2008 Bahrain Grand Prix

All you want to know about 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix

Coordinates: 26°1′57″N 50°30′38″E / 26.0325, 50.51056

Flag of Bahrain  2008 Bahrain Grand Prix
Race details
Race 3 of 18 in the 2008 Formula One season.
The Bahrain Circuit in Sakhir
The Bahrain Circuit in Sakhir
Date April 6 2008
Official name V Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Location Bahrain International Circuit
Sakhir, Bahrain
Course Permanent racing facility
5.412 km (3.37 mi)
Distance 57 laps, 308.238 km (191.530 mi)
Weather Sunny, widespread dust; Air 28-30°C, Track 34-39°C
Pole position
Driver Flag of Poland Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
Time 1:33.096
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Finland Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:33.193 on lap 49
Podium
First Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari
Second Flag of Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Third Flag of Poland Robert Kubica BMW Sauber

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, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the 3rd race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team after starting from second position. Kimi Räikkönen finished second in a Ferrari car, with Robert Kubica, who started the Grand Prix from pole position, third in a BMW Sauber.[1]


Contents

Report

Practice

Practice was marked by a big accident by Lewis Hamilton in Friday's second session. The McLaren driver went too wide over the exit kerb at Turn 7 and spun into the left side wall, destroying one side of the car.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

Qualifying

Session 1

Sato ran wide at the final turn and spun his car close to the pit entrance, damaging the rear of his car. The session was red-flagged to drag his damaged car in at the 16th minute. Of the results, Davidson and Sato in their Super Aguri cars collected their two back-end slots on the grid, both Force Indias, Coulthard's Red Bull and Vettel's Toro Rosso are among the ones that didn't make it into Q2.

Session 2

Massa managed to lap at a time of 1:31.188. Both the Red Bull's and Toro Rosso's failed to progress past this session.Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button both managed to enter the top-10 shoot out by producing late fast laps. Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello, Timo Glock, Nelson Piquet Jr., Sebastian Bourdais and Kazuki Nakajima were knocked out in this session and took up the grid position in named orders respectively.

Session 3

Kubica showed the raw pace his BMW is capable of, and snatched the pole position with a stunning time of 1:33.096. Massa was not able to break the time and ranked second, with Hamilton separating the Ferrari duo in his McLaren, in third. Räikkönen shared the second row with Hamilton in fourth. Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Trulli, Rosberg, Button and Alonso completed the top-10 line up.

Race

A delayed Lewis Hamilton leads the midfield runners on the first lap, with Jenson Button running wide.

At the start both Massa and Kubica started well yet Massa managed to pass Kubica's BMW. Lewis Hamilton got away very slowly, dropping right into the midfield. Kovalainen jumped this chance and advanced into fourth as the pack traveled into the first corner. Further back at the grid, Vettel's car was damaged at turn four, with its engine blown at turn five. Hamilton completed the first lap in ninth, behind Alonso in his Renault. Button was hit from behind and punctured his rear tire. He pitted before rejoining the race

On lap two Hamilton crashed into the back of Alonso's Renault, destroying his own front wing and a chance of winning points. Piquet also spun in his Renault, after complaining for gearbox trouble during the formation lap. Coulthard had also pitted, having a puncture as well.

Lap three saw Trulli, Rosberg and Webber battling for the 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively, though none were able to pass the other during the first stage of the race. At the front, Räikkönen passed Kubica for the second place and putting two Ferrari cars ahead of the rest. At the end of the lap saw Heidfeld in fourth place, having overtaken Kovalainen at turn 10 despite making a mistake.

On lap 18, Kubica entered the pits for refueling. Rosberg soon followed suit in his Williams. At the back of the pack Button tried to pass Coulthard from the inside of turn 6 and it went wrong. Button was not able to respond with Coulthard blocking the inside for passing and crashed into the Red Bull, damaging his front wing and his suspension. Eventually Button retired on lap 20.

Later on, Piquet's Renault developed enough gearbox trouble and retired on lap 41. In the front, Webber passed Rosberg for 7th, and started chasing Trulli's Toyota hard. Despite the Australian spending the entire latter third of the race chasing Trulli, a pass was never materialized. Eventually Webber settled for 7th.

At the end, Massa won his first race of the season, leading his team-mate Räikkönen by 3.3 seconds and producing a Ferrari one-two finish. Kubica claimed the final podium of third and Heidfeld finished fourth in the sister BMW. Kovalainen was the only McLaren driver to finish in points, in fifth. Trulli, Webber and Rosberg completed the final points-paying finishes. Timo Glock was finally able to finish the race, despite being classified 9th and out of points.

