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The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the I SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was the fifteenth round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on 28 September 2008.[1][2] The race, which was the 800th Grand Prix to be staged as well as the first to be held at night, would be won by Fernando Alonso, although it would be overshadowed by the Crashgate scandal.[2][3]

Indeed, Alonso had qualified a lowly fifteenth for the Singapore Grand Prix, as title pretender Felipe Massa claimed pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton.[2] Kimi Räikkönen would start from third ahead of Robert Kubica, while race winner in Italy Sebastian Vettel claimed an impressive seventh.[2]

The start of the race saw Massa ease ahead of Hamilton and teammate Räikkönen to secure an early lead, as behind Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen clashed.[2] That dumped Kovalainen back to sixth with minor front wing damage, as behind Nick Heidfeld and Alonso were forced to cut the first corner due to the incident ahead of them.[2]

The early stages saw the race develop into a procession, with Massa escaping from Hamilton and Räikkönen, while Jarno Trulli formed a road-block in seventh.[2] Indeed, the "Trulli Train" would be the main source of entertainment in the early stages, with Nico Rosberg eventually forcing his way through, with Kazuki Nakajima and Alonso ultimately managing to follow him through.[2]

A few laps later and Alonso was in the pits for his first stop, taking a heavy fuel load and the harder Bridgestone tyres.[2] However, as the Spaniard exited the pits his teammate Nelson Piquet, Jr. would suffer what appeared to be a rather innocuous crash at turn seventeen, triggering a Safety Car.[2]

The 2008 F1 rulebook prevented drivers from instantly pitting when a SC was called, meaning that Alonso was able to tag onto the back of the field, and duly emerged in the lead pack when everyone else was able to stop.[2] In the confusion Ferrari released Massa right into the path of Adrian Sutil and with his fuel hose still attached, forcing the Brazilian to stop at the end of the pits and wait for their assistance.[2]

The resulting shuffle had left Rosberg at the head of the field ahead of Trulli, while Alonso was up to fifth behind Kubica when the race resumed.[2] Rosberg, on a light fuel load, duly broke clear as Trulli again held up those behind, before Rosberg and Kubica were removed from contention after their pitstops were found to have been conducted while the pitlane was closed.[2]

Trulli moved into the lead once Rosberg served his penalty, and once he pitted for his only stop it was Alonso who hit the head of the field.[2] The Spaniard duly eased clear before making his second stop of the night on lap 42, rejoining without losing the lead to a then second placed David Coulthard.[2]

A late Safety Car was called upon when Sutil clouted the wall at turn eighteen, having seen Massa do it a few moments earlier albeit with less dramatic consequences.[2] Regardless, Alonso controlled the restart beautifully to claim victory, with Rosberg and Hamilton completing the podium.[2]

Almost a year after the race investigations into the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix were announced by the FIA, after comments from Piquet's management team indicated that he had been instructed to crash by senior Renault team members.[3] The FIA World Motorsport Council duly delivered their ruling on 21 September 2009 after Renault complied, resulting in a five year ban from competition for Pat Symonds, and a life-time ban for Flavio Briatore.[3] Piquet was granted immunity for his co-operation, while Alonso and Renault were allowed to keep the victory and World Championship points.[3]

Background[]

