Felipe Massa celebrated for the third consecutive year in Turkey on this day in 2008 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in McLaren and his team-mate Raikkonen in Ferrari who kept his championship lead.
The current world champion Kimi Raikkonen led after the first four races of the season with two wins in Malaysia and Spain and Ferrari was convincingly leading the constructors.
Massa won the pole position for the third consecutive year at Istanbul Park, 0.191 seconds ahead of Kovalainen and 0.306 seconds ahead of Hamilton while Raikkonen was in third place, 0.319 seconds behind. It was second pole position in 2008 for Brazilian after Malaysia and 11th in his career.
Last year, Hamilton had problems with tyre wear due to his aggressive driving style and in 2008 it was no different so Briton opted for three stops to avoid the potential punctures that hit him in 2007.
Massa leads Hamilton in 2008 Turkish GP (Photo: Ferrari)Raikkonen punctured the rear tyre of his compatriot Kovalainen and forced him into a early stoppage. Hamilton was lighter than both Ferraris due to the strategy of three pitstops and he overtook Massa after the first stops in the lap 24. After all pitstops were completed, Hamilton returned back in front of Raikkonen and behind the leading Massa.
Massa won convincigly, third time in a row in Turkey and second time in 2008, Hamilton was second with 3.779 seconds behind, and Raikkonen third, half a second behind Hamilton. BMW Sauber drivers Kubica and Heidfeld were fourth and fifth, Alonso in Renault six, while Webber in Red Bull and Rosberg in Williams scored the last points.
Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest lap, 0.023 seconds faster than Hamilton, although he was running two stop strategy. In 2008, the Finn set 10 fastest laps in 18 races and equalized his own record in 2005 when he also drove 10 fastest laps, but in 19 races.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.617 | – |
| 2 | 23 | H.Kovalainen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:27.808 | 0.191 |
| 3 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:27.923 | 0.306 |
| 4 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:27.936 | 0.319 |
| 5 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:28.390 | 0.773 |
| 6 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull/Renault | 1:28.417 | 0.800 |
| 7 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:28.422 | 0.805 |
| 8 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:28.836 | 1.219 |
| 9 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:28.882 | 1.265 |
| 10 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull/Renault | 1:29.959 | 2.342 |
| 11 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams/Toyota | 1:27.012 | -0.605 |
| 12 | 17 | R.Barrichello | Honda | 1:27.219 | -0.398 |
| 13 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:27.298 | -0.319 |
| 14 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1:27.412 | -0.205 |
| 15 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:27.806 | 0.189 |
| 16 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams/Toyota | 1:27.547 | -0.070 |
| 17 | 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 1:27.568 | -0.049 |
| 18 | 14 | S.Bourdais | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1:27.621 | 0.004 |
| 19 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India/Ferrari | 1:28.325 | 0.708 |
| 20 | 21 | G.Fisichella | Force India/Ferrari | 1:27.807 | 0.190 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 58 | 1:26:49.451 | |
| 2 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren/Mercedes | 58 | 1:26:53.230 | 3.779 |
| 3 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 58 | 1:26:53.722 | 4.271 |
| 4 | 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 58 | 1:27:11.396 | 21.945 |
| 5 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 58 | 1:27:28.192 | 38.741 |
| 6 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 58 | 1:27:43.175 | 53.724 |
| 7 | 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull/Renault | 58 | 1:27:53.680 | 1:04.229 |
| 8 | 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams/Toyota | 58 | 1:28:00.857 | 1:11.406 |
| 9 | 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull/Renault | 58 | 1:28:04.721 | 1:15.270 |
| 10 | 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 58 | 1:28:05.795 | 1:16.344 |
| 11 | 16 | Jenson Button | Honda | 57 | 1:26:50.629 | 1 Lap |
| 12 | 23 | H.Kovalainen | McLaren/Mercedes | 57 | 1:26:51.412 | 1 Lap |
| 13 | 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 57 | 1:26:56.703 | 1 Lap |
| 14 | 17 | R.Barrichello | Honda | 57 | 1:27:02.734 | 1 Lap |
| 15 | 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 57 | 1:27:03.906 | 1 Lap |
| 16 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India/Ferrari | 57 | 1:27:51.473 | 1 Lap |
| 17 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 57 | 1:27:52.085 | 1 Lap |
| (17) | 14 | S.Bourdais | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 24 | 38:00.946 | Mechanical |
| (19) | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams/Toyota | 1 | 2:31.878 | Collision |
| 21 | G.Fisichella | Force India/Ferrari | 0 | Collision | ||
Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen – 1:26.506 (lap 20)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | 35 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 6 |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | 28 | – | – | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 28 | 10 | 4 | – | 6 | 8 |
| 4 | Robert Kubica | 24 | – | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld | 20 | 8 | 3 | 5 | – | 4 |
| 6 | Heikki Kovalainen | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | – | – |
| 7 | Mark Webber | 10 | – | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 8 | Jarno Trulli | 9 | – | 5 | 3 | 1 | – |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | 9 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| 10 | Nico Rosberg | 8 | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| 11 | Kazuki Nakajima | 5 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – |
| 12 | Jenson Button | 3 | – | – | – | 3 | – |
| 13 | Sébastien Bourdais | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | David Coulthard | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Timo Glock | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | Rubens Barrichello | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Takuma Sato | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 20 | Anthony Davidson | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 21 | Adrian Sutil | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 22 | Sebastian Vettel | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 63 | 1 | 10 | 18 | 18 | 16 |
| 2 | BMW Sauber/BMW | 44 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | McLaren/Mercedes | 42 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 4 | Williams/Toyota | 13 | 9 | – | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | Red Bull/Renault | 10 | – | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 6 | Toyota | 9 | – | 5 | 3 | 1 | – |
| 7 | Renault | 9 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| 8 | Honda | 3 | – | – | – | 3 | – |
| 9 | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Force India/Ferrari | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | Super Aguri/Honda | 0 | – | – | – | – |
