Jump to content

2008 Japanese Grand Prix

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Malleus Fatuorum (talk | contribs) at 05:22, 16 January 2009 (→‎Race: though -> but). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

2008 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 16 of 18 in the 2008 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date October 12, 2008
Official name XXXIV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.563 km (2.835 miles)
Distance 67 laps, 305.721 km (189.945 miles)
Weather Dry
Pole position
Driver
McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:18.404
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari
Time 1:18.426 on lap 55
Podium
First
Renault
Second
BMW Sauber
Third
Ferrari

The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XXXIV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on October 12, 2008 at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan. It was the 16th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 67 laps, was won by Fernando Alonso for the Renault team from fourth position on the starting grid. Robert Kubica finished second in a BMW Sauber, and Kimi Räikkönen third in a Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, leader of the Drivers' Championship going into the race, started from pole position alongside Räikkönen. Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen began from third, next to Alonso. At the first corner Hamilton braked late, forcing Räikkönen off the track, for which Hamilton was later given a penalty. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Hamilton's principal Championship rival, was penalised after an incident on lap two in which he touched Hamilton's car and spun it around. The incident dropped Hamilton to the back of the field, from where he was unable to regain a pointscoring position. Massa later collided with Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso. Bourdais was penalised after the race, and demoted from sixth to tenth position. The penalty prompted widespread criticism from the racing media and ex-drivers.

The victory was Alonso's second consecutive win, after he started from 15th on the grid to win the Singapore Grand Prix. Kubica held off a determined attack from Räikkönen in the closing laps to take second place. Massa's seventh place narrowed his gap to Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship to five points. Ferrari established a seven point lead over the McLaren team in the Constructors' Championship, with two races of the season remaining.

Report

Background

The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two.[1] The teams, also known as "constructors", were Ferrari, McLaren–Mercedes, Renault, Honda, Force India, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Williams and Toro Rosso.[1]

Prior to the race, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with 84 points, and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was second with 77 points. Behind them in the Drivers' Championship, Robert Kubica was third with 64 points in a BMW Sauber, and Massa's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was fourth with 57 points. Kubica's team-mate Nick Heidfeld was fifth with 56 points.[2] In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren–Mercedes were leading with 135 points, one point ahead of their rivals Ferrari, whom they had overtaken at the previous race. BMW Sauber were third with 120 points. In the battle for fourth place, Renault had 51 points, five points ahead of Toyota.[2]

A botched pit stop at the Singapore Grand Prix had demoted Massa from first position to the back of field. With three races remaining in the Championship and a seven point deficit, Massa remained confident about his title chances: "If you look at what happened to me in Singapore where my gap went from one point to seven so suddenly, then you have to consider it could easily go the other way as well."[3] Hamilton emphasised the value that a conservative racing strategy could hold for his title chances:

I actually think Singapore was a good learning experience: there was less pressure to achieve a victory because of the unusual circumstances, which meant I was actually able to start thinking of the world championship. I hate driving for points, but I think we can all see the benefit of that approach at the moment.[4]

Rubens Barrichello (top) and Nick Heidfeld with hard and soft green-grooved tyres, respectively

Fernando Alonso's victory at the Singapore Grand Prix was his first Formula One win since moving back to Renault, after driving for McLaren in 2007.[5] After qualifying in 15th and making an early pit stop, Alonso had managed to jump to the front of the race when his team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed. Left with no opportunity to pit, the frontrunners had to delay their stops until the damage was cleared, allowing the heavily-fuelled Alonso to move to the front once they did so.[6] Though Alonso questioned whether his Renault team could match the pace of Ferrari and McLaren at Fuji, he said "We must remain focussed and try to repeat our level of performance from Singapore to fight at the front."[7] Renault's technical director Bob Bell said that the team's improvement from the start of the season was encouraging, but "we recognise that we're not going to overhaul McLaren and Ferrari this season".[8] Bell said that the objective for the last races was to win more Grands Prix and, importantly, secure fourth position in the Constructors' Championship from Toyota.[8]

