The 2008 Turkish Grand Prix (officially the 2008 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix) was a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
motor race held on 11 May 2008 at the
Istanbul Racing Circuit
Intercity Istanbul Park ( tr, Ä°stanbul Park), also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially as the Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was designed by the well-known racetrack ...
,
Tuzla
Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants.
Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The 58-lap race, the fifth of the
2008 Formula One World Championship
The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition ...
, was won by
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
for the
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
team from
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
.
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
finished second in a
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
, with
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
third in the second Ferrari.
Massa claimed pole, with teammate Räikkönen fourth, the two Ferrari cars sandwiching the McLarens of
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...
and Hamilton. At the first corner Räikkönen clipped Kovalainen's rear tyre and gave him a puncture. The safety car was deployed on the first lap, after a collision, but only remained out for one lap. During the course of the race, Hamilton, intending to make one more pit stop than both Ferrari drivers, was faster than Massa due to carrying a lighter fuel load and overtook him on lap 24. After Hamilton had made his third pit stop, he rejoined in second behind Massa but in front of the Championship leader, Räikkönen. Massa won the race, with Hamilton 3.779 seconds behind, and Räikkönen a further half-second behind. The two
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 (often under Formula Two regulations), before building th ...
cars of
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...
and
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver.
Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...
took fourth and fifth.
In the week running up to the grand prix, the
Super Aguri
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, England. T ...
team had withdrawn from Formula One, due to financial problems, leaving the sport with only ten teams. Massa's victory was his third consecutive pole position and victory in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, having also won the race from pole in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
.
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
celebrated his 257th Grand Prix start, breaking
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...
's previous record of 256. Due to the race result, Räikkönen's lead in the
Drivers' Championship was lowered to seven points. Massa rose to second from fourth, whilst Hamilton dropped to third, both drivers tying on 28 points but separated by Massa's two wins thus far to Hamilton's one. In the
Constructors' Championship, Ferrari increased their lead to 22 points ahead of BMW Sauber, with McLaren a further two points behind in third.
Background
The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two. The teams, also known as "
constructors", were
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
,
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 (often under Formula Two regulations), before building th ...
,
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
,
Williams,
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
,
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
,
Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red ...
,
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
,
Force India
Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 20 ...
and
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
. This was two drivers fewer than in previous rounds of the
2008 season, due to the withdrawal of the
Super Aguri
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, England. T ...
team from the sport following the previous race.
Going into the race,
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...
was leading the
Drivers' Championship, on 29
points
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Point ...
; nine points ahead of
Lewis Hamilton
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...
, with Räikkönen's teammate,
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
, in fourth 11 points behind. BMW Sauber drivers
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...
and
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver.
Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...
were third and fifth, on 19 and 16 points respectively. In the
Constructors' Championship Ferrari were leading on 47 points; 12 points ahead of BMW Sauber on 35 points, with McLaren just one further point behind them.
The race was also
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
's 257th Grand Prix, which broke the record for the
number of Grand Prix starts previously held by
Riccardo Patrese
Riccardo Gabriele Patrese (born 17 April 1954) is an Italian former racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to .
He became the first Formula One driver to achieve 200 Grand Prix starts when he appeared at the 1990 British Grand Prix, an ...
.
The particular Grand Prix at which he broke this record was disputed, as there was some disagreement about what constituted a "start", such as the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix, where Barrichello entered but did not actually take part in the race on Sunday. Barrichello and Honda decided to make Turkey the site for their celebrations, issuing a statement that said, "In view of the lack of consensus regarding which specific race marks Rubens's 257th Grand Prix, Rubens will celebrate the milestone of 257 Grand Prix appearances at the Turkish Grand Prix".
His Honda team gave him a special anniversary livery and helmet, both of which prominently featured the number 257. Patrese said that he would feel some sadness at having his record broken.
![Aguri Suzuki 2008 Super GT](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Aguri_Suzuki_2008_Super_GT.jpg)
The Super Aguri team had been in financial trouble since a proposed takeover deal backed by equity firm
Dubai International Capital
Dubai International Capital (DIC) is the international investment arm of Dubai Holding, a global conglomerate and sovereign wealth fund of the government of Dubai and its ruling family. DIC invests private funds on behalf of Dubai Holding and se ...
, under the "Magma Group" banner, failed to take effect.
Early in the week before the Grand Prix, after team owner
Aguri Suzuki
Aguri may refer to:
*Aguri (caste), Bengali Hindu agricultural caste in India
*Aguri Igarashi (born 1975), female manga artist from Japan
* Aguri Suzuki (born 1960), former racing driver from Japan
**Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving, Formula One si ...
revealed the extent of his difficulties, the team's trucks were blocked from entering the paddock by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA), Formula One's governing body. This decision was taken by the FIA after being informed by Honda's Formula One team CEO,
Nick Fry
Nicholas Richard Fry (born 29 June 1956 in the United Kingdom) is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, having previously served in similar roles at previous incarnations of the company.
