2008 Japanese Grand Prix

Background

The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was the 16th round in the 2008 Formula One World Championship and took place on 12 October 2008, at the 2.835 mi Fuji Speedway, in Oyama, Japan. The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two.{{cite web |access-date= 2011-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330041258/http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/championships/f1/2008/japan/Pages/race_classification.aspx|archive-date=2009-03-30}}

Prior to the race, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with 84 points, and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was second with 77 points. Behind them in the Drivers' Championship, Robert Kubica was third with 64 points in a BMW Sauber, and Massa's Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen was fourth with 57 points. Kubica's teammate Nick Heidfeld was fifth with 56 points. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren–Mercedes were leading with 135 points, one point ahead of their rivals Ferrari, whom they had overtaken at the previous race. BMW Sauber were third with 120 points. In the battle for fourth place, Renault had 51 points, five points ahead of Toyota.

A botched pit stop at the had demoted Massa from first position to the back of field. Ferrari decided to give up pitstop light system and revert to the commonly used lollipop man. With three races remaining in the Championship and a seven-point deficit, Massa remained confident about his title chances: "If you look at what happened to me in Singapore where my gap went from one point to seven so suddenly, then you have to consider it could easily go the other way as well."{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-06| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202052446/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/10/8469.html| archive-date= 2 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Hamilton emphasised the value that a conservative racing strategy could hold for his title chances:

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Fernando Alonso's victory at the Singapore Grand Prix was his first Formula One win since rejoining the Renault team, after driving for McLaren in 2007.{{cite web |access-date = 2008-11-06 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081031201512/http://www.grandprix.com/race/r800racereport.html |archive-date = 31 October 2008 |url-status = dead |access-date=2008-12-06| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081224144607/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7640668.stm| archive-date= 24 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Though Alonso questioned whether his Renault team could match the pace of Ferrari and McLaren at Fuji, he said "We must remain focussed and try to repeat our level of performance from Singapore to fight at the front."{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-05| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081210033156/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71192| archive-date= 10 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Renault's technical director Bob Bell said that the team's improvement from the start of the season was encouraging, but "we recognise that we're not going to overhaul McLaren and Ferrari this season".{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081210183117/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71193| archive-date= 10 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Bell said that the objective for the last races was to win more Grands Prix and, importantly, secure fourth position in the Constructors' Championship from Toyota.

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the sport's governing body, launched the Formula One component of their Make Cars Green campaign at the Japanese Grand Prix. For the weekend, the grooves in the tyres were painted green to promote environmentally friendly driving.{{cite web |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081012050903/http://www.makecarsgreen.com/news-081008a.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 2008-10-12 |access-date = 2008-12-06 |access-date = 2008-12-11 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081210012625/http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/mobility/2008/Pages/brdgstn_mcg.aspx |archive-date = 10 December 2008 |url-status = dead |access-date = 2008-12-06 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081115155839/http://www.bridgestonemotorsport.com/Bridgestone/en-gb/Championships/Formula1/News/Bringing%2Bthe%2B%E2%80%9CMake%2BCars%2BGreen%E2%80%9D%2BCampaign%2Bto%2Bthe%2BJapanese%2BF1%2BGrand%2BPrix.htm |archive-date = 15 November 2008 |url-status = dead

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.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-02}} The Friday sessions were held in dry and sunny conditions.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109193052/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71254 |archive-date=2008-11-09 |url-status=live |access-date=2008-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109201239/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71257 |archive-date=2008-11-09 |url-status=live |access-date=2008-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014082553/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71294 |archive-date=2008-10-14 |url-status=live

Qualifying

The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes, and cars that finished the session 16th or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 15. The final part of qualifying 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.

