2008 Singapore Grand Prix

2008 Singapore Grand Prix
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Round	15 of 2008
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The Marina Bay street circuit
Race Details
Date	28 September, 2008
Race Number	800
Official Name	2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix
Location	Marina Bay Street Circuit Singapore
Course	Temporary Street Circuit 5.067 km (3.148 mi)
Distance	61 laps, 309.087 km (192.058 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Felipe Massa Ferrari
Time	1:44.801
Fastest Lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Time	1:45.599 on lap 14
Podium
First	Fernando Alonso Renault
Second	Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
Third	Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Lap Leaders

The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 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. 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.

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

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. 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.

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. 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.

A few laps later and Alonso was in the pits for his first stop, taking a heavy fuel load and the harder Bridgestone tyres. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. Regardless, Alonso controlled the restart beautifully to claim victory, with Rosberg and Hamilton completing the podium.

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. 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. Piquet was granted immunity for his co-operation, while Alonso and Renault were allowed to keep the victory and World Championship points.

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	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2008	Ferrari	056 2008 2.4 V8	B
2	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2008	Ferrari	056 2008 2.4 V8	B
3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.08	BMW	P86/8 2.4 V8	B
4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.08	BMW	P86/8 2.4 V8	B
5	Fernando Alonso	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R28	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R28	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
7	Nico Rosberg	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW30	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
8	Kazuki Nakajima	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW30	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB4	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB4	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
11	Jarno Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF108	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
12	Timo Glock	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF108	Toyota	RVX-08 2.4 V8	B
14	Sébastien Bourdais	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR3	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
15	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR3	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
16	Jenson Button	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA108	Honda	RA808E 2.4 V8	B
17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA108	Honda	RA808E 2.4 V8	B
20	Adrian Sutil	Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM01	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM01	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
22	Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-23	Mercedes	FO 108V 2.4 V8	B
23	Heikki Kovalainen	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-23	Mercedes	FO 108V 2.4 V8	B
Source:

Practice Overview

The first session, held on Friday evening, saw Lewis Hamilton of McLaren‑Mercedes set the fastest time with a lap of 1:45.518, using Bridgestone’s soft compound. He narrowly outpaced Felipe Massa (+0.080 s) and Kimi Räikkönen (+0.443 s). During this session, Mark Webber crashed at Turn 18, damaging his front suspension and limiting his running, while Rubens Barrichello crashed backwards into barriers at the final corner. Jarno Trulli spun at that same corner and later drove the wrong direction on the pit entry, for which he was fined €10,000.

In the second practice session later that evening, Fernando Alonso took over the top spot, posting a best lap of 1:45.654, displacing Hamilton to second place by 0.098 seconds. Felipe Massa was third, followed by Heikki Kovalainen in fourth. That session was relatively incident‑free, though Timo Glock spun into the wall at Turn 7 and lost his front wing, Giancarlo Fisichella experienced gearbox troubles, and Massa briefly took a wrong direction onto an escape road.

The final practice session, held on Saturday evening, again belonged to Alonso, who posted a fastest lap of 1:44.506. He led Lewis Hamilton by 0.613 seconds, with Felipe Massa in third. Nelson Piquet Jr. placed fourth, and Nico Rosberg was fifth. Several drivers struggled with the circuit’s bumps and kerbs: Giancarlo Fisichella damaged front wing and suspension after launching off kerbs at Turn 10, Kimi Räikkönen locked up and went off at Turn 7 and did not rejoin, and David Coulthard also faced trouble.

Qualifying

Q1

Kimi Räikkönen posted the fastest time in Q1 with a lap of 1:44.282, firmly establishing his intentions right from the start. Close behind were Felipe Massa (1:44.519) and Lewis Hamilton (1:44.501), both comfortably ahead of the cut‑off.

Mid‑pack drivers like Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen also advanced, with times of 1:44.740 and 1:44.311 respectively, confirming solid pace in what was already proving to be a tight session. Among those who made it through were Nick Heidfeld, Sebastian Vettel, Timo Glock, Nico Rosberg, and Kazuki Nakajima, each threading the needle cleanly to survive Q1.

At the opposite end, the fight to stay alive was cruel. Adrian Sutil, driving for Force India, delivered a lap of 1:47.940, which was not enough to see him through. Giancarlo Fisichella, his teammate, didn’t even manage to complete a valid time owing to a crash, leaving him with a DNF in Q1. Meanwhile, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastien Bourdais, and Nelson Piquet Jr. also found themselves eliminated at this stage.