His career i ...
, that Super Aguri, who used Honda engines and Honda-derived chassis, would not be racing at Istanbul Park. Suzuki then admitted that his financial troubles could not be solved by existing primary sponsor
SS United Group Oil & Gas Company, leaving the team with no choice but to withdraw from Formula One as of May 6.
The Toro Rosso team's plan to introduce its new car, the
STR3, at this race were postponed due to a lack of spare parts.
This was due to an accident suffered by driver Sébastien Bourdais during testing prior to the previous race, which had resulted in the chassis sustaining heavy damage.
Toro Rosso had already used an updated version of its 2007 car, the
STR2, for the first four races of the season, and were now forced to race with it in Turkey as well.
The team's other driver,
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...
, said that he was "disappointed" that the new car was not ready. However, this was the last race in which the STR2 competed, as the STR3 subsequently made its début at the
next race.
Ferrari decided not to use a new nose for their car that had made its début at the
previous race due to the low-
downforce
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip. ...
nature of the Turkish circuit.
According to team manager
Luca Baldisserri
Luca Baldisserri (born 11 December 1962) is an Italian engineer, best known for being the Chief Track Engineer for Scuderia Ferrari between 2007 and 2015.
Career Scuderia Ferrari
He joined Scuderia Ferrari in 1989, and in 1995 he became Gerhard ...
, "The cars used by Kimi
äikkönenand Felipe
assa
Assa may refer to: Places
* Assa (Chalcidice), a town of Chalcidice in ancient Macedonia, Greece
* Assa, Morocco, a town in Southern Morocco in the Jbel Ouarkziz
* Asa River (Kazakhstan), river in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
* Assa (river), river ...
are basically to the same specification as those that were used in Spain, with the exception that at Istanbul Park we will not use the slotted nose. This is because this solution is much more efficient at medium to high downforce levels, whereas Turkey requires less downforce. The new nose worked very well, but as we said when we gave it its race debut in Barcelona, we would only use it at circuits where we deem it will bring us an advantage over a more conventional component."
McLaren's
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...
was passed fit to race in the days leading up to the race.
At the previous race, Kovalainen had suffered a serious crash, although he escaped uninjured apart from minor concussion.
Kovalainen said that he felt ready to race again: "I arrived here today feeling confident that I would pass the FIA test as I feel 100% and if I had not felt 100% I would have told the team already and stayed at home. My preparation for this weekend has gone well and we have done a lot of fitness training."
Practice
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.
In the first free practice session, several large damp patches around the circuit – caused by late track cleaning rather than rain – dissuaded drivers from attempting laps and left the frustrated teams sitting in the pits waiting for the surface to dry as low track temperatures made the situation worse.
When the cars did take to the track, many of the drivers either went off the road or spun.
Räikkönen only did three laps, before retiring with a gearbox problem, causing him to finish last.
Massa set the session's fastest time, ahead of McLaren duo
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...
and Hamilton.
After the session had ended, Fisichella was given a three-place grid penalty by the stewards for exiting the pit lane whilst the light at its exit was still red.
The second free practice session was held in dry conditions, but the track was still damp from earlier drizzle.
After 30 minutes, Red Bull's
Mark Webber crashed at turn six, his car sustaining serious damage.
Webber was unhurt, although the crash meant that he finished the session in 19th position as he was unable to complete any further laps.
The session was briefly stopped as a result while the marshals cleared away the debris.
In this session, Räikkönen set the fastest time, with Hamilton next up.
Massa was third, while
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
of Red Bull broke up the Ferrari-McLaren domination by setting the fourth-fastest time, ahead of Kovalainen.
The third and final practice session was held on the Saturday morning in dry conditions, but with damp patches on the track from earlier rain.
As was the pattern for the season, the championship contenders appeared to work on preparations for the final part of qualifying and the race in this session and thus carry heavier fuel loads.
Webber set the fastest time in the session, with Renault's
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso DÃaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver currently competing for Alpine in Formula One. He won the series' World Drivers' Championship in and with Renault, and has also driven for McLaren, Ferrari, and Mi ...
in second, and Coulthard in third. Massa was fifth, Hamilton seventh, Räikkönen 11th and Kovalainen 12th.
Qualifying
Following the withdrawal of the Super Aguri team's two entries, minor changes were made to the qualifying procedure.
In the first qualifying session, which would run for 20 minutes, the five slowest cars (a reduction from the previous number of six) would be eliminated, leaving 15 drivers to continue into the second session. In the second session, which would last 15 minutes, the five slowest runners (again reduced from six) were to once again be eliminated, leaving the ten fastest drivers to compete in session three, as had previously been the case.