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Hamilton clinched his sixth pole position of the season with a lap time of 1:18.404. He was joined on the front row by Räikkönen, who was fastest for most of the final session.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109070508/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71298 |archive-date=2008-11-09 |url-status=live |access-date = 2008-12-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081030011654/http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44218 |archive-date = 2008-10-30 |url-status = dead |access-date = 2008-12-11 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081201085747/http://www.grandprix.com/race/r801q1report.html |archive-date = 1 December 2008 |url-status = dead

Qualifying classification

Race

The conditions on the grid were dry before the race. The air temperature was 16 °C and the track temperature was 21 °C;{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-07}} conditions were expected to remain consistent throughout the race.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202111048/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/10/8491.html| archive-date= 2 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Most of the frontrunners began the race on the harder compound tyre; only Massa was using the softer option.{{cite news |access-date=2008-12-07}} The attendance on the day of the Grand Prix was 105,000 people. Räikkönen accelerated faster than Hamilton off the line, getting ahead of him down the first straight, but the McLaren driver pulled into the Ferrari's slipstream, before swerving to overtake Räikkönen in the inside of the corner.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07}} Going into the first corner, Hamilton badly locked-up his front wheels while braking and ran wide; although there was no contact, Räikkönen was also forced wide in avoidance. This was then followed by contact with Kovalainen, which finally forced Räikkönen off the track. All three drivers dropped back down the field as a result of the incident.{{cite web |access-date = 2008-12-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081205152536/http://www.grandprix.com/race/r801racereport.html |archive-date = 5 December 2008 |url-status = dead |access-date = 2008-12-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081114215433/http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressinformation/f1pressinfo/japan/Pages/race_facts.aspx |archive-date = 14 November 2008 |url-status = dead |access-date= 2008-12-07}} Nakajima left the track trying to avoid Coulthard, although he managed to rejoin after losing his front wing. The Japanese driver made a pit stop at the end of the lap for a new wing.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090102170911/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2008/802/6574/pit_stop_summary.html| archive-date= 2 January 2009 | url-status= live}}

At the end of the first lap, Kubica led from Alonso, Kovalainen, Trulli, Massa, Hamilton and Räikkönen. On lap two, Massa braked late into the chicane at turn 10, briefly letting Hamilton past, before running over the kerbs on the exit from the corner and hitting the McLaren driver's car.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-08| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081204044534/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71364| archive-date= 4 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Hamilton was spun round by the contact and made a pit stop at the end of the lap for new tyres and more fuel, which dropped him to 18th place.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081211103910/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/10/8519.html| archive-date= 11 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Massa continued in seventh place. On lap eight Räikkönen passed Trulli into turn 10 to take fourth position. In third place, more than a second ahead of the Ferrari driver, Kovalainen set a new fastest lap of 1:19.258 on lap 12 to which Räikkönen responded with a 1:19.193 four laps later. Two more drivers joined Coulthard in retirement before the first round of fuel stops: Glock made a pit stop on lap five and again on lap six, before retiring because of handling difficulties resulting from a broken seat fixing; Sutil retired on lap nine with a puncture caused by running over carbon fibre shards.

On lap 17, Massa and Hamilton were given drive-through penalties, Massa for colliding with Hamilton and Hamilton for forcing Räikkönen off the track into turn one. Hamilton took his penalty immediately. Massa made a pit stop for fuel and tyres on the next lap, before coming into the pit lane again on lap 20 to serve his penalty, which dropped him to 14th place, one place ahead of Hamilton. Meanwhile, Kubica and Räikkönen made pit stops on lap 17 for tyres and fuel. On the same lap, Kovalainen pulled over to the side of the track with engine problems and retired from the race.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07}} Alonso made a pit stop on lap 18, emerging ahead of Kubica to take the provisional lead, with cars in front still to pit. Trulli, Vettel and Bourdais made pit stops over the following six laps. Fisichella retired from the race with gearbox problems on lap 21. Piquet took his first pit stop on lap 28, emerging ahead of Bourdais as Alonso opened the gap on Kubica to 7.8 seconds. Massa overtook Button to take 12th position one lap later.

