Formula 1 News

2008 Chinese Grand Prix: lap by lap highlights 

Lap 1: Lewis Hamilton makes a clean start to lead the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa into Turn One. Heikki Kovalainen takes fourth from Fernando Alonso but the Spaniard claims the place back before the lap’s end. Nick Heidfeld moves up from ninth to sixth, helped in part by a Turn One clash between Sebastien Bourdais and Jarno Trulli. The Frenchman drops to 18th, the Italian spins and pits for repairs at the end of the lap. Sebastian Vettel runs seventh from Robert Kubica, Nelson Piquet, Rubens Barrichello, Timo Glock, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Kazuki Nakajima, Adrian Sutil, Bourdais and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Lap 2:  Hamilton leads by 1.9s. Webber passes Glock. Trulli pits to retire.

Lap 3:  Hamilton laps in 1m37.081s to stretch his lead to 2.5s.

Lap 5: Hamilton posts a 1m36.940s. His lead grows to 3.1s. Bourdais passes Sutil for 17th.

Lap 6: Hamilton goes faster again: 1m36.972s. Raikkonen is 3.5s behind and Massa another 2.6s. Webber passes Barrichello for 10th.

Lap 7: Bourdais passes Nakajima for 16th.

Lap 8: A 1m36.683s puts Hamilton 4.0s clear. Webber passes Piquet for ninth.

Lap 10: Fastest lap to Raikkonen: 1m36.664s. He is 3.9s behind.

Lap 11: Raikkonen posts a 1m36.612s and reduces the gap to 3.7s.

Lap 12: Webber pits. Rosberg passes Glock.

Lap 13: Hamilton laps in 1m36.325s. He stretches his lead to 4.1s. Piquet runs wide at Turn 16.

Lap 14: Massa and Alonso pit. Sutil spins into retirement at Turn 16.

Lap 15: Hamilton and Raikkonen pit, as does Rosberg.

Lap 16: Kovalainen leads from Heidfeld, Hamilton, Vettel and Raikkonen. Massa is seventh, behind Kubica.

Lap 17: Heidfeld pits. Kovalainen leads Hamilton by 7.2s. The latter is 0.6s faster than both Ferraris.

Lap 18: Kovalainen and Vettel pit. Hamilton leads.

Lap 19: Hamilton leads Raikkonen by 6.8s. Kubica remains third, ahead of Massa. Barrichello pits.

Lap 22: Button pits.

Lap 23: Bourdais pits.

Lap 24: Piquet pits.

Lap 25: Kubica pits.

Lap 27: Raikkonen reduces the gap to 6.4s.

Lap 28: Hamilton leads Raikkonen by 6.6s and Massa by 15.5s. Alonso, Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Glock are next. Coulthard and Fisichella pit.

Lap 29: Raikkonen pulls back half a second.

Lap 30: The leaders lap Fisichella. Raikkonen loses 1.4s to Hamilton.

Lap 31: Bourdais passes Coulthard for 14th. Nakajima pits for the first time, Webber for the second.

Lap 32: Glock pits.

Lap 33: Rosberg passes Coulthard for 13th.

Lap 35: Kovalainen has a punctured right front. He slowly gets back to the pits and drops towards the tail of the field.

Lap 36: Alonso pits.

Lap 37: Massa pits.

Lap 38: Hamilton and Raikkonen pit, as does Piquet.

Lap 39: Hamilton leads Raikkonen by 13.0s. Heidfeld, Bourdais and Rosberg pit.

Lap 40: Raikkonen reduces his arrears by 0.7s. The Ferraris are 2.6s apart. Kubica and Barrichello pit.

Lap 41: Vettel pits.

Lap 43: Button pits.

Lap 46: With 10 laps remaining, Hamilton leads Raikkonen by 13.9s and Massa by 16.0s.

Lap 47: Massa is closing on Raikkonen.

Lap 48: Massa is 1.1s behind Raikkonen.

Lap 49: Massa passes Raikkonen. Kovalainen pits and pulls into his garage.

Lap 52: Alonso is 5.1s behind Raikkonen and closing.

Lap 53: Alonso sets a personal best: 1m36.683s. He is 4.3s behind Raikkonen.

Lap 56: Hamilton wins by 14.9s from Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso, Heidfeld, Kubica, Glock and Piquet. Hamilton leads the world championship by seven points. Fifth place in Brazil will be enough to clinch the title.

source: FIA