Qualifying for the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix would see Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima finish in ninth and tenth grid positions. But after qualifying BMW's Nick Heidfeld was given a three grid position penalty. The German driver, who had qualified in sixth position, would drop to ninth after the stewards
deemed he had impeded Barrichello as the BMW driver entered the pits. This would see AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg start from eighth position rather than ninth. Kazuki Nakajima would maintain his tenth grid position. Also it was announced that Fisichella would start the race from the pitlane.

Nico was interviewed prior to the start of the race and he would say that it was going to be a good race but that it was going to be tough for the car. But he did feel that he had a good chance to score some points. Under the lights the cars would move away on their parade lap with Massa on pole followed by Hamilton. Brakes had been discussed as an issue prior to the start of the race with many teams concerned about the performance of the brakes especially near the end of the sixty one lap race. The grid would form up and with the red lights going off the cars would get away. Most of the drivers were on the harder tyre. Alonso and Nico were on the softer tyre.

Going into the first corner it would be Massa leading from Hamilton and Raikkonen. Kovalainen would be passed by Vettel and Glock. Nico and Kazuki were in tenth and eleventh. lap one and Massa was leading from Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kubica, Vettel, Glock, Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Trulli, Nico, and Kazuki. Alonso was up to twelfth and challenging Kazuki. Lap two and Massa was fastest with a 1m:47.658 but Hamilton would beat this with a 1m:47.656. Nico was attacking Trulli. Nico was told to pass Trulli or it would be the end of the day. Massa was fastest on lap three with a 1m:46.539. His lead over Hamilton was out to 1.7 seconds. Replays showed that Kovalainen had been bumped by Kubica allowing other drivers to pass the McLaren.


Nico would try to pass Trulli but could not find a way through, running wide at Turn two. Kazuki had a major lockup seeing smoke coming from his front tyres. Trulli was holding up a line of cars behind him. Lap four and Massa's lead was out to 2.0 seconds. Raikkonen was 5.0 seconds behind Hamilton. Massa would set a fastest lap on lap five with a 1m:46.342. His lead was out to 3.1 seconds after the sixth lap. On lap seven Nico would finally make it past Trulli for ninth, passing him under braking for Turn seven. Hopefully this will allow the Williams driver to get back onto his race strategy. Nico was several seconds a lap faster now that he had past Trulli. Kazuki was also able to pass Trulli. Alonso would also pass Trulli also at Turn seven.

Lap nine and Raikkonen was fastest with a 1m:46.115. Massa's lead was still three seconds over Hamilton. Raikkonen was third followed by Kubica, Vettel, Glock, Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Nico, and in tenth Kazuki. Another fastest lap from Raikkonen on lap ten with a 1m:46.105. Massa had extended his lead out to 3.3 seconds. Nico was 10.7 seconds behind Heidfeld but was closing quickly. Lap eleven and Raikkonen was again fastest with a 1m:45.764. Lap twelve and Kimi was now 2.6 seconds behind Hamilton. Massa was now 4.0 seconds ahead of the McLaren. Alonso would pit on lap thirteen but his stop seemed to indicate that he was fuelled for a two stop strategy. Nico was now 8.9 seconds behind Heidfeld.

Lap thirteen and Massa was fastest with a 1m:45.757 and his lead was out to 4.5 seconds. Nico was now 8.0 seconds behind Heidfeld. Lap fourteen and Raikkonen was fastest with a 1m:45.599. Nico was told to push hard to open out a bigger gap to Trulli who was on a one less stop strategy that the Williams. Lap fifteen and Webber and Coulthard would pit. Piquet would crash heavily into the barrier coming out on Turn seventeen seeing the Safety Car come out. Lap sixteen and Nico had pitted but was it prior to the pit lane being open. Nico would come back out on the harder tyre. Kubica would pit on lap seventeen, staying on the harder tyre. Would he also be penalised?

While this was all happening Barrichello's car would stop out on the circuit. With the pits now open there was a rush of drivers coming in. Massa would make a big mistake taking the fuel hose down the pit lane with him. Massa would stop at the end of the pit lane and the mechanics would rush down and take the fuel hose off. It would take some time but he would finally get away. Massa did nothing wrong as he was given a green light to leave his pit box. Kazuki had also come in for his first stop. Nico was now leading but he could expect to get a 10 second stop & go penalty. Trulli and Fisichella had yet to stop and were in second and third.

