2008 Belgian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Belgian Grand Prix
Track: Spa-Francorchamps Circuit

Weather: dry start, rain from lap 42

Felipe MASSA won his 10th F1 World Championship race at the 2008 Belgian F1 GP after Lewis Hamilton was hit with a controversial 25-second post-race penalty for cutting the Bus Stop chicane while battling Kimi Raikkonen. The Ferrari driver started from 3rd on the grid and won at Spa-Francorchamps by 9.383 seconds from Nick Heidfeld. It was the 211th win for the Ferrari F1 team and Massas 5th win of the season.

Hamilton pole, Ferrari behind

Spa-Francorchamps on 7 September 2008 opened with Lewis Hamilton taking pole with a 1:47.338 lap, Massa second for Ferrari, Kovalainen third for McLaren, Raikkonen fourth. Rain in the closing laps was expected.

Race day: Bus Stop chicane cut, championship-shifting penalty

Hamilton led lap 1 before Raikkonen took the lead on lap 2. The two swapped multiple times through the race. On lap 42, in wet-drying conditions, Hamilton passed Raikkonen at the Bus Stop chicane but cut the corner, then let Raikkonen back past before immediately overtaking again at La Source. Raikkonen crashed later in the wet, and Hamilton crossed the line first. Post-race, the FIA imposed a 25-second penalty on Hamilton for the Bus Stop cut, dropping him from 1st to 3rd and gifting the win to Massa. Heidfeld second for BMW Sauber, Hamilton officially third for McLaren, Alonso fourth for Renault, Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso, Kubica sixth for BMW Sauber. Raikkonen set the fastest lap on lap 24 with a 1:47.930.

Championship: Hamilton 76, Massa 74

Hamiltons lead over Massa was cut to just 2 points by the Belgian penalty. Italy in a week would be next.

Classification 2008 Belgian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	2	FelipeMassa	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	2	44	5	1:22:59.394	10
2	3	NickHeidfeld	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	5	44		1:23:08.777+9.383s	8
3	22	LewisHamilton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	1	44	2	1:23:09.933+10.539s	6
4	5	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	6	44		1:23:13.872+14.478s	5
5	15	SebastianVettel	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	10	44		1:23:13.970+14.576s	4
6	4	RobertKubica	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	8	44		1:23:14.431+15.037s	3
7	14	SébastienBourdais	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	9	44		1:23:16.129+16.735s	2
8	10	MarkWebber	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	7	44		1:23:42.170+42.776s	1
9	12	TimoGlock	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	13	44		1:24:06.439+1:07.045
10	23	HeikkiKovalainen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	3	43		Gearbox
11	9	DavidCoulthard	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	14	43		+1 lap
12	7	NicoRosberg	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	15	43		+1 lap
13	20	AdrianSutil	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	18	43		+1 lap
14	8	KazukiNakajima	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	19	43		+1 lap
15	16	JensonButton	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	17	43		+1 lap
16	11	JarnoTrulli	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	11	43		+1 lap
17	21	GiancarloFisichella	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	20	43		+1 lap
18	1	KimiRäikkönen	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	4	42	37	Spun off
DNF	17	RubensBarrichello	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	16	19		Gearbox
DNF	6	NelsonPiquet Jr.	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	12	13		Spun off

Fastest lap: 1:47.930 min. by Kimi Raikkonen

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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