| 2008 Turkish Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 5 of 18 in the 2008 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details[1][2] | |||||
| Date | 11 May 2008 | ||||
| Official name | 2008 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Istanbul Racing Circuit, Tuzla, Turkey | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.338 km (3.317 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 58 laps, 309.396 km (192.250 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny with temperatures reaching up to 17 °C (63 °F)[3] | ||||
| Attendance | 40,000 | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:27.617 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |
 Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:26.506 on lap 20 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
|
Lap leaders | |||||
The 2008 Turkish Grand Prix (officially the 2008 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix)[4] was a Formula One motor race held on 11 May 2008 at the Istanbul Racing Circuit, Tuzla, Turkey. The 58-lap race, the fifth of the 2008 Formula One World Championship, was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team from pole position. Lewis Hamilton finished second in a McLaren, with Kimi Räikkönen third in the second Ferrari.
Massa claimed pole, with teammate Räikkönen fourth, the two Ferrari cars sandwiching the McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen and Hamilton. At the first corner Räikkönen clipped Kovalainen's rear tyre and gave him a puncture. The safety car was deployed on the first lap, after a collision, but only remained out for one lap. During the course of the race, Hamilton, intending to make one more pit stop than both Ferrari drivers, was faster than Massa due to carrying a lighter fuel load and overtook him on lap 24. After Hamilton had made his third pit stop, he rejoined in second behind Massa but in front of the Championship leader, Räikkönen. Massa won the race, with Hamilton 3.779 seconds behind, and Räikkönen a further half-second behind. The two BMW Sauber cars of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld took fourth and fifth.
In the week running up to the grand prix, the Super Aguri team had withdrawn from Formula One, due to financial problems, leaving the sport with only ten teams. Massa's victory was his third consecutive pole position and victory in Turkey, having also won the race from pole in 2006 and 2007. Rubens Barrichello celebrated his 257th Grand Prix start, breaking Riccardo Patrese's previous record of 256. Due to the race result, Räikkönen's lead in the Drivers' Championship was lowered to seven points. Massa rose to second from fourth, whilst Hamilton dropped to third, both drivers tying on 28 points but separated by Massa's two wins thus far to Hamilton's one. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari increased their lead to 22 points ahead of BMW Sauber, with McLaren a further two points behind in third.
- ^ "2008 Turkish Grand Prix". The Official Formula 1 Website. 2008-05-11. Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ^ "Grand Prix of Turkey". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2008-05-11. Archived from the original on September 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ^ Weather info for the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix Archived 2015-05-21 at the Wayback Machine at Weather Underground
- ^ "Turkish". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-12. Retrieved 4 January 2021.