Race – Hamilton wins an exceptional GP (2)
With 22 laps to go, Webber retires while he was in 2nd position under the safety car. He was hit by Vettel. Kovalainen moves up to second while Massa takes the provisional 3rd position.
Kovalainen pits on the 40th lap. He comes out in 8th place while Kubica receives a penalty for his overtaking maneuver on Hamilton. He will have to do a stop-and-go. [Results]
Räikkönen returns to the pit as he was about to be overtaken by Alonso, followed by Fisichella. Meanwhile, Yamamoto executes a very nice spin.
A lap later, a dramatic turn of events, Alonso makes a big mistake, hits the wall, and wrecks his car. He is unharmed, but the safety car comes onto the track.
The safety car returns to the pit two laps later, but no one really takes advantage of this as the positions remain unchanged. However, Räikkönen overtakes Fisichella for 5th place a few corners later. So we have Hamilton, Kovalainen, Massa, Coulthard, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Heidfeld, and Barrichello in the top 8 positions of this Grand Prix.
25 minutes before the end of the GP, as the cars will not be able to reach the full number of laps due to numerous incidents, Rosberg makes a small mistake, takes the escape route and goes into the pit. He is last.
20 minutes from the end, Schumacher, 14th and second to last, comes into the pit, but will not leave again. It’s Davidson who abandons a few seconds later. The car’s radiator is exposed…
Räikkönen pushes to the maximum, puts 4 seconds on Massa, overtakes Coulthard for 4th place, but pushes so hard that he makes a mistake… at very high speed, fortunately without damage, he even gets back on track as if nothing happened. A lap later, Massa pits and leaves Räikkönen on Kovalainen’s heels.
With 3 laps to go, this Grand Prix will finally reach the finish and Räikkönen is 0.4 seconds behind Kovalainen, he is putting a lot of pressure but the Renault driver is holding strong. Heidfeld, for his part, retires.
In the final lap, the pressure is immense, Räikkönen manages to overtake Kovalainen at turn number 6 where he is much faster on the outside… but the Renault driver perfectly retakes his position and holds the advantage until the end!
It’s even crazier for 6th place between Kubica and Massa. The two drivers are wheel to wheel in the last corners, overtaking and re-overtaking each other, and finally, after multiple runs through the run-off areas, Massa takes the 6th position just at the last second!
Button does not finish the Grand Prix; he retires on the last lap.
In the standings, Hamilton pulls away with a 12-point lead over Alonso and 17 points over Räikkönen.