Q2

Early in Q2, Fernando Alonso suffered a fuel pump failure, which meant he couldn’t set a time and was effectively eliminated, slotting into 15th overall. Lewis Hamilton began with a hesitant start — missing the second corner and having to abort his first flying attempt. As the session progressed, he locked his brakes repeatedly and struggled to extract performance. Eventually, Hamilton was in danger: he slipped down to tenth place, perilously close to falling out.

At the front, Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen asserted their strength. Massa turned in a lap of 1:44.014 to lead Q2, while Räikkönen followed closely with a 1:44.232. Their consistency instilled confidence that the Ferraris would maintain strong positions.

Heikki Kovalainen also impressed, slotting between the Ferraris with a time of 1:44.207, showing McLaren’s competitiveness in the middle run. Behind them, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld both posted solid laps (1:44.519 and 1:44.520 respectively) to keep Sauber’s hopes alive.

On the flip side, some big names didn’t make it through. Jarno Trulli just missed out, ending Q2 in 11th with a time of 1:45.038, while Jenson Button came 12th at 1:45.133. David Coulthard and Mark Webber also were knocked out, occupying 13th and 14th places with respective times of 1:45.298 and 1:45.212.

Q3

Sebastian Vettel was first off the line with a flying lap, but his time of 1:46.614 was quickly overshadowed by the faster challengers. Kimi Räikkönen moved into the provisional lead briefly, but it was Felipe Massa who ultimately set the benchmark — he delivered a superb lap of 1:44.801, carving out a decisive advantage and claiming pole by over six‑tenths of a second.

Lewis Hamilton initially stole provisional pole on a strong lap, but Massa’s final effort was better across all three sectors, pushing Hamilton into second (1:45.465) and relegating Räikkönen to third (1:45.617). Behind them, Robert Kubica qualified fourth (1:45.779), and Heikki Kovalainen grabbed fifth (1:45.873). Nick Heidfeld secured sixth (1:45.964).

Sebastian Vettel ended up in seventh (1:46.244), followed by Timo Glock in eighth (1:46.328) and Nico Rosberg in ninth (1:46.611). Kazuki Nakajima rounded out the top ten with a time of 1:47.547.

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	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		4	1:44.519		1	1:44.014		1	1:44.801	1
2	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes		3	1:44.501		10	1:44.932		2	1:45.465	2
3	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		1	1:44.282		3	1:44.232		3	1:45.617	3
4	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber		5	1:44.740		7	1:44.519		4	1:45.779	4
5	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes		2	1:44.311		2	1:44.207		5	1:45.873	5
6*	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		12	1:45.548		8	1:44.520		6	1:45.964	9
7	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		7	1:45.042		4	1:44.261		7	1:46.244	6
8	12	Timo Glock	Toyota		10	1:45.184		6	1:44.441		8	1:46.328	7
9	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota		8	1:45.103		5	1:44.429		9	1:46.611	8
10	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota		9	1:45.127		9	1:44.826		10	1:47.547	10
11	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		13	1:45.642		11	1:45.038				11
12	16	Jenson Button	Honda		14	1:45.660		12	1:45.133				12
13	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault		11	1:45.493		13	1:45.212				13
14	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault		15	1:46.028		14	1:45.298				14
15	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault		6	1:44.971		NC	—				15
16	6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Renault		16	1:46.037							16
17	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		17	1:46.389							17
18	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda		18	1:46.583							18
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari		19	1:47.940							19
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari		NC	—							20
Source:

• ^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.

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.

Race

Report

At the start, Massa launched cleanly and immediately pulled away, leaving Hamilton unable to respond effectively. Kimi Räikkönen, despite starting third, found himself unable to keep pace with Massa and drifted further back, eventually losing ground to Hamilton. Through the opening laps, the order held more or less steady: Massa leading, Hamilton second, Räikkönen third. The field was tightly packed behind them, but overtaking was rare given the circuit’s constraints and the narrow walls lining the track.

As the race approached lap 13, things began to shift dramatically. Nelson Piquet Jr., driving for Renault, lost control of his car at Turn 17 (the Raffles Boulevard section) and crashed heavily into the wall. The timing of the incident was significant: it occurred shortly before the likely pit windows for a first stop, triggering a full‑course safety car. The deployment of the safety car had profound strategic consequences. Because Piquet’s crash forced the safety car, the pit lane was temporarily closed. Several cars carrying low fuel, including Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg, were caught out: they were forced to stop while the pit lane was closed, which would typically result in a penalty. Meanwhile, drivers who had already pitted or had sufficient fuel were advantaged. Notably, Fernando Alonso had earlier made an unscheduled stop before the safety car period, which positioned him advantageously. When the safety car period ended and pit stops resumed, he emerged into the lead, while Massa’s stop turned disastrous. As Massa drove out of his pit box, the fuel hose was still attached and dragged behind his car; as a consequence, the hose knocked over a mechanic and Massa lost time and positions, dropping well down the order.

