2008 Japanese Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads on 84 points. Massa second on 77, Kubica third on 64, Räikkönen fourth on 57, Heidfeld fifth on 56. McLaren lead the Constructors’ on 135 points, one ahead of Ferrari, with BMW Sauber third on 120.

Previous race

Alonso won in Singapore from 15th on the grid, his first Formula One victory since rejoining Renault. Rosberg finished second, Hamilton third. Massa had started from pole position and was leading the race when he was released from his pit stop with the fuel hose still attached; his crew had to chase him down the pit lane to remove it. Massa dropped to last and failed to score, while Hamilton extended his lead to seven points and McLaren took over the Constructors’ lead.

Between-race developments

Following the Singapore pit stop incident, Ferrari have reverted from their traffic light release system to the traditional lollipop man.

The FIA launched its “Make Cars Green” campaign at this race weekend. The grooves in all cars’ tyres will be painted green throughout the Japanese Grand Prix weekend to promote environmentally friendly driving.

Practice

Hamilton was fastest in FP1 at 1:18.910, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Massa, with Kovalainen third. Räikkönen, Alonso and Piquet completed the top six within a second of Hamilton. Toyota’s Glock led FP2 at 1:18.383, with Alonso second and Hamilton third; the top 17 drivers finished within a second of Glock’s fastest lap. Honda tried a new traffic light pit stop release system for the first time during FP2. Saturday’s session ran on a damp track where grip was poor; many drivers ran wide. Kubica was quickest at 1:25.087, ahead of Glock, Piquet Jr. and Heidfeld. Force India’s Sutil and Fisichella spent most of the session in the garage with mechanical problems.