2008 Malaysian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads the Drivers’ Championship with 10 points. Heidfeld is second on 8, Rosberg third on 6, Alonso fourth on 5, and Kovalainen fifth on 4. McLaren lead the Constructors’ with 14 points, five ahead of Williams, with BMW Sauber third on 8.

Previous race

Hamilton took pole and his fifth career victory in Australia, with Heidfeld second and Rosberg third — the Williams driver’s first podium. Attrition was severe: only seven cars crossed the finish line, and just six were classified after Barrichello was disqualified for leaving the pits past a red light. Three separate safety car periods followed lap 1 collisions that eliminated Webber, Davidson, Button and Vettel at turn three. Bourdais scored points on debut despite retiring on lap 56 with an engine failure, having covered more than 90% of the race distance.

Between-race developments

Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima carries a ten-place grid penalty into this race, applied by the stewards after he hit Robert Kubica on lap 48 under safety car conditions in Australia.

Practice

Massa was dominant in the first session, his 1:35.392 more than a second clear of any rival; Räikkönen ran out of fuel during the same session and ended second. Coulthard’s Red Bull suffered a track rod failure at the turn 12 kerb, prompting the FIA to require clarification that the car’s design met regulations; he sat out FP2. Hamilton led the second session ahead of Massa and Räikkönen. BMW Sauber returned to the top in FP3, Heidfeld fastest at 1:35.019 ahead of Räikkönen and Massa, with Trulli just one-thousandth behind Massa in fourth.