Crucially, subsequent investigations and later revelations established that Piquet’s crash had been deliberately orchestrated by Renault to manipulate the safety car for Alonso’s benefit. This scandal became known as “Crashgate.”

With the field reshuffled, Alonso now had a clear path to manage the race from the front. Nico Rosberg, who had suffered issues during the safety car shuffle, recovered well and began to mount a challenge for position. Lewis Hamilton also applied pressure, chasing Rosberg for second. Further back, already weakened by the narrow circuit, some drivers struggled with tyres, fuel loads, and the relentless precision required on the street track. Kimi Räikkönen, who had been running in contention, lost control of his car around lap 57, striking the wall and retiring from the race. That mishap abruptly ended his hopes and sealed a disappointing outing for Ferrari. As the laps wound down, Alonso’s lead grew more comfortable. According to some accounts, he even lapped his nearest rivals at one point, demonstrating the strength of his race pace under the new traffic conditions.

In the closing laps, Hamilton was attempting to pressure Rosberg, but Rosberg defended resolutely and clinched second. Behind them, Timo Glock held on for an impressive fourth, while Sebastian Vettel, Nick Heidfeld, David Coulthard, and Kazuki Nakajima rounded out the points finishes. Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line to claim a surprising and controversial victory from 15th on the grid, completing 61 laps in a total time of 1:57:16.304. Nico Rosberg finished second, 2.957 seconds behind Alonso, while Lewis Hamilton took third, 5.917 seconds down.

Results

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

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	61	1:57:16.304	15	10
2	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	61	+ 2.957s	8	8
3	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	61	+ 5.917s	2	6
4	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	61	+ 8.155s	7	5
5	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	61	+ 10.268s	6	4
6	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	61	+ 11.101s	9	3
7	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	61	+ 16.387s	14	2
8	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	61	+ 18.489s	10	1
9	16	Jenson Button	Honda	61	+ 19.885s	12
10	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	61	+ 26.902s	5
11	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	61	+ 27.975s	4
12	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	61	+ 29.432s	17
13	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	61	+ 35.170s	1
14	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	61	+ 43.571s	PL
15*	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	Accident	3
Ret	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	50	Hydraulics	11
Ret	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	49	Accident	19
Ret	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	29	Transmission	13
Ret	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	14	Engine	18
Ret	6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Renault	13	Accident	16
Source:

• ^T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
• * Räikkönen was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

• 800th Formula One World Championship race to be staged.
• First Singapore Grand Prix to be staged.
  • Also the first World Championship Grand Prix to be held during the night.
• 250th Grand Prix appearance for BMW as an engine supplier.
• 50th race for BMW Sauber as a constructor.
• Toro Rosso made their 50th Grand Prix appearance.
• Jenson Button made his 150th Grand Prix start.
• Nico Rosberg secured his 50th Grand Prix start.
• Twentieth career victory for Fernando Alonso.
  • Also Alonso's 50th career podium finish.
• Renault secured their 34th win as a constructor.
  • 114th win for Renault as an engine supplier.

Other

• MiniDrivers animated series was launched.

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 Lewis Hamilton 84 — 2 Felipe Massa 77 — 3 Robert Kubica 64 — 4 Kimi Räikkönen 57 — 5 Nick Heidfeld 56 — 6 Heikki Kovalainen 51 — 7 Fernando Alonso 38 — 8 Sebastian Vettel 27 ▲1 9 Jarno Trulli 26 ▼1 10 Timo Glock 20 ▲1 11 Mark Webber 20 ▼1 12 Nico Rosberg 17 ▲2 13 Nelson Piquet, Jr. 13 ▼1 14 Rubens Barrichello 11 ▼1 15 Kazuki Nakajima 9 — 16 David Coulthard 8 — 17 Sébastien Bourdais 4 — 18 Jenson Button 3 —

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 McLaren-Mercedes 135 ▲1 2 Ferrari 134 ▼1 3 BMW Sauber 120 — 4 Renault 51 ▲1 5 Toyota 46 ▼1 6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31 — 7 Red Bull-Renault 28 — 8 Williams-Toyota 26 — 9 Honda 14 —

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

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