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the sport's governing body, launched the Formula One component of their Make Cars Green campaign at the Japanese Grand Prix. For the weekend, the grooves in the tyres were painted green to promote environmentally friendly driving.[9] FIA president Max Mosley said "The FIA is determined to ensure that future investment in motor sport will also help drive the development of technologies that will benefit the public at large."[10] As is normal for a Formula One race, Bridgestone brought two different tyre compounds to the race; the softer of the two marked by a single white stripe down one of the grooves.[11]

Practice and qualifying

Home driver Kazuki Nakajima qualified ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg, in 14th

Three practice sessions were held before the race—the first on Friday morning and the second on Friday afternoon. Both sessions lasted 90 minutes. The third session was held on Saturday morning and lasted an hour.[12] The two sessions on Friday were held in dry and sunny conditions.[13][14] Hamilton was quickest with a time of 1:18.910 in the first session, less than two-tenths of a second faster than Massa. McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen was just off Massa's pace; Raikkönen, Alonso and Piquet rounded out the top six, still within a second of Hamilton's time.[13] In the second practice session, Timo Glock, of Toyota, was fastest with a time of 1:18.383, ahead of Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Raikkönen and Red Bull driver Mark Webber. The top seventeen drivers set times within a second of Glock's fastest lap, indicating a competitive field.[14] The Saturday morning session was held on a damp track, where grip was poor and many drivers were forced to use the run-off areas after sliding off the track. Kubica was quickest with his final lap of the session at 1:25.087; Glock, Piquet, Nick Heidfeld of BMW, Kazuki Nakajima of Williams, Red Bull driver David Coulthard, and Massa rounded out the top seven positions. Hamilton managed only eleventh, but was ahead of Kovalainen and Raikkönen, in 16th and 17th positions, respectively.[15] Both Force Indias spent most of the session in their garage, suffering numerous mechanical problems.[15]

The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes and eliminated the cars from qualifying that finished the session 16th or lower. The second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 15. The final part of qualifying determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions. Cars which competed in the final session of qualifying were not allowed to refuel before the race, and as such carried more fuel than in the previous sessions.[12]

A shame. Today I was the quickest man on track but at the wrong moment. In [the third session], I never had the right amount of grip from both sets of tyres that I used. On my first run I was a bit cautious on my "out" lap and so suffered in the first sector, making a mistake at Turn 3. On the second run, I did the opposite and found myself without grip at the end of the lap. So, I've ended up fifth on the grid, which is definitely not an easy place to be.

Felipe Massa, following the third qualifying session.[16]

Hamilton clinched his sixth pole position of the season with a lap time of 1:18.404. He was joined on the front row by Raikkönen, who was fastest for most of the final session.[17] Provisionally sitting in third as the session drew to a close, Massa was pushed back to fifth as Kovalainen and Alonso put in last-minute laps to fill the second row of the grid.[18] Kubica took sixth place, ahead of both Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Glock and the Toro Rossos of Sebastian Vettel and Sébastien Bourdais. Coulthard bettered team-mate Webber when he qualified 11th; Piquet split the Red Bull drivers in 12th.[19] The only Japanese driver in the field, Nakajima, managed 14th ahead of his Williams team-mate Nico Rosberg. Heidfeld could only achieve 16th place, ten places behind his BMW team-mate Kubica. Heidfeld spent the majority of the first session struggling with the set-up of his car.[19] The Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button filled the ninth row in front of the constructor's home crowd.[18] The Force Indias qualified last; Adrian Sutil comfortably outqualified team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella by 0.8 seconds, to sit in 19th place.[17]