The battle atop the Championship had intensified once again as a result of the Italian Grand Prix, with just a point separating the top two in the Championship with four rounds to go. Lewis Hamilton had just held onto the lead after his recovery drive to seventh in the race, although Felipe Massa would leave Monza just a point off the Brit in second. Behind, Robert Kubica had moved fourteen points off the lead as the dark horse for the title ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, while Nick Heidfeld had retained fifth.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari left their home race with their lead having been cut in two, holding a five point advantage after they moved their tally to 134 points. Their closest challengers were McLaren-Mercedes, who moved onto 129 points after Heikki Kovalainen scored a podium finish, while BMW Sauber had also gained ground in third. Next up were Toyota, remaining ahead of Renault on countback, while Toro Rosso-Ferrari were up to sixth after their maiden triumph on home soil.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2008 Ferrari 056 2008 2.4 V8 B
2 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2008 Ferrari 056 2008 2.4 V8 B
3 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.08 BMW P86/8 2.4 V8 B
4 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.08 BMW P86/8 2.4 V8 B
5 Spain Fernando Alonso France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R28 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
6 Brazil Nelson Piquet, Jr. France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R28 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
7 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW30 Toyota RVX-08 2.4 V8 B
8 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW30 Toyota RVX-08 2.4 V8 B
9 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB4 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
10 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB4 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
11 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF108 Toyota RVX-08 2.4 V8 B
12 Germany Timo Glock Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF108 Toyota RVX-08 2.4 V8 B
14 France Sébastien Bourdais Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR3 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
15 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR3 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
16 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA108 Honda RA808E 2.4 V8 B
17 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA108 Honda RA808E 2.4 V8 B
20 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM01 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM01 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
22 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-23 Mercedes FO 108V 2.4 V8 B
23 Finland Heikki Kovalainen United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-23 Mercedes FO 108V 2.4 V8 B
Source:[4]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 2 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 4 1:44.519 1 1:44.014 1 1:44.801 1
2 22 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:44.501 10 1:44.932 2 1:45.465 2
3 1 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 1 1:44.282 3 1:44.232 3 1:45.617 3
4 4 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 5 1:44.740 7 1:44.519 4 1:45.779 4
5 23 Finland Heikki Kovalainen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 2 1:44.311 2 1:44.207 5 1:45.873 5
6* 3 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 12 1:45.548 8 1:44.520 6 1:45.964 9
7 15 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7 1:45.042 4 1:44.261 7 1:46.244 6
8 12 Germany Timo Glock Japan Toyota 10 1:45.184 6 1:44.441 8 1:46.328 7
9 7 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 8 1:45.103 5 1:44.429 9 1:46.611 8
10 8 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 9 1:45.127 9 1:44.826 10 1:47.547 10
11 11 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 13 1:45.642 11 1:45.038 11
12 16 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 14 1:45.660 12 1:45.133 12
13 10 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 11 1:45.493 13 1:45.212 13
14 9 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 15 1:46.028 14 1:45.298 14
15 5 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 6 1:44.971 NC 15
16 6 Brazil Nelson Piquet, Jr. France Renault 16 1:46.037 16
17 14 France Sébastien Bourdais Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 17 1:46.389 17
18 17 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 18 1:46.583 18
19 20 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Ferrari 19 1:47.940 19
20 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella India Force India-Ferrari NC 20
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
  • * Heidfeld was handed a three place grid penalty for impeding Barrichello during Q1.[5]

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 Felipe Massa
Lewis Hamilton ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Kimi Räikkönen
Robert Kubica ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Heikki Kovalainen
Sebastian Vettel ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Timo Glock
Nico Rosberg ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 Nick Heidfeld
Kazuki Nakajima ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Jarno Trulli
Jenson Button ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Mark Webber
David Coulthard ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Fernando Alonso
Nelson Piquet, Jr. ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Sébastien Bourdais
Rubens Barrichello ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Adrian Sutil
Giancarlo Fisichella* ______________
  • * Fisichella started the race from the pitlane.[5]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault 61 1:57:16.304 15 10
2 7 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 61 + 2.957s 8 8
3 22 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 61 + 5.917s 2 6
4 12 Germany Timo Glock Japan Toyota 61 + 8.155s 7 5
5 15 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 61 + 10.268s 6 4
6 3 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 61 + 11.101s 9 3
7 9 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 61 + 16.387s 14 2
8 8 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 61 + 18.489s 10 1
9 16 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 61 + 19.885s 12
10 23 Finland Heikki Kovalainen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 61 + 26.902s 5
11 4 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 61 + 27.975s 4
12 14 France Sébastien Bourdais Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 61 + 29.432s 17
13 2 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 61 + 35.170s 1
14 21 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella India Force India-Ferrari 61 + 43.571s PL
15* 1 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 57 Accident 3
Ret 11 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 50 Hydraulics 11
Ret 20 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Ferrari 49 Accident 19
Ret 10 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 29 Transmission 13
Ret 17 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 14 Engine 18
Ret 6 Brazil Nelson Piquet, Jr. France Renault 13 Accident 16
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Räikkönen was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[6]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Lewis Hamilton managed to increase his Championship lead as a result of the mid-race chaos in the Singapore Grand Prix, leaving the city-state seven points clear of his closest challenger. Indeed, Felipe Massa had lost ground in the title hunt after his team's pit-lane mistakes, although he was still a safety thirteen point clear of third placed Robert Kubica. Behind, Kimi Räikkönen was running out of time to make a title bid in fourth, while Nick Heidfeld had retained his top five status.

