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Lap 1: On pole
position for the seventh time in his Formula One career, Lewis Hamilton
makes a clean start to lead Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen into Turn
One. Felipe Massa spins out of fourth and hits the wall. He rejoins and pits
at the end of the lap. Nico Rosberg makes a good start to lie fourth, from
Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli. Sebastian Vettel and Giancarlo Fisichella
tangle at the first turn – both drivers retire immediately.
Jenson Button
and Anthony Davidson drop out after banging wheels – and local hero Mark
Webber also sustains terminal damage in the opening-lap joust. The Safety
Car is deployed. Behind Trulli, Rubens Barrichello lies seventh from Kimi
Räikkönen (up from 15th), Fernando Alonso, David Coulthard, Takuma Sato,
Nelson Piquet, Timo Glock, Sebastien Bourdais and Adrian Sutil (who started
from the pits after switching to a back-up engine and chassis). Kazuki
Nakajima pits for repairs at the end of the lap and rejoins.
Lap 2: Massa pits again.
Lap 3: A fine restart by Hamilton. Sutil passes Bourdais.
Lap 4: Hamilton laps in 1m28.614s: he leads by 2.2s.
Lap 5: Hamilton ups his pace: a 1m28.556s puts him 2.6s clear. Piquet loses
positions to Glock, Sutil and Bourdais.
Lap 6: Hamilton: 1m28.513s. Lead: 3.1s.
Lap 7: The leader goes faster again: 1m28.412s. He is 4.3s clear of Kubica.
Lap 9: Sutil pits and goes no further.
Lap 10: Hamilton leads Kubica by 7.6s. Kovalainen is a lonely third, from
Rosberg, Heidfeld, Trulli, Barrichello, the close-following Räikkönen,
Coulthard and Alonso.
Lap 13: Hamilton posts a 1m28.007s to stretch his lead to 9.4s. Massa passes
Piquet for 15th.
Lap 14: Hamilton dips into the 1m27s.
Lap 15: And again: 1m27.750s. Glock passes Sato.
Lap 16: Hamilton laps in 1m27.590s. Kubica pits.
Lap 17: Hamilton (1m27.484s) leads Kovalainen by 14.7s. Massa passes
Nakajima.
Lap 18: Hamilton pits and rejoins fourth, behind Heidfeld. Kovalainen leads.
Lap 19: Räikkönen passes Barrichello for sixth. Bourdais pits.
Lap 20: Räikkönen – who started on the softer option tyres – starts setting
personal bests. Trulli pits to retire. Massa passes Sato.
Lap 21: Rosberg and Heidfeld pit from second and third. They rejoin almost
as one but Heidfeld gains a place. He also puts Alonso between himself and
Rosberg.
Lap 22: Kovalainen pits. Hamilton leads again. Coulthard pits.
Lap 23: Hamilton leads Kovalainen by 11.7s. Barrichello pits.
Lap 25: Sato pits.
Lap 26: Massa and Coulthard collide at Turn One. The Scot retires on the
spot. With debris on the track, the Safety Car is deployed. Räikkönen dives
towards the pit lane but realises in time that it isn’t yet open.
Lap 28: Bourdais pits.
Lap 29: Kubica, Alonso, Nakajima and Glock all pit.
Lap 30: Massa pulls off to retire.
Lap 31: Restart. Räikkönen attacks Kovalainen and sails past… but slithers
through the gravel at Turn Three. He pits at the lap’s end. Piquet stops and
retires.
Lap 33: Hamilton leads by 3.4s. Sato pulls off to retire.
Lap 39: Hamilton sets a new fastest lap: 1m27.452s. He leads by 6.4s. The
closest fight is for sixth, where Bourdais has Kubica and Alonso in his
immediate slipstream.
Lap 43: Hamilton and Rosberg pit. Kovalainen leads and sets a new fastest
lap – 1m27.418s. Räikkönen loses more time when he spins on his own.
Lap 44: Heidfeld pits. Glock crashes heavily. The Safety Car is deployed.
Lap 45: Barrichello refuels before the pit lane opens. Honda’s refueller is
sent flying as the Brazilian rejoins prematurely.
Lap 47: Kovalainen pits, as does Alonso. Hamilton leads from Heidfeld,
Barrichello, Rosberg, Bourdais, Kubica, Nakajima and Räikkönen.
Lap 48: Kubica and Nakajima pit. Only Nakajima rejoins.
Lap 49: Restart. Barrichello is given a 10 second penalty for refuelling
before the pit lane was open. Kovalainen passes Räikkönen and Alonso passes
both of them.
Lap 51: Hamilton leads Heidfeld by 3.5s. Räikkönen loses five seconds in the
final sector.
Lap 52: Another very slow lap from Räikkönen – he is about five seconds off
the pace.
Lap 54: Räikkönen crawls into the pits and stops.
Lap 56: Bourdais pulls off after his engine emits a plume of smoke.
Lap 57: Kovalainen passes Alonso but the Spaniard recovers fourth spot of
the finishing straight.
Lap 58: Hamilton records his fifth Formula One win by 5.4s, with Heidfeld
second from Rosberg, Alonso, Kovalainen, Barrichello (subsequently excluded
for exiting the pit lane when the pit exit lights were red), Nakajima and
Bourdais. |