The time taken for each session remained the same.
The third session would determine the positions from first to tenth, and would decide
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in first and second 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.
Qualifying was a two-way battle between Ferrari and McLaren, with BMW Sauber not showing as strong a pace as they had in previous qualifying sessions, and Alonso not on as light a fuel load as he had in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Massa qualified on pole with a time of 1:27.617, ahead of Kovalainen and Hamilton.
Hamilton elected not to run a lap on the softer option of the two tyre compounds, feeling that they were running low on grip in the later stages of the lap.
He completed his final lap of the session on a "scrubbed" set of the harder tyre compound and it got him third place.
Afterwards Hamilton said that he felt that his tyre choice had been incorrect. However, he changed his mind the following day, having made an examination of the relevant telemetry data. Championship leader Räikkönen qualified fourth, ahead of Kubica and Webber. Alonso, Trulli, Heidfeld and Coulthard completed the top 10.
Nico Rosberg
Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fi ...
driving for Williams qualified 11th, ahead of Barrichello and his teammate
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
. Vettel qualified 14th, followed by
Timo Glock
Timo Glock (born 18 March 1982) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He raced in Formula One for the Jordan, Toyota, Virgin Racing and Marussia F1 teams. He finished 10th in the Drivers' Championship in both ...
for Toyota.
Nakajima qualified in 16th, ahead of
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
(Renault) and Bourdais.
Afterward Bourdais said that his low position was due to being held up by both Force India drivers: "Bad traffic, basically the Force India guys, ruined my afternoon: on my first run I was held up by Sutil as early as Turn 3 and on the second, I came up behind Fisichella in Turn 8". Fisichella qualified 19th but his three-place penalty saw him drop behind teammate Sutil to 20th and last place on the grid.
Qualifying classification
* – Giancarlo Fisichella got a three place grid penalty for exiting the pitlane whilst the red lights were still on during Friday's first practice session.
Race
![Giancarlo Fisichella over Kazuki Nakajima istanbul 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Giancarlo_Fisichella_over_Kazuki_Nakajima_istanbul_2008.jpg)
At the start, Hamilton immediately overtook Kovalainen to claim second behind Massa.
Räikkönen had a bad start and was squeezed into the first corner by Kovalainen.
The two cars made light contact, with Räikkönen's front wing touching Kovalainen's left rear tyre. This resulted in a puncture for the McLaren driver which forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop on the second lap, which dropped him to 18th and last position.
Räikkönen damaged his front wing but continued the entire race distance without changing the nose section of his car. Meanwhile, Kubica took advantage to move up into third position, whilst Räikkönen was also passed by Alonso.
Further back, Vettel collided with Sutil and both were forced to pit, Vettel with a puncture and Sutil for a new front wing.
Sutil's teammate Fisichella and Nakajima collided at the first turn as well,
after Fisichella braked too late and could not avoid the Williams driver.
Fisichella retired on the spot but Nakajima, despite losing both his front and rear wing in the incident, was able to make it back to his pit box before retiring.
The incident resulted in the safety car being deployed.
The safety car was withdrawn at the end of the second lap and the race got underway again with Massa in the lead.
Räikkönen, meanwhile, overtook Alonso for fourth place.
Between lap four and lap eleven, Massa and Hamilton exchanged fastest laps and the McLaren driver managed to hold the gap between him and the leader at one and a half seconds.
The two drivers left third-placed Kubica behind, who in turn was being caught quickly by Räikkönen.
Further back, Kovalainen passed Sutil on lap 12 and Vettel on lap 17.
Hamilton then began to close the gap between himself and Massa, posting consecutive quick lap times and was within seven–tenths of a second by lap fifteen.
Alonso was the first of the leading runners to make a pit stop on lap 15, dropping to tenth.
Hamilton pitted one lap later and dropped to sixth, while Massa stayed out for another three laps.
Both he and Kubica pitted at the same time, leaving Räikkönen temporarily in the lead. On lap 20, he set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:21.506, before he himself pitted at the end of lap 21, as did the then second-placed Heidfeld.
Räikkönen rejoined ahead of Kubica, while Heidfeld came out ahead of both Alonso and Webber, to elevate himself to fifth.
Massa was now back in the lead, but with Hamilton just 0.8 seconds behind.
Running lighter on fuel with a view to making an additional pit stop to the Ferrari driver, Hamilton was able to close the gap on Massa and on lap 24, he overtook him at turn twelve.
Hamilton now led, with Massa second and Räikkönen third.
![Hamilton 2008 Singapore GP 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Hamilton_2008_Singapore_GP_1.jpg)
Hamilton soon broke away from Massa, lapping over a second quicker than the Ferrari driver.
