2008 Japanese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Fernando Alonso made it back-to-back victories with a composed performance at Fuji. The championship contenders endured a much messier afternoon: Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa both received penalties after early incidents, while Robert Kubica finished second to keep his title hopes alive.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Pole time	1:18.404
Fastest lap	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:18.426 on lap 55
First	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Second	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
10 October 2008	Practice 1	10:00
10 October 2008	Practice 2	14:00
11 October 2008	Practice 3	11:00
11 October 2008	Qualifying	14:00
12 October 2008	Race	13:30

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at round 16 leading the 2008 F1 World Championship on 84 points, with Felipe Massa on 77. McLaren headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 135 points.

Race entries

The 10 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton led FP1 in dry, sunny conditions, narrowly ahead of Felipe Massa as the title rivals began their Fuji preparations. Ferrari had reverted to a conventional pit-release lollipop after its Singapore problems. Renault also ran competitively, arriving with renewed confidence following Fernando Alonso’s victory at the previous round.

Timo Glock gave Toyota an encouraging headline at its home circuit by topping FP2, with 17 drivers covered by less than a second. Honda tested a traffic-light pit-release system, while the close lap times reflected the different fuel loads and programmes. Toyota’s pace nevertheless offered a promising start to its home weekend.

Damp conditions made final practice much less straightforward. Numerous drivers used the run-off areas after sliding on the low-grip surface, and Kimi Räikkönen also spun. Robert Kubica went fastest on his final lap, while both Force India drivers spent much of the session dealing with mechanical problems in the garage.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2008 Japanese Grand Prix FP1, 10 October 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:18.910	23
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.153s	24
3	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	+0.369s	20
4	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.489s	31
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+0.563s	30
6	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	+0.833s	35
7	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+1.211s	30
8	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.250s	26
9	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	+1.272s	34
10	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+1.307s	25
11	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.378s	26
12	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.440s	28
13	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.710s	24
14	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.718s	23
15	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.747s	33
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.843s	32
17	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.859s	27
18	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+1.913s	37
19	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+1.995s	24
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	+2.104s	28

Free Practice 2 Classification

2008 Japanese Grand Prix FP2, 10 October 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:18.383	44
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+0.043s	41
3	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.080s	40
4	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.108s	40
5	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.342s	39
6	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.351s	39
7	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+0.351s	36
8	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+0.378s	23
9	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	+0.420s	32
10	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+0.480s	45
11	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+0.482s	39
12	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	+0.505s	43
13	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+0.598s	41
14	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	+0.657s	41
15	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+0.875s	42
16	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+0.904s	41
17	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+0.944s	36
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	+1.099s	44
19	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.511s	41
20	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.616s	42

Free Practice 3 Classification

2008 Japanese Grand Prix FP3, 11 October 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:25.087	19
2	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+0.084s	25
3	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	+0.328s	19
4	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+0.387s	24
5	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+0.476s	23
6	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+0.527s	20
7	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.622s	15
8	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.698s	20
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+0.712s	19
10	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+0.793s	24
11	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.814s	8
12	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	+0.897s	22
13	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+0.926s	21
14	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.126s	19
15	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	+1.152s	10
16	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.190s	18
17	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.575s	22
18	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.835s	26
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+2.270s	12
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	+2.831s	17

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton secured pole ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, who had led much of Q3. Late improvements by Heikki Kovalainen and Fernando Alonso pushed Felipe Massa down to fifth, leaving the Ferrari title challenger with work to do on Sunday.

Felipe Massa struggled to generate the right grip from his tyres in the final segment, while Nick Heidfeld’s setup difficulties caused a Q1 exit. Both Toro Rosso cars reached the top ten, and the home Japanese teams faced mixed prospects further down the grid.

Qualifying Classification

2008 Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying, 11 October 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:18.071	1:17.462	1:18.404	15
2	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:18.160	1:17.733	1:18.644	20
3	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	1:18.220	1:17.360	1:18.821	22
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:18.290	1:17.871	1:18.852	19
5	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:18.110	1:17.287	1:18.874	18
6	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:18.684	1:17.931	1:18.979	20
7	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:18.501	1:17.541	1:19.026	23
8	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:17.945	1:17.670	1:19.118	24
9	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	1:18.559	1:17.714	1:19.638	21
10	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	1:18.593	1:18.102	1:20.167	20
11	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:18.303	1:18.187	—	16
12	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	1:18.300	1:18.274	—	11
13	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:18.372	1:18.354	—	13
14	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	1:18.640	1:18.594	—	16
15	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:18.740	1:18.672	—	16
16	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:18.835	—	—	9
17	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:18.882	—	—	9
18	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:19.100	—	—	11
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:19.163	—	—	10
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	1:19.910	—	—	10

What happened in the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix?

