2008 Bahrain Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads the championship with 14 points. Räikkönen and Heidfeld are joint second on 11, Kovalainen fourth on 10, and Kubica fifth on 8. McLaren lead the Constructors’ on 24 points, five ahead of BMW Sauber, with Ferrari third on 11.

Previous race

Ferrari dominated in Malaysia. Massa claimed pole, led Räikkönen through the opening stages, then spun off and retired midway through. Räikkönen took the win — his 16th career victory — with Kubica second and Kovalainen third. Hamilton could only finish fifth after a qualifying penalty and a botched pit stop in which his team had trouble removing his front-right tyre.

Between-race developments

A new minimum qualifying lap time has been introduced from this race, after Hamilton and Kovalainen were both given five-place grid penalties in Malaysia for slowing to conserve fuel on their in-laps and impeding Heidfeld and Alonso respectively. Drivers will now be required to complete their in-laps within a set time to prevent dangerously slow cars on circuit.

Practice

Ferrari set the pace across the first two sessions on a dusty, sand-dusted track. Massa led Räikkönen to a 1–2 in both. Hamilton crashed into a wall in FP2 but emerged unharmed; his McLaren required significant repairs. The final session produced a surprise — Rosberg went quickest at 1:32.521 ahead of Massa, with Webber, Trulli and Coulthard completing the top five. Räikkönen was ninth and Hamilton 18th in the final session.