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F1: Hamilton Loses Belgian GP Win
Written by: Kevin Krefting   
09/07/2008
Spa, Belgium
 
Hamilton won the late-race duel with Raikkonen and now leads Massa by eight points in the championship. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

What started as a chaotic race seemed set to go on to a predictable finish until chaos returned like it can only do in Belgium, and Lewis Hamilton emerged on top --until the stewards penalized him after the race (click here for story).

Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton and Felipe Massa kept the order they held at the end of the second lap until three laps to go on the Belgian Grand Prix. Then heavy rain came, and a series of bizarre incidents saw Hamilton first overtake Raikkonen at La Source with two laps to go, then lose the lead back to the Finn to avoid the spinning car of Kazuki Nakajima only to recover it a few meters later, when the Ferrari spun and crashed out.

While Massa kept his cool to finish second, a wild scramble on the last lap meant Sebastien Bourdais was set for a podium finish for Toro Rosso until being run over by the BMW of Nick Heidfeld and the Renault of Fernando Alonso, who both pitted on the last lap for wet tires. Bourdais dropped down to seventh behind teammate Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica’s BMW. Timo Glock took the remaining Spa point for Toyota.

With all drivers on dry tires but with portions of the track still damp, polesitter
Hamilton kept his lead at the start while positions shuffled wildly behind him: Raikkonen jumped from fourth to second, relegating Massa to third, while Bourdais came from ninth to fourth in the usual La Source scramble. Other big winners included the Renaults of Nelson Piquet (12th to seventh) and Fernando Alonso (sixth to fourth), while the biggest losers were McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen (third to 11th) and Heidfeld (fifth to 10th).
Portrait of a strange day: Hamilton spun on lap two, his first of two major incidents during the race, and still managed to win. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

Hamilton’s lead didn’t last long, however, as the championship leader spun at La Source on lap two, allowing Raikkonen past. Kovalainen’s day was also set to take a turn for the worse: on lap 10, he punted Mark Webber’s Red Bull and received a drive-through penalty.

Things stayed mostly stable until the first round of pit stops, kicked off by Hamilton on the 11th lap. After the leaders had pitted, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa continued ahead, followed by Alonso, Bourdais, Kubica, Vettel and Heidfeld. On lap 13, Piquet spun and retired after crashing into the barriers.

The second round of stops came around lap 25, with Raikkonen and Hamilton pitting together, and the Finn retaining a 3.8sec lead. Since Massa was behind him, Hamilton seemed satisfied enough with second.


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