2008 Japanese GP at Fuji
Lewis Hamilton saw his World Championship lead trimmed to just five points by Felipe Massa after a highly controversial Japanese Grand Prix. Qualifying at Fuji had gone Hamilton’s way, with the English driver taking pole in his McLaren. Massa, meanwhile, could only manage fifth on the grid after failing to get the best from his tyres.
Hamilton and Massa Receive Penalties
At the start Massa’s Ferrari team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, passed Hamilton before the first corner. Hamilton, desperate to make amends, took a highly optimistic lunge down the inside. He only succeeded in locking his brakes, flat-spotting his tyres and forcing several cars wide. As a result he was later handed a drive through penalty. Hamilton had indicated over the weekend that he was prepared to adopt a more cautious approach in his bid for the title, and admitted in an interview with ITV that he had made a bad decision at turn one;
“You can always look back and wish you did something else, but I made a mistake and I paid for it. This sort of thing happens. You’ve just got to keep your head up and keep going.”
By lap two Hamilton found himself behind Massa and tried to overtake his championship rival, only for the two cars to collide, spinning Hamilton around. The stewards judged Massa to be at fault and the Brazilian also received a drive-through penalty.
Alonso Wins Japanese GP for Renault
At the front, Robert Kubica led for BMW Sauber early on, but Fernando Alonso managed to pass him after some quick pit work by his Renault team. The Spaniard went on to control the race from the front and score his second consecutive Grand Prix victory. Kubica was second while Raikkonen also made the podium in third.
Alonso’s team-mate, Nelson Piquet, also had a strong showing, eventually finishing in fourth position. Piquet will have been extremely relieved with his performance after recent speculation about his future in Formula 1.
Jarno Trulli once again showed good pace in the Toyota and came home in fifth place, one position ahead of the Italian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel. Vettel’s Toro Rosso team-mate, Sebastien Bourdais, finished seventh but was later handed a time penalty for a collision with Massa. The main benefactor was Massa himself, who moved up to seventh position in the classification, gaining a potentially crucial extra point.
The final point was taken by Red Bull’s Mark Webber, promoted to eighth after Bourdais’ penalty. Webber’s team-mate David Coulthard was fortunate to escape unharmed from a violent first lap accident caused by suspension failure.
The Formula 1 teams will be in action again this weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton will be keen to show that he can handle the pressure of leading the World Championship after throwing away the title last year and his latest disastrous showing in Japan.
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