Post-Race

In his Middle East debut, R&B singer Akon performed for ticketholders on the starting grid after the race.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Name Constructor Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Grid
1 4 Flag of Poland Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:32.893 1:31.745 1:33.096 1
2 2 Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.937 1:31.188 1:33.123 2
3 22 Flag of the United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.750 1:31.922 1:33.292 3
4 1 Flag of Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.652 1:31.933 1:33.418 4
5 23 Flag of Finland Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.057 1:31.718 1:33.488 5
6 3 Flag of Germany Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:33.137 1:31.909 1:33.737 6
7 11 Flag of Italy Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:32.493 1:32.159 1:33.994 7
8 7 Flag of Germany Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:32.903 1:32.185 1:34.015 8
9 16 Flag of the United Kingdom Jenson Button Honda 1:32.793 1:32.362 1:35.057 9
10 5 Flag of Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 1:32.947 1:32.345 1:35.115 10
11 10 Flag of Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:33.194 1:32.371 11
12 17 Flag of Brazil Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:32.944 1:32.508 12
13 12 Flag of Germany Timo Glock Toyota 1:32.800 1:32.528 13
14 6 Flag of Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault 1:32.975 1:32.790 14
15 14 Flag of France Sébastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:33.415 1:32.915 15
16 8 Flag of Japan Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:33.386 1:32.943 16
17 9 Flag of the United Kingdom David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:33.433 17
18 21 Flag of Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:33.501 18
19 15 Flag of Germany Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.127 19
20 20 Flag of Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:33.562 20
21 19 Flag of the United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:34.140 21
22 18 Flag of Japan Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:35.725 22

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 2 Flag of Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 57 1:31:06.970 2 10
2 1 Flag of Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 + 3.339 4 8
3 4 Flag of Poland Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 57 + 4.998 1 6
4 3 Flag of Germany Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 57 + 8.409 6 5
5 23 Flag of Finland Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 + 26.789 5 4
6 11 Flag of Italy Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 + 41.314 7 3
7 10 Flag of Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 57 + 45.473 11 2
8 7 Flag of Germany Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 + 55.889 8 1
9 12 Flag of Germany Timo Glock Toyota 57 + 1:09.500 13
10 5 Flag of Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 57 + 1:17.181 10
11 17 Flag of Brazil Rubens Barrichello Honda 57 + 1:17.862 12
12 21 Flag of Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 56 + 1 lap 18
13 22 Flag of the United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 + 1 lap 3
14 8 Flag of Japan Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 56 + 1 lap 16
15 14 Flag of France Sébastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 + 1 lap 15
16 19 Flag of the United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 56 + 1 lap 21
17 18 Flag of Japan Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 56 + 1 lap 22
18 9 Flag of the United Kingdom David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 56 + 1 lap 17
19 20 Flag of Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 56 + 2 laps 20
Ret 6 Flag of Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault 40 Gearbox 14
Ret 16 Flag of the United Kingdom Jenson Button Honda 19 Collision 9
Ret 15 Flag of Germany Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 Engine 19

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings[2]
Pos Driver Points
1 Flag of Finland Kimi Räikkönen 19
2 Flag of Germany Nick Heidfeld 16
3 Flag of the United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 14
4 Flag of Poland Robert Kubica 14
5 Flag of Finland Heikki Kovalainen 14
Constructors' Championship standings[2]
Pos Constructor Points
1 Flag of Germany BMW Sauber 30
2 Flag of Italy Ferrari 29
3 Flag of the United Kingdom McLaren–Mercedes 28
4 Flag of the United Kingdom Williams–Toyota 10
5 Flag of Japan Toyota 8
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes

  • First Pole position: Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber and Poland.
  • Lap leaders: Felipe Massa 51 (1–39, 46–57), Robert Kubica 2 (40–41) and Nick Heidfeld 4 (42–45).
  • This race marked the end for McLaren’s run of consecutive podiums, a total of 19 starting at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix and ending at the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix.
  • This race marked the first time that Felipe Massa has won a race that he didn't start from pole. This was also Massa's second Bahrain victory making it back to back in 07 and 08.
  • There was more controversy between former McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, when the former, trying to make up after a bad start, lost his front wing after hitting the back of the latter (now driving for Renault) while trying to pass him. Early suggestions that Alonso may have brake-tested Hamilton were refuted by Autosport.com which said it had seen Renault telemetry data which "shows that Alonso was flat on the throttle from the exit, did not touch the brake and gained speed in a totally predictable manner."[3] Formula1.com has confirmed that the collision was caused by a broken front wing on Hamilton's car.[4]
  • For the first time in its history, BMW Sauber reached the first position of the Constructor Championship.

References

  1. ^ "2008 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix". The Official Formula 1 Website. Retrieved on 2008-11-10.
  2. ^ a b Henry, Alan. Autocourse 2008-09. CMG Publishing. pp. 120-121. ISBN 1-9053-3431-1. 
  3. ^ "Renault rubbish 'brake test' suggestions", autosport.com, 2008-04-06, http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/66448, retrieved on 6 April 2008 
  4. ^ "Front wing failure caused Hamilton-Alonso crash", formula1.com, 2008-04-07, http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/4/7615.html, retrieved on 7 April 2008 

External links

Sister project Wikinews has related news: Felipe Massa wins 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix
Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix


Previous race:
2008 Malaysian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
2008 season		 Next race:
2008 Spanish Grand Prix
Previous race:
2007 Bahrain Grand Prix		 Bahrain Grand Prix Next race:
2009 Bahrain Grand Prix
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Bahrain_Grand_Prix"

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