Further back, Bourdais spun off at turn twelve, with a rear suspension failure that put him out of the race.
The top five in the race were now Hamilton, Massa, Räikkönen, Kubica and Heidfeld.
Over the next six laps, Hamilton stretched his lead to over six seconds before pitting on lap 32.
He rejoined the race in third, 2.6 seconds behind second-placed Räikkönen.
Further back, on lap 34, Kovalainen passed Glock, only to be immediately re-passed.
He did succeed up the main straight, on the same lap.
Two laps later, he passed Button.
Eight laps after Hamilton's pit stop, Ferrari called Massa in for his final stop of the afternoon, making Räikkönen the leader of the race once more.
This lead, however, only lasted for a couple of laps as the Finn pitted on lap 43, also making his final stop of the afternoon.
On lap 43, Hamilton led by 14.4 seconds from Massa with Räikkönen a further seven seconds behind.
Two laps later Hamilton was forced to make his third and final pit stop.
The McLaren driver rejoined the track behind Massa but crucially ahead of championship leader Räikkönen.
The top three would remain this way for the remainder of the race.
Further back in fourth and fifth were the two BMW Saubers of Kubica and Heidfeld and behind them were Alonso, Trulli, Webber, Rosberg and Coulthard, with Kovalainen pursuing closely behind them.
Kovalainen passed Coulthard on lap 48, and then on the next lap passed Rosberg.
However, Rosberg immediately overtook Kovalainen to regain his position, and Kovalainen was forced to pit on lap 50.
After his final pit stop, Kovalainen rejoined the circuit in 13th position.
Felipe Massa won the race, making it his third consecutive win at the circuit, 3.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Räikkönen a further half-second behind in third.
The two BMWs of Kubica and Heidfeld finished fourth and fifth respectively while further back Alonso, Webber and Rosberg completed the top eight.
Coulthard finished ninth, Trulli 10th and Button 11th.
After his puncture at the start, Kovalainen had managed to recover to 12th by the end of the race, passing Glock in the closing stages.
Glock, Barrichello, Piquet, Sutil and Vettel were the last of the classified finishers.
Post-race
The race victory was Massa's third win in Turkey in as many years, having won in both
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
. The top three finishers appeared in the subsequent
press conference
A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...
. Massa said that:
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
, McLaren's team principal, commented on Hamilton's drive: "Today we saw a truly phenomenal drive from Lewis
amilton Amilton may refer to:
*Amilton Prado (born 1979), Peruvian football defender
*AmÃlton (footballer, born 1981), Brazilian football striker
*Amilton (footballer, born 1989), Brazilian football right winger
*Amilton Filho (born 1992), Belizean footbal ...
in which he optimised a three-stop strategy that we were forced to adopt as a consequence of concerns we had with his tyres."
Hamilton said that he felt that McLaren had closed the gap on Ferrari, and that he was "very excited" about the
next race in Monaco.
Räikkönen said: "It was a difficult weekend for me but six points are definitely better than nothing. At the start, I was almost alongside Heikki but then he slowed and I had to brake too to avoid a heavy crash. We touched just enough to damage the end plate of the front wing on my car: it was not a very serious problem, but it definitely didn't help my race."
Räikkönen also said that he decided not to change his front wing, which was damaged after his collision with Kovalainen, the process would have taken too long.
![Kimi Raikkonen 2008 (square)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Kimi_Raikkonen_2008_%28square%29.jpg)
Fisichella, who had collided with Nakajima on the first lap, which caused both drivers to retire, blamed Bourdais: "I made a good start but then under braking Bourdais changed direction twice and I couldn't brake in time and went into the back of the Williams."
Nakajima said that, "I don't know exactly what happened; I just went into the first corner following the guy in front. I didn't change my line and I was suddenly hit from behind."
Bourdais commented on his retirement: "Something broke at the back of the car... Going into Turn 12, I braked at the usual point and the car went sideways, I felt the right rear corner of the car drop and it spun me round."
Räikkönen's lead in the Drivers' World Championship was reduced by two points to seven, ahead of Massa and Hamilton, the latter two on 28 points each. Kubica was in fourth, on 24 points, followed by his teammate Heidfeld on 20 points. In the Constructors' Championship, the Ferrari team increased its lead with a total of 66 points, whilst BMW Sauber were second with 44 points. McLaren were third with 42 points, Williams fourth with 13 points, and Red Bull were fifth, on ten.
Race classification
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings
*
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
*
2008 Istanbul Park GP2 Series round
References
External links
Official FIA results
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Turkish Grand Prix
The Turkish Grand Prix ( tr, ) is a Formula One auto racing, motor race held at the Istanbul Park Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke. The race was part of the Formula One World Championship between and , and to , the latter two being due to ...
Turkish Grand Prix
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
May 2008 sports events in Turkey