2008 Chinese F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Chinese Grand Prix
Track: Shanghai International Circuit

Weather: dry, mild, sunny

Lewis HAMILTON won his 9th F1 World Championship race at the 2008 Chinese F1 GP, restoring his championship lead going into the Brazilian finale. The McLaren driver started from pole and won at Shanghai by 14.925 seconds from Felipe Massa. It was the 162nd win for the McLaren F1 team and Hamiltons 5th win of the season.

Hamilton pole, McLaren pace advantage

Shanghai on 19 October 2008 opened with Lewis Hamilton taking pole with a 1:36.303 lap, Raikkonen second for Ferrari, Massa third, Alonso fourth for Renault, Kovalainen fifth for McLaren. Hamilton was in a must-win position after the Japan disaster.

Race day: Hamilton lights-to-flag

Hamilton led 53 of the 56 laps at Shanghai in a controlled pole-to-flag victory. He won by 14.925 seconds from Massa, with Raikkonen third for Ferrari, Alonso fourth for Renault, Heidfeld fifth for BMW Sauber, Kubica sixth. Kovalainen only fifth for McLaren, Piquet Jr eighth for Renault. Hamilton set the fastest lap on lap 13 with a 1:36.325.

Championship: Hamilton 94, Massa 87

Hamilton led by 7 points going into the Brazilian season finale. Hamilton needed a 5th place finish or better to seal his first F1 World Championship at Interlagos.

Classification 2008 Chinese F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	22	LewisHamilton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	1	56	53	1:31:57.403	10
2	2	FelipeMassa	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	3	56		1:32:12.328+14.925s	8
3	1	KimiRäikkönen	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	2	56		1:32:13.848+16.445s	6
4	5	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	4	56		1:32:15.773+18.370s	5
5	3	NickHeidfeld	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	9	56		1:32:26.326+28.923s	4
6	4	RobertKubica	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	11	56		1:32:30.622+33.219s	3
7	12	TimoGlock	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	12	56		1:32:39.125+41.722s	2
8	6	NelsonPiquet Jr.	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	10	56		1:32:54.048+56.645s	1
9	15	SebastianVettel	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	6	56		1:33:01.742+1:04.339
10	9	DavidCoulthard	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	15	56		1:33:12.245+1:14.842
11	17	RubensBarrichello	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	13	56		1:33:22.464+1:25.061
12	8	KazukiNakajima	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	17	56		1:33:28.250+1:30.847
13	14	SébastienBourdais	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	8	56		1:33:28.860+1:31.457
14	10	MarkWebber	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	16	56		1:33:29.825+1:32.422
15	7	NicoRosberg	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	14	55		+1 lap
16	16	JensonButton	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	18	55		+1 lap
17	21	GiancarloFisichella	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	20	55		+1 lap
DNF	23	HeikkiKovalainen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	5	49	3	Pneumatics
DNF	20	AdrianSutil	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	19	13		Gearbox
DNF	11	JarnoTrulli	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	7	2		Collision damage

Fastest lap: 1:36.325 min. by Lewis Hamilton

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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