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
for the Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
team. Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
was second in the other Ferrari, and BMW Sauber
BMW Sauber
BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s...
driver Robert Kubica
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006...
was third.
The race began with Kubica in pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
alongside Massa; Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
, the eventual Drivers' Champion, started from third, alongside Räikkönen. Kubica was passed by Massa into the first corner, and then by Räikkönen on the third lap. The Ferraris dominated at the front of the race, leading to their one-two finish. Hamilton had a slow start after almost stalling
Stall (engine)
A stall is the slowing or stopping of a process, and in the case of an engine, refers to a sudden stopping of the engine turning, usually brought about accidentally....
on the grid, and dropped back to ninth. The McLaren driver ran into the back of Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
's Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
a lap later, breaking off the McLaren's front wing and dropping Hamilton to the back of the field.
Kubica's strong finish promoted BMW Sauber to the lead in the Constructors' Championship, after BMW driver Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium...
finished fourth. Ferrari and McLaren trailed, one and two points behind, respectively. Räikkönen took the lead in the Drivers' Championship, with 19 points, three points ahead of Heidfeld and five ahead of Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalainen, with 15 races remaining in the season.
Background
The Grand Prix was contested by 22 drivers, in 11 teams of two. The teams, also known as "constructors", were FerrariScuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
, Honda, Force India
Force India
Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and...
, BMW Sauber
BMW Sauber
BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s...
, Toyota
Toyota F1
Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002...
, Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
, Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
, Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team...
and Super Aguri. Tyre
Formula One tyres
Formula One tyres play a significant role in the performance of a Formula One car. The tyres have undergone significant changes throughout the history of Formula One, with different manufacturers and specifications used in the sport.-History:...
supplier Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....
brought two different tyre compounds to the race; the softer of the two marked by a single white stripe down one of the grooves.
Prior to the race, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
led the Drivers' Championship with 14 points, and Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
was second with 11 points. Behind Hamilton and Räikkönen in the Drivers' Championship, Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium...
was third, also with 11 points, in a BMW Sauber, and Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus....
was fourth with 10 points. Heidfeld's teammate Robert Kubica
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006...
was fifth with eight points. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren–Mercedes were leading with 24 points, five points ahead of BMW Sauber. Ferrari were third with 11 points.
2008 Malaysian Grand Prix
The 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 23, 2008 at the Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Malaysia. It was the 2nd race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 56 laps, was won by Kimi Räikkönen for the Ferrari team after starting...
, where Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
had claimed pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
, and led his teammate Räikkönen in second place through the opening stages of the race, before spinning off and retiring midway through. Räikkönen went on to win the race, and expressed his optimism about Bahrain: "I have finished third in three successive Grands Prix in Bahrain. Time and again something has gone wrong. Sakhir is one of those circuits where I really want to win. Finally."
In the opening two races, Massa came under fire from the press for two errors that left him without points: a collision with Red Bull driver David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
in Australia
2008 Australian Grand Prix
The 2008 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 16 March 2008 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. It was the first race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 58 laps, was won by Lewis Hamilton for the McLaren team after...
and his spin at Malaysia. Massa promised that the first two races would not be indicative of the rest of the season: "It was not the start to the season that I wanted, but there are still 16 races to go and 160 points up for grabs. In the next few races I plan to get back all the points I have lost in the opening two rounds."
Hamilton won the opening race in Australia, but managed to finish only fifth after a qualifying penalty and a botched pit stop
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
in Malaysia. The season began well for Kubica, as he qualified second in Australia and finished second in Malaysia. Kubica predicted his team could maintain their momentum into the third race: "I'm confident that we can be very competitive here as well."
A week before the start of the Grand Prix weekend, the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
alleged that Max Mosley
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...
, the president of Formula One's governing body
Sport governing body
A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...
, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
(FIA), had engaged in sexual acts with five prostitutes. While Mosley denied the allegations, he cancelled his scheduled appearance at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Several teams condemned Mosley's alleged actions and asked for his resignation, and while for a time the controversy threatened to overshadow the race, Mosley eventually retained his position and successfully sued the News of the World for the report.
Practice and qualifying
Sakhir
Sakhir is a desert area located in the Kingdom of Bahrain, near Zallaq. It contains the Al-Sakhir Palace, built in 1870. In the past few years, it has seen many changes such as the creation of the University of Bahrain main campus, al-Areen Wildlife Park, and Bahrain International Circuit. In...
. Massa's time of 1:32.233 was quicker than Räikkönen's, who was slowed down by an early excursion across the sand, requiring a pit stop
Pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is where a racing vehicle stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above...
. Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg
Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career...
of Williams, Hamilton, McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus....
, Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima
Kazuki Nakajima
is a Formula One driver from Japan who drove for the Williams-Toyota team from to . Prior to that he had been their test driver, as well as a competitor in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team....
and Kubica rounded out the top seven. In the second session, Hamilton lost control of his car and slid sideways into a wall. Hamilton emerged unharmed from the collision, but his McLaren suffered significant damage. Except for the crash, the second session ended like the first: once again, Massa led Räikkönen to Ferrari one-two, ahead of Kovalainen, Hamilton and Kubica. The third session was again held on a dusty track, where Rosberg was quickest with a time of 1:32.521. Massa took second, ahead of Red Bull driver Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
, Toyota driver Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...
, David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
of Red Bull, Nakajima and Kubica. Räikkönen was ninth quickest, and Hamilton 18th.
The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes, and cars that finished the session 17th position or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of the qualifying session lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 16. The final part of the qualifying session determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions. Cars which competed in the final session of qualifying were not allowed to refuel before the race, and as such carried more fuel than in the previous sessions.
Kubica clinched the first pole position of his career with a time of 1:33.096. Massa qualified less than 0.03 seconds behind the BMW and joined Kubica on the front row of the grid. Hamilton took third place, using his team's spare chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
; Räikkönen was next quickest, and despite being critical of his car's set-up
Racing setup
In auto racing, the racing setup or car setup is the set of adjustments made to the vehicle in order to optimize its behaviour...
was confident in its racing ability. Kovalainen would line up fifth on the grid alongside Heidfeld, who had trouble maximising performance from his tyres. Trulli took seventh place, ahead of Rosberg and Honda driver Jenson Button
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...
. Renault driver Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
was the last driver to make the third session; Webber missed out on the top ten by 0.009 seconds and would start the race in 11th position. Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
took 12th place after a gearbox problem interrupted his second session laps, ahead of Timo Glock
Timo Glock
Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship...
of Toyota, Nelson Piquet of Renault and Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais
Sébastien Bourdais
Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007....
. Nakajima was the slowest of the second session drivers, and took 16th. Coulthard qualified 17th, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events...
of Force India. Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
took 19th, and blamed his set-up: "I felt it was more a case of the car driving me than me driving the car." Fisichella's teammate Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil
-Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002...
qualified 20th, ahead of Anthony Davidson
Anthony Davidson
Anthony Denis Davidson is a British former Formula One racing driver from England, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He has raced for Minardi, Super Aguri and been a test and/or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams...
of Super Aguri. Davidson's teammate Takuma Sato
Takuma Sato
is a Japanese automobile racing driver and the most successful Japanese Formula One driver in history. He is currently racing for KV Racing Technology in IndyCar Series under the Lotus banner.-Junior Years:...
spun out and crashed into the barriers. Sato's accident damaged his rear wing and suspension
Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...
and left him unable to continue in the session.
Race
Stall (engine)
A stall is the slowing or stopping of a process, and in the case of an engine, refers to a sudden stopping of the engine turning, usually brought about accidentally....
system to kick in, and he was passed by six drivers to fall back to ninth. Räikkönen benefited from Hamilton's start by moving up to third, ahead of Kovalainen, Trulli and Heidfeld. As Massa extended his lead at the front of the race, Hamilton, who trailed Alonso, collided with the back of the Renault, knocking the McLaren's front wing off the car. Suffering handling difficulties, Hamilton returned to the pit-lane for a new nose section, and rejoined in 18th place. Räikkönen took second place when he passed Kubica on lap three; Heidfeld took fourth when he passed Trulli and Kovalainen in separate manoeuvres. Further down the field, Vettel retired from the race on the first lap after twice colliding with other cars; Button, Sutil and Coulthard pitted to repair early damage.
By lap 10, Massa had opened his lead over Räikkönen to 4.4 seconds, ahead of Kubica, Heidfeld, Kovalainen and Trulli. Kubica was the first of the frontrunners to pit, on lap 17. Räikkönen and Trulli followed on lap 20; Massa pitted from the lead one lap later. Following the first round of pit stops, the gap between the Ferraris was 5.4 seconds, however by lap 31 Räikkönen had closed to within four seconds of his teammate. Massa held a 3.6 second lead over Räikkönen when the two Ferraris pitted for the final time on laps 39 and 38, respectively, and Massa retained his lead into the final stint. Kubica pitted on lap 41, Heidfeld on lap 45, and Kovalainen on lap 47.
