2008 Malaysian Grand Prix

2°45′39″N 101°44′18″E / 2.76083°N 101.73833°E / 2.76083; 101.73833

2008 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 18 in the 2008 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	23 March 2008
Official name	2008 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix
Location	Sepang International Circuit Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.543 km (3.444 miles)
Distance	56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 miles)
Weather	Sunny, partly cloudy
Attendance	126,690 (Weekend) [1]
Pole position
Driver	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Time	1:35.748
Fastest lap
Driver	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber
Time	1:35.366 on lap 55
Podium
First	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Second	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber
Third	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally the 2008 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix)^[2] was a Formula One motor race held on 23 March 2008 at the Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Malaysia. It was the 2nd race of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 56-lap race was won by Kimi Räikkönen for the Ferrari team after starting from second position. Robert Kubica finished second in a BMW Sauber car, with Heikki Kovalainen third in a McLaren.

It was an all-Ferrari front row, as Felipe Massa started from pole position, with Räikkönen alongside. The McLarens of Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton had been expected to line up behind the Ferraris on the second row, but both drivers were given five-place grid penalties post-qualifying for holding up Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso respectively, dropping them to eighth and ninth on the grid. Massa cut across his Ferrari teammate at the start, to stop him overtaking on the run to turn one. The top four of Massa, Räikkönen, Kubica and Mark Webber held station until the first round of pit stops. Räikkönen took the lead after these stops and after Massa retired following a spin into the gravel, the Finn cruised to a victory of nearly twenty seconds. Championship leader Hamilton could only finish in fifth position, after a tardy first stop on lap 19, with his McLaren team encountering a problem on his front right tyre and lost ground while trying to pass Webber.

Despite his fifth position, Hamilton kept the Drivers' Championship lead with 14 points, closely followed by Räikkönen and Heidfeld on 11. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren also kept their lead, with their five-point lead from Australia staying intact. BMW Sauber moved into second place on 19, with Ferrari in third on 11.