2008 Singapore F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Singapore Grand Prix
Track: Marina Bay Street Circuit

Weather: dry, night race, warm

Fernando ALONSO won his 20th F1 World Championship race at the 2008 Singapore F1 GP, F1s first ever night race under floodlights, at Marina Bay. The Renault driver started from 15th on the grid and won by 2.957 seconds from Nico Rosberg after a race-changing safety car triggered by teammate Nelsinho Piquet Jrs deliberate crash (later revealed as the "Crashgate" scandal). It was the 20th F1 win for the Renault F1 team since its 2002 return.

Marina Bay debut, F1s first night race

Singapore on 28 September 2008 hosted F1s first ever night race, at the brand-new Marina Bay Street Circuit under 1600 floodlights. Felipe Massa took pole with a 1:44.801 lap for Ferrari, Hamilton second for McLaren, Raikkonen third for Ferrari, Kubica fourth for BMW Sauber. Alonso qualified only 15th.

Race day: Piquets deliberate crash triggers Alonsos win

Massa led the opening 17 laps, but on lap 14 Nelsinho Piquet Jr crashed his Renault at Turn 17. The safety car came out, and Alonso, who had pitted just before the crash for what looked like a foolish decision, suddenly found himself with a huge track-position advantage. Massa was compromised by a pit-lane exit incident with the fuel-hose still attached, dropping him from the lead. Alonso led from lap 34 to the flag and won by 2.957 seconds from Rosberg for Williams-Toyota. Hamilton third for McLaren, Glock fourth for Toyota, Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso. Raikkonen set the fastest lap on lap 14 with a 1:45.599.

The Crashgate scandal (revealed 2009)

Almost a year later, in mid-2009 after Piquet had been sacked by Renault, he alleged that team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds had ordered him to crash deliberately at Turn 17 on that specific lap to trigger a safety car that would benefit Alonso. The FIA investigated and confirmed the accusations. Renault were banned from F1 (a suspended sentence), Briatore was banned for life, Symonds for five years. It was one of the darkest incidents in F1 history and permanently tarnished Alonsos Singapore win.

Championship: Hamilton 84, Massa 77

Hamilton extended his lead over Massa to 7 points. Japan in a week would be next.

Classification 2008 Singapore F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	5	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	15	61	28	1:57:16.304	10
2	7	NicoRosberg	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	8	61	11	1:57:19.261+2.957s	8
3	22	LewisHamilton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	2	61		1:57:22.221+5.917s	6
4	12	TimoGlock	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	7	61		1:57:24.459+8.155s	5
5	15	SebastianVettel	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	6	61		1:57:26.572+10.268s	4
6	3	NickHeidfeld	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	9	61		1:57:27.405+11.101s	3
7	9	DavidCoulthard	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	14	61		1:57:32.691+16.387s	2
8	8	KazukiNakajima	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	10	61		1:57:34.793+18.489s	1
9	16	JensonButton	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	12	61		1:57:36.189+19.885s
10	23	HeikkiKovalainen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	5	61		1:57:43.206+26.902s
11	4	RobertKubica	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	4	61		1:57:44.279+27.975s
12	14	SébastienBourdais	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	17	61		1:57:45.736+29.432s
13	2	FelipeMassa	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	1	61	17	1:57:51.474+35.170s
14	21	GiancarloFisichella	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	20	61		1:57:59.875+43.571s
15	1	KimiRäikkönen	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	3	57		Accident
DNF	11	JarnoTrulli	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	11	50	5	Hydraulics
DNF	20	AdrianSutil	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	19	49		Accident
DNF	10	MarkWebber	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	13	29		Transmission
DNF	17	RubensBarrichello	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	18	14		Engine
DNF	6	NelsonPiquet Jr.	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	16	13		Crashed

Fastest lap: 1:45.599 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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