There was a change in the Constructors Championship as McLaren-Mercedes hit the top of the title hunt, leaving Singapore with 135 points. With Ferrari failing to score the British squad had established a one point lead over the Scuderia, with those two still the main protagonists for the title. BMW Sauber were still in contention in third but were fifteen points off the lead, while Renault had moved into fourth ahead of Toyota as a result of Fernando Alonso's controversial triumph.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 84
2 Brazil Felipe Massa 77
3 Poland Robert Kubica 64
4 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 57
5 Germany Nick Heidfeld 56
6 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 51
7 Spain Fernando Alonso 38
8 Germany Sebastian Vettel 27 ▲1
9 Italy Jarno Trulli 26 ▼1
10 Germany Timo Glock 20 ▲1
11 Australia Mark Webber 20 ▼1
12 Germany Nico Rosberg 17 ▲2
13 Brazil Nelson Piquet, Jr. 13 ▼1
14 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 11 ▼1
15 Japan Kazuki Nakajima 9
16 United Kingdom David Coulthard 8
17 France Sébastien Bourdais 4
18 United Kingdom Jenson Button 3
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 135 ▲1
2 Italy Ferrari 134 ▼1
3 Germany BMW Sauber 120
4 France Renault 51 ▲1
5 Japan Toyota 46 ▼1
6 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31
7 Austria Red Bull-Renault 28
8 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 26
9 Japan Honda 14

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 '15. Singapore 2008', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2008/singapour.aspx, (Accessed 18/03/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 'Singapore 2008: Alonso wins 'lost' race.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 28/09/2008), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/63742/1/singapore-2008-alonso-wins-lost-race, (Accessed 18/03/2020)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 'Renault blames Briatore & Symonds', news.bbc.co.uk, (British Broadcasting Company, 17/09/2009), http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8261004.stm, (Accessed 18/03/2020)
  4. 'Singapore 2008: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2008/singapour/engages.aspx, (Accessed 18/03/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 '2008 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2008), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2008/races/839/singapore/qualifying.html, (Accessed 18/03/2020)
  6. 6.0 6.1 'Singapore 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2008/singapour/classement.aspx, (Accessed 18/03/2020)
V T E Singapore Singapore Grand Prix
Circuits Marina Bay Street Circuit (2008–present)
Singapore street circuit v5
Races 2008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
V T E 2008 Formula One Season
Teams Ferrari • BMW Sauber • Renault • Williams • Red Bull • Toyota • Toro Rosso • Honda • Super Aguri • Force India • McLaren
Engines BMW • Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • Toyota
Drivers Räikkönen • 2 Massa • 3 Heidfeld • 4 Kubica • 5 Alonso • 6 Piquet • 7 Rosberg • 8 Nakajima • 9 Coulthard • 10 Webber • 11 Trulli • 12 Glock • 14 Bourdais • 15 Vettel • 16 Button • 17 Barrichello • 18 Sato • 19 Davidson • 20 Sutil • 21 Fisichella • 22 Hamilton • 23 Kovalainen
Other Drivers Badoer • Buemi • Clos • Gené • Grosjean • Hartley • Hülkenberg • Klien • Kobayashi • Liuzzi • Loeb • Paffett • Rossi • Rossiter • M. Schumacher • R. Schumacher • Senna • Van der Garde • Wurz • Yamamoto
Cars Ferrari F2008 • McLaren MP4-23 • BMW Sauber F1.08 • Renault R28 • Toyota TF108 • Toro Rosso STR2B • Toro Rosso STR3 • Red Bull RB4 • Williams FW30 • Honda RA108 • Force India VJM01 • Super Aguri SA08
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • Spain • Turkey • Monaco • Canada • France • Britain • Germany • Hungary • Europe • Belgium • Italy • Singapore • Japan • China • Brazil
See also 2007 Formula One Season • 2009 Formula One Season • Category
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