2008 Singapore Grand Prix

2008 Singapore Grand Prix
Race 15 of 18 in the 2008 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Race details
Date	September 28, 2008
Official name	2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix
Location	Marina Bay Street Circuit Marina Bay, Singapore
Course	Street Circuit
Course length	5.067 km (3.148 miles)
Distance	61 laps, 309.087 km (192.058 miles)
Weather	Dry, Air Temp: 28 °C (82 °F), Wind Speed: 2.2 metres per second (7.2 ft/s), Humidity: 79%
Attendance	300,000 (3-Day Total) 100,000 (3-Day Average)
Pole position
Driver	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Time	1:44.801
Fastest lap
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Time	1:45.599 on lap 14 (lap record)
Podium
First	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Second	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota
Third	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 28 September 2008 at 20:00 SST at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. It was the 15th race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship, the 800th Formula One World Championship race overall, and the first ever Formula One race held at night. This was also the first time Singapore hosted a Formula One race, as the last Singapore Grand Prix was a Formula Libre event in 1973.

The 61-lap race was won by Fernando Alonso for the Renault team from 15th on the grid after his teammate deliberately crashed on lap 14 to bring out the safety car after his first pit stop. Nico Rosberg claimed second in his Williams followed by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Felipe Massa of Ferrari started from pole position, but finished out of the points. Drivers' Championship leader Hamilton was second while reigning world champion Kimi Räikkönen qualified third. They continued in this order until Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed on lap 14, bringing out the safety car as planned after Alonso's pit stop. The leading drivers all pitted when the pit lane was opened. Massa prematurely left the pit box with his fuel hose still attached and dropped to last place.

Alonso, who had pitted before the safety car was deployed, subsequently took the lead and won the race. Nico Rosberg managed to finish second despite incurring a stop-go penalty and Hamilton completed the podium in third. Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard finished 7th, scoring the final points of his career. Kazuki Nakajima also scored his final points. The result saw Hamilton extend his lead in the Driver's standings to 7 points over Massa, who failed to score. McLaren also took over the lead in the Constructors' Championship by one point from Ferrari.

In September 2009, Renault F1 admitted in an FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting that Piquet had deliberately crashed per instructions from Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds in the hope of helping Alonso win. The Renault team were handed a disqualification from Formula One, which was suspended for two years pending any further rule infringements. Briatore was banned from all FIA-sanctioned events for life, while Symonds was banned for five years.^[1] Briatore and Symonds sued the FIA in French courts; on 5 January 2010, the Tribunal de Grande Instance overturned the ban which had been put in place on both men.^[2]