Felipe Massa beat Kimi Raikkonen to the flag at Sakhir, while pole-sitter Robert Kubica finished third and Lewis Hamilton recovered from a poor start to 13th.
Felipe Massa won the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix for Ferrari at Sakhir on 6 April 2008, his first win of the season. Kimi Raikkonen was second, 3.3 seconds back, with Robert Kubica third from pole.
Felipe Massa won the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on 6 April 2008, the third race of the season. Kimi Raikkonen finished second for Ferrari, 3.3 seconds back, and Robert Kubica was third for BMW Sauber after starting from pole. It was Massa's first win of the year.
Who won the 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix?
Felipe Massa won for Ferrari after starting second on the grid, passing the pole-sitter Kubica into the first corner. He led the race from there and finished 3.3 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, with Kubica third in the BMW Sauber he had started from pole.
Massa had struggled early in the year, with a collision with David Coulthard in Australia and a spin in Malaysia leaving him without points. He had promised that the opening races would not decide the season, and he said he planned to win back the points he had lost.
Massa's first win of 2008, from second on the grid, at a circuit where Ferrari had the pace.
What was the championship picture before Sakhir?
Hamilton topped the Drivers' table on 14 points, with Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld both on 11. McLaren-Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship on 24 points, five ahead of BMW Sauber, with Ferrari third on 11.
Ferrari had dominated the previous round in Malaysia, where Massa took pole and led his teammate before spinning out midway through. Raikkonen went on to win that race, and he said he had come third in three straight Bahrain races and wanted a win at Sakhir.
Hamilton had won in Australia, but his Malaysian race ended fifth after a grid penalty and a poor stop. Kubica had finished second in Australia and again in Malaysia, and he predicted his team could stay competitive in Bahrain.
How did practice go at Sakhir?
The Ferraris set the pace in the first two practice sessions, with Massa fastest at 1:32.233 in the opening session. Nico Rosberg was quickest in the third and final session with 1:32.521, and Hamilton slid into a wall in the second session.
In the first session Raikkonen had an early excursion across the sand and needed a pit stop, and the track was dusty throughout. Rosberg, Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen followed, with Kazuki Nakajima and Kubica also inside the top seven.
Hamilton emerged from his crash in the second session unhurt, but his McLaren was badly damaged. Massa again led Raikkonen to a Ferrari one-two in that session, ahead of Kovalainen, Hamilton and Kubica. In the final session Massa was second, ahead of Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli, David Coulthard, Nakajima and Kubica, while Hamilton finished 18th.
How did qualifying shape the grid?
Robert Kubica took his first pole position with 1:33.096, and Massa was less than 0.03 seconds behind him on the front row. Hamilton used his team's spare chassis to start third, with Raikkonen fourth and confident in his car's racing ability despite criticising its set-up.
Qualifying had three parts. The first lasted 20 minutes and eliminated cars finishing 17th or lower, the second lasted 15 minutes and removed positions 11 to 16, and the final part set positions one to ten and decided pole. Cars that failed to reach the final part could refuel before the race.
Kovalainen lined up fifth alongside Heidfeld, who had trouble getting the best from his tyres. Jarno Trulli took seventh ahead of Rosberg and Jenson Button, and Fernando Alonso was the last driver to reach the final part of qualifying. Mark Webber missed the top ten by 0.009 seconds and started 11th.
Rubens Barrichello ended up 12th, having lost laps to a gearbox problem in the second session. Coulthard qualified 17th, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, and Sebastian Vettel was 19th. Vettel blamed his set-up, saying the car had been driving him more than he was driving it.
What happened in the race?
Massa got the best start of the front-runners and led into the first corner. Hamilton's start was poor, and his anti-stall system engaged, leaving him passed by six drivers and down to ninth. Raikkonen gained third at the start and took second from Kubica on lap three.
Vettel retired on the first lap after two collisions. Button, Sutil and Coulthard pitted early to repair damage. Hamilton, who had been trailing Alonso, ran into the back of the Renault and broke the front wing of his McLaren, forcing a return to the pits for a new nose and a rejoin in 18th.
Ten laps in, Massa's advantage over Raikkonen stood at 4.4 seconds. Kubica made the first stop among the front-runners on lap 17. Raikkonen and Trulli came in on lap 20, and Massa followed from the top spot the lap after. After the first round of stops the Ferraris were split by 5.4 seconds.
By lap 31 Raikkonen was within four seconds of Massa. The Ferraris made their final stops on laps 39 and 38, when Massa held a 3.6-second lead. Massa kept that lead into the final stint. Later stops followed for Kubica (lap 41), Heidfeld (lap 45) and Kovalainen (lap 47).
On lap 18 Button tried an inside move at turn eight and tangled with Coulthard. Button's Honda lost its front wing, and he quit a lap afterwards, having made two stops. Hamilton, meanwhile, climbed back through the field, and by his stop on lap 31 he had reached 14th.
Piquet retired on lap 42 with a transmission failure. The quickest lap of the afternoon came from Kovalainen on lap 49, 1:33.193, though he had run behind the leaders for much of the race.
Massa won 3.3 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, and Kubica finished third ahead of his teammate Heidfeld, with Kovalainen fifth. Glock's Toyota held off a late challenge from Alonso. Barrichello and Fisichella had strong finishes, both ahead of Hamilton, who was 13th.
Nakajima, Bourdais, Davidson and Sato followed in a group. Coulthard and Sutil ended at the back after their earlier crashes. Vettel, Button and Piquet did not finish.
What did the result change in the title race?
Raikkonen took the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 19 points, while Heidfeld stood second on 16. BMW Sauber took the Constructors' lead on 30 points, ahead of Ferrari on 29 and McLaren on 28.
Massa said the race had been difficult because he had not wanted to make mistakes. He had struggled for grip early on, because of oil in the middle sector of the track. Kubica said his poor start came from wheelspin and oil on the track, and he was pleased with third and fourth for the team.
Hamilton accepted responsibility for his grid stall, saying he had not hit the switch early enough to enter the launch map. Renault said its telemetry showed Alonso had not touched the brakes. McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh said the front wing had failed moments before the collision, though photographs hinted it had gone earlier, when Hamilton nudged a car on the opening lap.
Who were the leading finishers?
| Finish | Driver | Team | Grid | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 2 | Win; first of the season |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 4 | 3.3 seconds behind the winner |
| 3 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1 | Pole; third place |
| 5 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren | 5 | Fastest lap, 1:33.193 |