Alonso lapped consistently in the low 1:19 range, setting the new fastest lap of the race on lap 41, a 1:19.101, to extend his lead over Kubica to more than 12 seconds. Räikkönen was five seconds behind Kubica in third. Alonso made a pit stop for the second time on lap 43 and changed to the softer compound tyre. Kubica, complaining of understeer over the team radio, made his second stop on lap 46, two laps ahead of Räikkönen. Trulli, Bourdais, Vettel and Piquet made pit stops over the next five laps, their teams giving them sufficient fuel to finish the race. As Bourdais exited the pit-lane in seventh place on lap 51, Massa, who was eighth, but yet to make his final pit stop, attempted to pass him and the two cars collided at the first corner. Massa spun, but rejoined the race behind Bourdais. Three laps later, the stewards announced that they were investigating the incident, and would make their decision after the race. On lap 52, Räikkönen attempted to pass Kubica on the approach to turn one after drafting behind him up the straight, but Kubica drove right as a blocking manoeuvre, braked late, and defended his position. On the following lap Kubica attempted to replicate his block, but Räikkönen out-braked him into turn one, and the two drew alongside.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07}} Kubica held the inside line on the turn three left-hander, and drove the racing line as Räikkönen left the track at the run-off area.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07}} Räikkönen then rejoined behind the BMW driver. Kubica faced similar challenges from Räikkönen over the next two laps into turn one, but he successfully defended his position.

Massa made a pit stop on lap 53, and rejoined behind Heidfeld in tenth.{{cite web |access-date= 2011-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330051123/http://www.fia.com/EN-GB/SPORT/CHAMPIONSHIPS/F1/2008/JAPAN/Pages/lap_chart.aspx|archive-date=2009-03-30}} He subsequently set the fastest lap of the race on lap 55, a 1:18.426.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081207172413/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2008/802/6574/fastest_laps.html| archive-date= 7 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Meanwhile, Piquet was able to close the gap on Räikkönen to under a second, before losing time by running wide at turn five on lap 60.{{cite web |access-date= 2008-12-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081205144206/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/10/8517.html| archive-date= 5 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Massa passed Heidfeld for ninth on the same lap, and began closing in on Webber. On lap 65, Massa drafted down the straight and attempted to pass Webber, who defended his position by driving to the right. Crossing the track boundary into the end of the pit-lane, Massa managed to pass Webber, and out-braked him into turn one, to take eighth place. Alonso crossed the finish line on lap 67 to take his second win of the season, five seconds ahead of Kubica. Räikkönen was third, ahead of Piquet, Trulli, Bourdais, Vettel and Massa. Webber took ninth on the line, ahead of Heidfeld, who struggled with a heavy car and failed to improve on a poor qualifying performance.{{cite web |access-date= 2009-01-10| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081209013634/http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/10/8518.html| archive-date= 9 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Rosberg finished in front of Hamilton, in 11th. Barrichello and Button took the next two positions; both drivers blamed their Honda cars for their uncompetitive performance at the Fuji circuit. Nakajima finished last, in 15th, unable to recover after his forced pit-stop early in the race.

Post-race

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The top three finishers appeared in the subsequent press conference where Alonso said that the decision to run a shorter second stint than Kubica (between the first and second pit stops) was his decision: "Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't but today the car was perfect and I was able to do it." Alonso added that he had confidence in the car to perform at the remaining Grands Prix: "The feeling I have now is that we can do anything". Kubica said that his second-placed finish was better than his win at the earlier in the season. He added that to finish on the podium after BMW Sauber's failure to improve the car from the beginning of the season was a "great result for the team in, I think, a very difficult moment". Räikkönen said that he was "a bit disappointed because being in first place in the first corner but then being pushed out didn't help and being in the front could have given us a better result but anyhow, that's racing". He added that Kovalainen's impact with him at the first corner had caused handling difficulties in his car, which left him unable to improve on his third-placed finish.