Race

Robert Kubica leads from Fernando Alonso early in the race

The conditions on the grid were dry before the race. The air temperature was 16 °C (61 °F) and the track temperature was 21 °C (70 °F);[20] conditions were expected to remain consistent throughout the race.[21] Most of the frontrunners began the race on the harder compound tyre; only Massa was using the softer option.[22] Räikkönen accelerated faster than Hamilton off the line, getting ahead of him down the first straight, but the McLaren driver pulled into the Ferrari's slipstream, before swerving down Räikkönen's inside line.[23] Hamilton badly locked-up his front wheels while braking going into the first corner; both Hamilton and Kovalainen hit Räikkönen, forcing him off the track. All three drivers dropped back down the field as a result of the incident.[20][24] Kubica avoided collisions as other cars locked their tyres on the cold track, to lead after the corner, ahead of Alonso and Kovalainen.[24][25] Fisichella drove into the back of Barrichello, scattering carbon fibre over the track.[24] Coulthard collided with Bourdais and then Piquet, sustaining suspension damage and sliding into the barriers after turn two.[26] Nakajima left the track trying to avoid Coulthard, although he managed to rejoin after losing his front wing. The Japanese driver pitted at the end of the lap for a new wing.[27]

Sébastien Bourdais and Felipe Massa battling for position early in the race

At the end of the first lap, Kubica led from Alonso, Kovalainen, Trulli, Massa, Hamilton and Räikkönen. However, Massa braked late into turn 10, allowing Hamilton to drive down the inside of the corner.[28] Bouncing over the kerbs, Massa made contact with Hamilton, spinning him around and relegating the McLaren driver to last position.[29] Hamilton pitted at the end of the lap for new tyres and more fuel.[22] Glock pitted on lap five and again on lap six, before retiring because of handling difficulties resulting from a broken seat fixation.[24][25] On lap eight Räikkönen passed Trulli into turn 10 to take fourth position.[20] Sutil retired one lap later with a puncture caused by running over carbon fibre shards.[24][25] Kovalainen set a new fastest lap on lap 12 of 1:19.258, leading Räikkönen by more than a second for third.[25] Räikkönen responded with a 1:19.193 on lap 16.[25]

Kubica and Räikkönen pitted on lap 17 for tyres and fuel.[27] Massa and Hamilton were both given drive-through penalties, Massa for colliding with Hamilton and Hamilton for forcing Räikkönen off the track into turn one.[25] Hamilton took his penalty immediately.[20] On the same lap, Kovalainen pulled over to the side of the track with engine problems, and retired from the race.[30] Alonso pitted on lap 18, emerging ahead of Kubica to take the provisional lead, with cars in front still to pit.[25] Massa pitted on the same lap, and served his penalty one lap later.[27] Trulli, Vettel and Bourdais pitted over the following six laps.[27] Fisichella retired from the race with gearbox problems on lap 21.[24][25] Piquet took his first pit stop on lap 28, emerging ahead of Bourdais as Alonso opened the gap on Kubica to 7.8 seconds.[22] Massa overtook Button to take 12th position one lap later.[25]

Nelson Piquet closes in on Kimi Räikkönen late in the race

Alonso lapped consistently in the low 1:19 range, setting the new fastest lap of the race on lap 41, a 1:19.101,[31] to extend his lead over Kubica to more than 12 seconds.[25] Räikkönen was five seconds behind Kubica in third.[25] Alonso pitted on lap 43 and changed to the softer compound tyre.[27] Kubica, complaining of understeer over the team radio, pitted on lap 46, two laps ahead of Räikkönen's stop.[22][27] Trulli, Bourdais, Vettel and Piquet pitted over the next five laps, their teams giving them sufficient fuel to finish the race.[27] As Bourdais exited the pit-lane, Massa attempted to pass him and the two cars collided at the first corner. Massa spun, but rejoined the race.[20] On lap 54, the stewards announced that they were investigating the incident, and would make their decision after the race.[22] On lap 52, Räikkönen attempted to pass Kubica on the approach to turn one, after drafting behind him up the straight, but Kubica drove right to block, braked late, and defended his position.[20] On the following lap Kubica attempted to replicate his blocking manoeuvre, but Räikkönen out-braked him into turn one, and the two drew alongside.[32] Kubica held the inside line on the turn three left-hander, and drove the racing line as Räikkönen left the track at the run-off area.[33] Räikkönen then rejoined behind the BMW driver.[33] Kubica faced similar challenges from Räikkönen over the next two laps into turn one, but he successfully defended his position.[20]