Lewis Hamilton lost out to Kimi Räikkönen at the start, then braked too late into the first corner and forced several cars wide. Robert Kubica emerged in the lead ahead of Fernando Alonso. On the following lap, Felipe Massa collided with Lewis Hamilton at the chicane and spun the McLaren around. Both title rivals subsequently received drive-through penalties for their separate incidents.

Fernando Alonso stayed out a lap longer than Robert Kubica at the first stops and emerged ahead. He then established a decisive margin while Robert Kubica resisted repeated attacks from Kimi Räikkönen. Heikki Kovalainen retired with engine trouble, and Nelson Piquet climbed into contention behind the podium battle.

Fernando Alonso won from Robert Kubica and Kimi Räikkönen, with Nelson Piquet fourth. Felipe Massa recovered into the points and was promoted to seventh after Sebastien Bourdais received a post-race penalty for their collision as the Toro Rosso left the pits. Lewis Hamilton finished 12th, cutting his championship lead over Felipe Massa to five points with two rounds remaining.

After the race, Lewis Hamilton headed the drivers’ standings with 84 points, followed by Felipe Massa on 79. Ferrari led the constructors’ table on 142, with McLaren on 135.

2008 Japanese Grand Prix race results

The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was held on 12 October 2008, with a scheduled start of 13:30 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	67	1:30:21.892	10
2	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	67	+5.283	8
3	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	67	+6.400	6
4	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	67	+20.570	5
5	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	67	+23.767	4
6	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	67	+39.207	3
7	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	67	+46.158	2
8	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	67	+50.811	1
9	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	67	+54.120	0
10	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	67	+59.085	0
11	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	67	+1:02.096	0
12	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	67	+1:18.900	0
13	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	66	+1 Lap	0
14	16	Jenson Button	Honda	66	+1 Lap	0
15	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	66	+1 Lap	0
Ret	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	21	Gearbox	0
Ret	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	16	Engine	0
Ret	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	8	Puncture	0
Ret	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	6	Collision damage	0
Ret	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	0	Accident	0

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

2008 Japanese Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	1:18.426	209.456
2	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	66	1:18.995	207.947
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	41	1:19.101	207.668
4	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	54	1:19.199	207.411
5	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	12	1:19.258	207.257
6	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	49	1:19.262	207.246
7	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	16	1:19.292	207.168
8	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	67	1:19.461	206.727
9	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	18	1:19.524	206.564
10	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	66	1:19.531	206.545
11	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	65	1:19.560	206.470
12	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	21	1:19.617	206.322
13	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	30	1:19.820	205.798
14	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	4	1:20.254	204.685
15	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	32	1:20.364	204.404
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	66	1:20.575	203.869
17	16	Jenson Button	Honda	66	1:20.849	203.178
18	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	6	1:21.189	202.327
19	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	20	1:21.577	201.365

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2008 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix.

2008 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	84
2	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	79
3	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	72
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	63
5	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	56
6	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren	51
7	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	48
8	Sebastian Vettel	German	Toro Rosso	30
9	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	30
10	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	21
11	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	20
12	Nelson Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	18
13	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams	17
14	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	11
15	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams	9
16	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull Racing	8
17	Sébastien Bourdais	French	Toro Rosso	4
18	Jenson Button	British	Honda	3
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Force India	0
20	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India	0
21	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri	0
22	Anthony Davidson	British	Super Aguri	0

2008 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Ferrari	142
2	McLaren	135
3	BMW Sauber	128
4	Renault	66
5	Toyota	50
6	Toro Rosso	34
7	Red Bull Racing	29
8	Williams	26
9	Honda	14
10	Force India	0
11	Super Aguri	0

2008 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2008 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	16 March
2	2008 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	23 March
3	2008 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	6 April
4	2008 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	27 April
5	2008 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	11 May
6	2008 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	25 May
7	2008 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	8 June
8	2008 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	22 June
9	2008 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	6 July
10	2008 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	20 July
11	2008 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	3 August
12	2008 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	24 August
13	2008 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	7 September
14	2008 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	14 September
15	2008 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	28 September
16	2008 Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	12 October
17	2008 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	19 October
18	2008 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	2 November