Coulthard and Button collided on lap 18 when Button attempted to pass the Red Bull on the inside at turn eight; the Honda lost its front wing and retired a lap later after two pit stops. Hamilton continued his climb back through the field; he moved from 18th, passing Piquet, Davidson, Sutil and Bourdais in separate manoeuvres, to sit in 14th by the time he pitted on lap 31. Piquet retired on lap 42 with transmission failure, requiring a gearbox change before the next race.
Massa took his first win of the season when he crossed the line at the end of the 57th lap, 3.3 seconds ahead of the second-placed Räikkönen. Kubica took third, ahead of his teammate Heidfeld, and Kovalainen, who set the fastest lap of the race on lap 49, with a time of 1:33.193, despite being slower than the frontrunners for much of the race. Trulli, Webber, Glock and Alonso rounded out the top ten, after Glock's Toyota held off a quick Alonso late in the race. Barrichello and Fisichella finished strongly, ahead of Hamilton, who managed only 13th. Nakajima, Bourdais, Davidson and Sato took the next four places; Coulthard and Sutil finished last on track after their respective crashes demoted them to the back of the field. Vettel, Button and Piquet were the three retirements from the race.
Post-race
The top three finishers appeared on the podium and in the subsequent press conference, where Massa appeared relieved: "For sure the race was pretty difficult because I didn't want to make any mistakes. I didn't push as much either, just tried to bring the car home and just controlling the pace as well." Massa said that he struggled with grip early, owing to oil in the middle sector of the course. Räikkönen's second place promoted him to the lead in the Drivers' Championship, and he expressed his optimism about future races:Kubica said that his poor start was due to wheelspin
Wheelspin
A wheelspin, occurs when the force delivered to the tire tread exceeds that of available tread-to-surface friction and one or more tires lose traction.Standard differentials always apply equal torque to each wheel...
off the line, and the presence of oil on the track impeded the performance of his car, leading to Räikkönen's pass: "But anyway I think it was a good result: third and fourth for the team and leading the Constructors' Championship, so it was good weekend."
Brake test
A brake test is a term used in motorsport. A driver is said to brake test another driver when the two are driving very close together and the front driver deliberately brakes very hard, causing the second driver to have to do likewise and often make an evasive maneuver to avoid an accident.Because...
ed Hamilton in the incident that led to the McLaren's wing breaking off. Pat Symonds
Pat Symonds
Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds is the former Executive Director of Engineering of the Renault Formula One team....
, Renault's head of engineering, said his team's telemetry
Telemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
indicated Alonso was on full throttle down the straight, and had not touched the brakes: "I think all I can say from our side is that there is no blame attributable to Fernando, which is what some of the speculation might be." McLaren F1 CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Martin Whitmarsh
Martin Whitmarsh
Martin Whitmarsh is the CEO of McLaren Racing, a subsidiary company of the McLaren Group and Chief Operating Officer of that group, as well as Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, following Ron Dennis' retirement on 1 March 2009...
said that Hamilton's front wing had broken seconds before the impact, and that the resulting downforce
Downforce
Downforce is a downwards thrust created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car. The purpose of downforce is to allow a car to travel faster through a corner by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip....
reduction had sucked Hamilton into Alonso's slipstream faster than expected. However, photos indicate that the front wing on the McLaren could have broken even earlier when Hamilton nudged a car (believed to be Alonso) on the opening lap. The later incident left Alonso with damage to the back of the car, impairing his attempts to pass Glock late in the race.
Räikkönen's second-placed finish gave him a three point lead over Heidfeld in the Drivers' Championship, with 19 points, ahead of Hamilton, Kubica and Kovalainen, each with 14 points. BMW Sauber's strong performance gave them the lead in the Constructors' Championship, with 30 points, ahead of Ferrari with 29 points and McLaren with 28 points.