Fernando Alonso celebrates his second consecutive race victory

Massa pitted on lap 53, and rejoined behind Heidfeld in tenth.[34] He subsequently set the fastest lap of the race on lap 55, a 1:18.426.[35] Meanwhile, Piquet was able to close the gap on Räikkönen to under a second,[22] before losing time by running wide at turn five on lap 60.[20][36] Massa passed Heidfeld for ninth on the same lap, and began closing in on Webber.[25] On lap 65, Massa drafted down the straight and attempted to pass Webber,[25] who defended his position by driving to the right.[20] Crossing the track boundary into the end of the pit-lane, Massa managed to pass Webber, and out-braked him into turn one, to take eighth place.[24] Alonso crossed the finish line on lap 67 to take his second win of the season, five seconds ahead of Kubica.[1] Räikkönen was third, ahead of Piquet, Trulli, Bourdais, Vettel and Massa.[1] Webber took ninth on the line, ahead of Heidfeld, who struggled with a heavy car and failed to improve on a poor qualifying performance.[37] Rosberg finished in front of Hamilton, in 11th. Barrichello and Button took the next two positions; both drivers blamed their Hondas for their uncompetitive performance at the Fuji circuit.[37] Nakajima finished last, in 15th, unable to recover after his forced pit-stop early in the race.[37]

Post-race

Well, again difficult to believe ... I cannot believe it right now but obviously back to back wins is a very nice feeling and the team did a great job to improve the car. We are now maybe just behind Ferrari and McLaren and this is completely amazing.

Fernando Alonso, speaking after the race.[38]

The top three finishers appeared on the podium and in the subsequent press conference. Alonso said that the decision to run a shorter second stint than Kubica (between the first and second pit stops) was his decision: "Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't but today the car was perfect and I was able to do it."[38] Alonso added that he had confidence in the car to perform at the remaining Grands Prix: "The feeling I have now is that we can do anything".[38] Kubica said that his second-placed finish was better than his win at the Canadian Grand Prix earlier in the season.[38] He added that to finish on the podium after BMW Sauber's failure to improve the car from the beginning of the season was a "great result for the team in, I think, a very difficult moment".[38] Räikkönen said that he was "a bit disappointed because being in first place in the first corner but then being pushed out didn't help and being in the front could have given us a better result but anyhow, that's racing".[38] He added that Kovalainen's shunt at the first corner had left him with handling difficulties, which left him unable to pass Kubica late in the race.[38]

Forty minutes after the race, Bourdais received a 25-second penalty from the stewards for his collision with Massa on lap 50.[22][39] This demoted him from sixth to tenth, and promoted Massa to seventh, giving him one more Championship point.[39] Bourdais blamed Massa for the incident:

I did everything I could not to run into him and he just squeezed and turned and behaved like I didn't exist, like I wasn't there. What am I supposed to do? ... It's just a little bit of respect, you give each other room and then everything goes right, but if you don't for sure it's going to be an incident.[40]

Robert Kubica described his second place as better than his win in Canada earlier in the season

Massa denied responsibility, and agreed with the stewards' decision: "I think there's little to say: I had already entered the turn and he hit me from behind, spinning me round."[41] The penalty was largely criticized in the media. GrandPrix.com called the penalty "bizarre", saying that Bourdais "could not just disappear".[24] James Allen of ITV said that in light of FIA race director Charlie Whiting's announcement prior to the race, which indicated that cars exiting the pit-lane would have right of way, the penalty was "ridiculous".[42] French sporting newspaper L'Équipe criticized the stewards for their intervention, saying that both drivers held their lines and the collision was just a racing incident.[43] Mark Blundell, who drove in Formula One for five years, called for former drivers to be part of the stewards meetings which award penalties: "You can examine pieces of paper, graphs, telemetry, but you don't know what's going on in a driver's brain until you've experienced it."[44]

