2008 Belgian Grand Prix, SPA: lap by lap highlights 

Written by David on September 07th, 2008 at 7:01 pmLast Update: September 08th, 2008 at 8:18 am

2008 Belgian Grand Prix, Spa FrancorchampsLap 1: On pole position for the fifth time this season, and the 11th in his Formula One career, Lewis Hamilton gets away cleanly on the slippery track to lead into La Source. Kimi Raikkonen vaults to second after passing Felipe Massa on the run to Les Combes. Back at La Source, Sebastien Bourdais hits Jarno Trulli, who runs wide and causes a traffic jam to the corner’s outside. Heikki Kovalainen, third on the grid, is pincered and drops to 11th. Bourdais initially runs fourth but Fernando Alonso passes him before the lap is complete. Nelson Piquet lies sixth from Mark Webber, Robert Kubica, Timo Glock, Nick Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Jarno Trulli (who spins at the chicane), Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil and Kazuki Nakajima. Giancarlo Fisichella pits after going off twice during the lap.

Lap 2: Hamilton spins at La Source and Raikkonen passes him on the approach to Les Combes. Webber and Kubica pass Piquet. Heidfeld passes Glock.

Lap 3: Coulthard runs wide at La Source. Kovalainen passes Heidfeld and Glock. Sutil passes Button.

Lap 4: Kovalainen passes Piquet. Vettel passes Glock.

Lap 5: Raikkonen leads by 1.1s. Sutil passes Coulthard.

Lap 6: Hamilton reduces the deficit to 0.6s, with a 1m49.895s.

Lap 7: Raikkonen responds: 1m49.710s. He leads by 0.9s. Heidfeld and Vettel pass Piquet.

Lap 8: Raikkonen laps in 1m49.108s, Hamilton in 1m49.118s. The gap remains 0.9s. Sutil runs wide and drops to 19th.

Lap 9: Hamilton laps in 1m48.892s: the gap is 0.8s. Kovalainen passes Kubica.

Lap 10: Raikkonen (1m48.510s) leads by 1.3s from Hamilton, Massa and Alonso. Kovalainen tips Webber into a spin at the final chicane. Kubica passes them both. Webber drops to ninth. Barrichello passes Trulli.

Lap 11: Hamilton pits. Coulthard passes Trulli.

Lap 12: Raikkonen pits. Massa leads. Webber pits. Button passes Trulli.

Lap 13: Massa and Alonso pit. Raikkonen leads from Bourdais. Kovalainen – due to serve a drive-through for the Webber incident – pits for tyres and fuel. Nakajima and Sutil pass Trulli.

Lap 14: Piquet crashes at Turn 12. Heidfeld and Trulli pit. Kovalainen serves his drive-through and drops to 15th.

Lap 15: Raikkonen is 5.6s clear of Hamilton. Bourdais and Kubica pit.

Lap 16: Kovalainen passes Button.

Lap 17: Raikkonen posts a 1m48.229s. He leads by 5.8s. Vettel and Barrichello pit.

Lap 18: Heidfeld passes Glock.

Lap 19: Raikkonen laps in 1m47.932s and extends his lead to 6.1s. Barrichello pits again, this time to retire.

Lap 22: Coulthard and Button pit, as does the lapped Fisichella.

Lap 23: Hamilton cuts his arrears to 5.5s.

Lap 24: Raikkonen laps in 1m47.930s and leads by 5.8s. Massa is another 6.1s adrift in third.

Lap 25: Raikkonen and Hamilton pit, as does Rosberg.

Lap 26: Glock pits. Sutil passes Button.

Lap 27: Alonso and Nakajima pit.

Lap 28: Massa pits, as does Sutil.

Lap 29: Kovalainen passes Webber.

Lap 30: Raikkonen leads by 1.8s from Hamilton, with Massa 4.4s back in third. Bourdais, Kubica and Vettel complete the top six.

Lap 31: Heidfeld pits.

Lap 32: Bourdais makes his second stop, as does Webber.

Lap 33: Kubica, Vettel and Kovalainen pit.

Lap 34: Raikkonen leads Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Bourdais, Vettel, Heidfeld and Kubica.

Lap 35: Raikkonen is getting away: he leads by 2.3s. Trulli pits.

Lap 37: Hamilton recovers half a second: the gap is 1.6s.

Lap 40: Hamilton is closing: he trails by 0.9s.

Lap 41: Hamilton gets very sideways at the slippery last chicane and drops away. He is 2.0s adrift.

Lap 42: Hamilton gets a run on Raikkonen and draws alongside at the chicane. The Finn defends. Heidfeld, Coulthard, Rosberg and Nakajima are in for wets.

Lap 43: It’s raining quite heavily. Hamilton takes the lead from Raikkonen at La Source. Both are on tiptoes and run wide later in the lap which allows Raikkonen back ahead. The Finn then spins and rejoins before crashing at Turn 13. Alonso pits for wets.

Lap 44: Hamilton wins by 14.4s from Massa, Heidfeld, Alonso, Vettel, Kubica, Bourdais and Glock. Kovalainen stops on the last lap.

*UPDATE*: Lewis Hamilton lost his victory after the race stewards gave him a drive-through penalty for a chicane cut. Massa wins, Heidfeld second, Hamilton third.

Video: final laps of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix:

Video: small recap and highlights of the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix:

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