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Name | Constructor | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |  Robert KubicaRobert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
1:32.893 | 1:31.745 | 1:33.096 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |  Felipe MassaFelipe Massa Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:31.937 | 1:31.188 | 1:33.123 | 2 |
| 3 | 22 |  Lewis HamiltonLewis Hamilton Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.750 | 1:31.922 | 1:33.292 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 |  Kimi RäikkönenKimi Räikkönen Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:32.652 | 1:31.933 | 1:33.418 | 4 |
| 5 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus.... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:33.057 | 1:31.718 | 1:33.488 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 |  Nick HeidfeldNick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
1:33.137 | 1:31.909 | 1:33.737 | 6 |
| 7 | 11 |  Jarno TrulliJarno Trulli Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:32.493 | 1:32.159 | 1:33.994 | 7 |
| 8 | 7 | Nico Rosberg Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:32.903 | 1:32.185 | 1:34.015 | 8 |
| 9 | 16 | Jenson Button Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British... |
Honda | 1:32.793 | 1:32.362 | 1:35.057 | 9 |
| 10 | 5 |  Fernando AlonsoFernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari.... |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:32.947 | 1:32.345 | 1:35.115 | 10 |
| 11 | 10 |  Mark WebberMark Webber Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:33.194 | 1:32.371 | 11 | |
| 12 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable... |
Honda | 1:32.944 | 1:32.508 | 12 | |
| 13 | 12 | Timo Glock Timo Glock Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:32.800 | 1:32.528 | 13 | |
| 14 | 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:32.975 | 1:32.790 | 14 | |
| 15 | 14 |  Sébastien BourdaisSébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007.... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:33.415 | 1:32.915 | 15 | |
| 16 | 8 |  Kazuki NakajimaKazuki Nakajima is a Formula One driver from Japan who drove for the Williams-Toyota team from to . Prior to that he had been their test driver, as well as a competitor in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team.... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:33.386 | 1:32.943 | 16 | |
| 17 | 9 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:33.433 | 17 | ||
| 18 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:33.501 | 18 | ||
| 19 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and .... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:33.562 | 19 | ||
| 20 | 20 | Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil -Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:33.845 | 20 | ||
| 21 | 19 | Anthony Davidson Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson is a British former Formula One racing driver from England, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He has raced for Minardi, Super Aguri and been a test and/or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams... |
Super Aguri Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team... -Honda |
1:34.140 | 21 | ||
| 22 | 18 | Takuma Sato Takuma Sato is a Japanese automobile racing driver and the most successful Japanese Formula One driver in history. He is currently racing for KV Racing Technology in IndyCar Series under the Lotus banner.-Junior Years:... |
Super Aguri Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team... -Honda |
1:35.725 | 22 | ||
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Felipe Massa Felipe Massa Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
57 | 1:31:06.970 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
57 | + 3.339 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | Robert Kubica Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
57 | + 4.998 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
57 | + 8.409 | 6 | 5 |
| 5 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus.... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 57 | + 26.789 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 11 | Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
57 | + 41.314 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | 10 | Mark Webber Mark Webber Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
57 | + 45.473 | 11 | 2 |
| 8 | 7 | Nico Rosberg Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
57 | + 55.889 | 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 12 | Timo Glock Timo Glock Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
57 | + 1:09.500 | 13 | |
| 10 | 5 | Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari.... |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
57 | + 1:17.181 | 10 | |
| 11 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable... |
Honda | 57 | + 1:17.862 | 12 | |
| 12 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
56 | + 1 lap | 18 | |
| 13 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | + 1 lap | 3 | |
| 14 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima Kazuki Nakajima is a Formula One driver from Japan who drove for the Williams-Toyota team from to . Prior to that he had been their test driver, as well as a competitor in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team.... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
56 | + 1 lap | 16 | |
| 15 | 14 | Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007.... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
56 | + 1 lap | 15 | |
| 16 | 19 | Anthony Davidson Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson is a British former Formula One racing driver from England, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He has raced for Minardi, Super Aguri and been a test and/or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams... |
Super Aguri Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team... -Honda |
56 | + 1 lap | 21 | |
| 17 | 18 | Takuma Sato Takuma Sato is a Japanese automobile racing driver and the most successful Japanese Formula One driver in history. He is currently racing for KV Racing Technology in IndyCar Series under the Lotus banner.-Junior Years:... |
Super Aguri Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team... -Honda |
56 | + 1 lap | 22 | |
| 18 | 9 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
56 | + 1 lap | 17 | |
| 19 | 20 | Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil -Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
55 | + 2 laps | 20 | |
| Ret | 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
40 | Gearbox | 14 | |
| Ret | 16 | Jenson Button Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British... |
Honda | 19 | Collision | 9 | |
| Ret | 15 | Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and .... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
0 | Collision | 19 | |
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... |
19 |
| 2 | Nick Heidfeld Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium... |
16 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire... |
14 |
| 4 | Robert Kubica Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006... |
14 |
| 5 | Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus.... |
14 |
Constructors' Championship standings
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
30 |
| 2 | Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
29 |
| 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 28 |
| 4 | Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota |
10 |
| 5 | Toyota |
8 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.