Lewis Hamilton was criticized for his aggressive drive into the first corner by much of the British press. Edward Gorman of The Times described Hamilton's move as "impetuosity and untamed aggression", adding that Hamilton "gambled with a kamikaze attempt to get past Räikkönen".[45] The BBC's Andrew Benson said that "Hamilton is still in a strong position but the Englishman will have to cut out the mistakes that have characterised his season if he is not to lose the championship for the second year in a row."[46] In Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport said that Hamilton's start suffered from "his usual excessive aggression".[47] Hamilton said "I made a mistake and I paid for it."[39]

Massa's touch on Hamilton's car on lap two was labeled by the McLaren driver "as deliberate as it could be".[24] Massa rejected the allegation, saying "I had two wheels on the gravel. I could not stop the car and I was on the gravel because he pushed me into the gravel."[28] Media coverage of the incident suggested that though the contact was Massa's fault, it was unintentional.[48][49] Simon Arron, writing for The Daily Telegraph, said Hamilton's accusation of deliberate contact was "unworthy and unwise", adding that the contact was simply a racing incident.[50] The gap between the drivers in the Drivers' Championship after the race stood at five points, in Hamilton's favour, with two races remaining.[2] In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren's failure to score points, combined with Ferrari's third and seventh, moved Ferrari to a seven point lead.[2]

Classification

Qualifying

From [51]:

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

Race

From [51]:

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault 67 1:30:21.892 4 10
2 4 Poland Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 67 +5.283 6 8
3 1 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 67 +6.400 2 6
4 6 Brazil Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault 67 +20.570 12 5
5 11 Italy Jarno Trulli Toyota 67 +23.767 7 4
6 15 Germany Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 67 +39.207 9 3
7 2 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 67 +46.158 5 2
8 10 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 67 +50.811 13 1
9 3 Germany Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 67 +54.120 16
10 14 France Sébastien Bourdais1 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 67 +59.085 10
11 7 Germany Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 67 +1:02.096 15
12 22 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 67 +1:18.900 1
13 17 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Honda 66 +1 Lap 17
14 16 United Kingdom Jenson Button Honda 66 +1 Lap 18
15 8 Japan Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 66 +1 Lap 14
Ret 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 21 Gearbox 20
Ret 23 Finland Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 16 Engine 3
Ret 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 8 Tyre 19
Ret 12 Germany Timo Glock Toyota 6 Damage 8
Ret 9 United Kingdom David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 0 Collision 11
  • Template:Fnb Bourdais given a 25-second penalty for colliding with Massa.

Standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Race Classification". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  2. ^ a b c d "Championsip Classification". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  3. ^ "Japanese Grand Prix - selected preview quotes". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  4. ^ "Japan preview quotes: McLaren". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  5. ^ "Singapore GP - Sunday - Race Report: Alonso's shocker". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 2008-09-28. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  6. ^ Andrew Benson (2008-09-28). "Singapore Grand Prix". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  7. ^ "Japan preview quotes: Renault". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  8. ^ a b "Q & A with Renault's Bob Bell". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  9. ^ "Bridgestone Launches Make Cars Green Tyre". Make Cars Green. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  10. ^ "Bridgestone Launches Make Cars Green Tyre". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  11. ^ "Bringing the "Make Cars Green" Campaign to the Japanese F1 Grand Prix". BridgestoneMotorsport.com. Bridgestone Corporation. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  12. ^ a b "2008 Formula One Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  13. ^ a b Matt Beer (2008-10-10). "Hamilton tops first practice in Japan". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  14. ^ a b Matt Beer (2008-10-10). "Glock puts Toyota on top at Fuji". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  15. ^ a b Matt Beer (2008-10-11). "Kubica fastest in damp final Japan practice". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  16. ^ "Japan Saturday quotes: Ferrari". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  17. ^ a b Matt Beer (2008-10-12). "Hamilton secures Japanese GP pole". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  18. ^ a b "Hamilton claims crucial Japan pole". ITV-F1.com. ITV plc. 2008-10-12. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  19. ^ a b "Qualifying Session Report: Advantage Lewis". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i Geoff Creighton and Emlyn Hughes (2008-10-12). "As it happened: Raceday at Fuji Speedway". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  21. ^ "Sunday weather update - dry, consistent race conditions". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Sarah Holt (2008-10-12). "Japanese Grand Prix: As it happened". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  23. ^ "Japan Sunday quotes: McLaren". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Japanese GP - Sunday - Race Report: The mystery of the Renault diamond". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Race Facts". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  26. ^ "Japan Sunday quotes: Red Bull". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g "Japan Pit Stop Summary". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  28. ^ a b Jonathan Noble and Simon Strang (2008-10-12). "Massa denies deliberately hitting Hamilton". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  29. ^ "Penalties put Hamilton and Massa out of contention at Fuji". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  30. ^ Simon Strang (2008-10-12). "Kovalainen says Hamilton's move 'fair'". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  31. ^ Alan Henry. Autocourse 2008–09. CMG Publishing. p. 247. ISBN 1-9053-3431-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
  32. ^ "Japan Sunday quotes: BMW". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  33. ^ a b "Japan Sunday quotes: Ferrari". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  34. ^ "Lap Chart". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  35. ^ "Japan Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  36. ^ "Alonso makes it two wins in a row in Japan". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  37. ^ a b c "Japanese Grand Prix – selected driver quotes". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g "Japanese GP - Sunday - Press Conference". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  39. ^ a b c Edd Straw and Matt Beer (2008-10-12). "Bourdais given 25-second penalty". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  40. ^ Edd Straw and Matt Beer (2008-10-12). "Bourdais blames Massa for collision". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  41. ^ "Japanese GP - Sunday - Team Quotes". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  42. ^ James Allen (2008-10-13). "James Allen's verdict". ITV-F1.com. ITV plc. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  43. ^ "F1 - GP du Japon - Bourdais est maudit". L'Équipe.fr (in French). L'Equipe 24/24. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  44. ^ Mark Blundell (2008-10-13). "Sebastien Bourdais given thumbs down by Formula One stewards not fit to judge". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  45. ^ Edward Gorman (2008-10-13). "Choke is on again as Lewis Hamilton's ambitions dented by debacle". TimesOnline.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  46. ^ Andrew Benson (2008-10-12). "Japanese Grand Prix". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  47. ^ "Hamilton: "It doesn't change much" Massa: "It's not a completely bad result"". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  48. ^ Jonathan McEvoy (2008-10-13). "'Massa did it on purpose' - Lewis Hamilton on the crash that could cost him the world title". MailOnline. Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  49. ^ Maurice Hamilton (2008-10-14). "Hamilton hoping history does not repeat in Shanghai". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  50. ^ Simon Arron (2008-10-13). "Massa couldn't afford to clash with Hamilton, but was the reverse necessarily true?". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  51. ^ a b c d Alan Henry. Autocourse 2008–09. CMG Publishing. p. 250-251. ISBN 1-9053-3431-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 Japanese Grand Prix.
Wikinews has related news:


Previous race:
2008 Singapore Grand Prix 		FIA Formula One World Championship
2008 season 		Next race:
2008 Chinese Grand Prix
Previous race:
2007 Japanese Grand Prix 		Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
2009 Japanese Grand Prix

[[{{{1}}} {{{2}}} Grand Prix|{{{2}}} Grand Prix]]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2008_Japanese_Grand_Prix&oldid=264409546"