The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 October 2008. It was the 16th race of the 2008 Formula One season. Fernando Alonso won the race for the Renault team from fourth position on the starting grid. Robert Kubica finished second for BMW Sauber, and Kimi Räikkönen third for Ferrari.
About 2008 Japanese Grand Prix in brief
The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 October 2008. It was the 16th race of the 2008 Formula One season. Fernando Alonso won the race for the Renault team from fourth position on the starting grid. Robert Kubica finished second for BMW Sauber, and Kimi Räikkönen third for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton, the eventual Drivers’ Champion, led the Championship going into the race. Ferrari established a seven-point lead over the McLaren team in the Constructors’ Championship. McLaren–Mercedes were leading with 135 points, one point ahead of their rivals Ferrari, whom they had overtaken at the previous race. The sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, launched the Make Green Cars campaign at the start of the season to improve the quality of components in F1 cars. The race was held at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan, with a 67-lap race lasting two hours and 15 minutes. The victory was Alonso’s second consecutive win; he started from 15th on the grid to win the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks prior. Heikki Kovalainen began from third, next to Alonso. Hamilton was criticised by the British racing press for overaggressive driving. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Hamilton’s principal Championship rival, was penalised after an incident on lap two in which he touched Hamilton’s car, causing it to spin. Massa later collided with Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso, and was demoted from sixth to tenth position.
The penalty prompted widespread criticism from the racing media and ex-drivers. Hamilton emphasised the value that a conservative racing strategy could hold for his title chances. He said: “I hate driving for points, but I think we can all see the benefit of that approach at the moment. I was actually able to start thinking of the world championship. I actually think Singapore was a good learning experience” In the battle for fourth place, Renault had 51 points, five points ahead of Toyota. A botched pit stop had demoted Massa from first position to the back of field. With three races remaining in the Championship and a seven point deficit, Massa remained confident about his title chance. The teams, also known as “constructors”, were Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, Honda, Force India, BMW Saubers, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Williams and Toro RosSO. The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two. The drivers’ championship was decided by a points-scoring shootout between Hamilton and Massa. Hamilton won the Drivers’ Championship with 84 points, while Massa was second with 77 points. Behind them in the drivers’ Championship, Robert Kubicas was third with 64 points in a BMW Sauber, and Massa’s Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikk önen was fourth with 57 points.
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