Forty minutes after the race, Bourdais received a 25-second penalty from the stewards for his collision with Massa on lap 50.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207013903/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71351 |archive-date=2008-12-07 |url-status=live

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Massa denied responsibility, and agreed with the stewards' decision: "I think there's little to say: I had already entered the turn and he hit me from behind, spinning me round."{{cite web |access-date = 2008-12-08 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081121060022/http://www.grandprix.com/race/r801sunquotes.html |archive-date = 21 November 2008 |url-status = dead |access-date=2008-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081213011419/http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=James_Allen&id=44254 |archive-date=2008-12-13 |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204035729/http://www.lequipe.fr/Formule1/20081012_114044_bourdais-est-maudit_Dev.html |archive-date=2009-02-04 |url-status=dead}} Mark Blundell, who drove in Formula One for five years, called for former drivers to be part of the stewards meetings which award penalties: "You can examine pieces of paper, graphs, telemetry, but you don't know what's going on in a driver's brain until you've experienced it."{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-08}} Blundell's suggestion eventually became fact – the 2010 season introduced a system whereby a former Formula One driver acted as a steward during each Grand Prix.{{Cite web|author=Edd Straw |url-status=live |access-date=2021-07-28

Lewis Hamilton was criticized for his aggressive drive into the first corner by much of the British press. Edward Gorman of The Times described Hamilton's move as "impetuosity and untamed aggression", adding that Hamilton "gambled with a kamikaze attempt to get past Räikkönen".{{cite news |access-date=2008-12-08 | location=London| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202092200/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article4931826.ece| archive-date= 2 December 2008 | url-status= dead}} The BBC's Andrew Benson said that "Hamilton is still in a strong position but the Englishman will have to cut out the mistakes that have characterised his season if he is not to lose the championship for the second year in a row."{{cite news |access-date=2008-12-08| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081224140146/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7665745.stm| archive-date= 24 December 2008 | url-status= live}} In Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport said that Hamilton's start suffered from "his usual excessive aggression".{{cite web |access-date = 2008-12-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090113130133/http://english.gazzetta.it/Motor_sports/Primo_Piano/2008/10/12/parlanogiap.shtml |archive-date = 13 January 2009 |url-status = dead

Massa's touch on Hamilton's car on lap two was labelled by the McLaren driver "as deliberate as it could be". Massa rejected the allegation, saying "I had two wheels on the gravel. I could not stop the car and I was on the gravel because he pushed me into the gravel." Media coverage of the incident suggested that though the contact was Massa's fault, it was unintentional.{{cite web |access-date=2008-12-14}} Simon Arron, writing for The Daily Telegraph, said Hamilton's accusation of deliberate contact was "unworthy and unwise", adding that the contact was simply a racing incident.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310064542/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/simonarron/5441375/Massa_couldnt_afford_to_clash_with_Hamilton_but_was_the_reverse_necessarily_true/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-03-10 |access-date=2008-12-14}} The gap between the drivers in the Drivers' Championship after the race stood at five points, in Hamilton's favour, with two races remaining. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren's failure to score points, combined with Ferrari's third and seventh, moved Ferrari to a seven-point lead.

Race classification

• – Sébastien Bourdais finished sixth, but was given a 25-second penalty for causing a collision with Felipe Massa.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

References

References

1. "2008 Japanese GP". ChicaneF1.
2. "Japanese Grand Prix 2008 results". [[ESPN]].
3. "Weather info for the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix". Weather Underground.
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6. Jones, Bruce. (2009). "The Official ITV Sport Guide: Grand Prix 2009". [[Welbeck Publishing Group.
7. "Ferrari ditch pitstop light system".
8. "Japanese Grand Prix 2008".
9. "Japan 2008 - Qualifications • STATS F1".
10. Bruce Jones. (2008). "The Official Formula 1 Season Review 2008". Haynes/[[Haymarket Group.
11. Alan Henry. (2009-02-15). "Autocourse 2008–09". CMG Publishing.
12. "Japan 2008 - Result • STATS F1".
13. "Japan 2008 - Championship • STATS F1".