Kubica was in fourth and Alonso fifth. Nico was told to push once the Safety Car came in. Webber and Coulthard were in sixth and seventh. Lap twenty and the race was underway again with Massa running last. There was now mention of any penalty for Nico and Kubica. Was Nico's stop OK? Nico was 2.8 seconds ahead of second placed Trulli. Kazuki was down in twelfth. lap twenty one and Nico was now 5.1 seconds ahead of Trulli. Hamilton was down in eighth. Nico would extend his lead out to 6.9 seconds after lap twenty two. Massa was now under investigation possibly for his exit onto the pit lane. It was also announced that Nico and Kubica were also under investigation.

Lap twenty three and Nico's lead was out to 8.5 seconds. It was announced that Massa would get a drive through penalty for an unsafe release after his pit stop. Massa would take his penalty on lap twenty five. Rosberg was also given a 10 second stop & go penalty. Lap twenty six and Nico was still leading this time by 12.2 seconds. He would extend this out to 13.2 seconds after lap twenty seven. Lap twenty eight and Kubica would pit. the BMW driver would come out in last place. Nico would take his penalty on lap twenty nine seeing Trulli now leading. he would come back out in fourth just in front of Coulthard. Fisichella would pit on lap thirty taking on a lot of fuel with a 13.1 second stop. Trulli was leading from Alonso, Nico, Coulthard, Hamilton, Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld, and in ninth Nakajima.

Webber would retire his car in the pits. Alonso was told that Trulli would stop in the next four laps as the pair started lap thirty two. Massa would pit on lap thirty two switching to the super soft tyres. Trulli would pit on lap thirty four. Bourdais and Kubica would pit from fourteenth and fifteenth. Trulli would come back out in front of Kazuki. Alonso was now leading from Nico, with the Williams driver 4.9 seconds behind the leader. Lap thirty five and twelfth placed Kovalainen would pit, taking on the harder tyre. Alonso was slowing pulling away from Nico with his lead out to 6.2 seconds after thirty six laps. Hamilton was right behind Coulthard but Coulthard was not making it easy for the McLaren driver. Raikkonen was now right behind Kazuki while Nico had dropped further back from Alonso, 7.4 seconds at the end of lap thirty eight. Kazuki would finally pass Trulli on lap thirty eight out braking him going into Turn seven.

Lap forty and Raikkonen would also pass Trulli. Alonso's lead over Nico was out to 8.0 seconds. Coulthard was 13.6 seconds behind the Williams. But Nico would have to pit on lap forty one switching from the harder to the softer tyre, the tyre he started his race on. Alonso would pit the next lap staying on the harder tyre. Nico was down in seventh as Alonso returned just ahead of Coulthard retaining the lead of the race. Hamilton would pass Coulthard going into Turn seven. Kazuki was running eighth. Lap forty three and Hamilton, Coulthard and Kazuki would all pit. Coulthard would have a small moment as he tried to leave with the fuel hose still attached. Thankfully he would stop the car so the hose could be taken out.

lap forty four and Vettel and Heidfeld would stop from third and fourth. Alonso was leading from Glock and Nico. Alonso's lead was now 5.6 seconds over Glock with Nico 8.3 seconds behind the Toyota. Kazuki had dropped to tenth. Raikkonen was now fourth followed by Hamilton, Trulli, Vettel, and Heidfeld in eighth. Glock would pit on lap forty seven allowing Nico to move into second. Glock would take on the softer tyre. Massa was down in fifteenth any hope of a point scoring finish gone. Nico was 16.3 seconds behind Alonso. Raikkonen was now third followed by Hamilton, Glock, Trulli, Vettel, and Heidfeld. Coulthard would say that he was starting to run out of brakes. Lap fofty nine and Nico had dropped back with Alonso's lead out to 18.0 seconds. Raikkonen was now right behind Nico with Hamilton 6.8 seconds behind the Ferrari.

But on lap fifty one Raikkonen would pit from third. He would come back out in fifth. Trulli would stop in his pit after costing around slowly. Sutil would crash at Turn eighteen and again the Safety Car would be deployed. Trulli would retire in the pits with a gearbox problem. Just prior to Sutil's accident Massa would spin at the same corner but was able to continue. With ten laps remaining all the cars were bunched up with Alonso's advantage gone. Sutil's car had been removed and the Safety Car would come in on lap fifty three. Nico would have to be prepared to have Hamilton challenge him for second. The racing would resume with Alonso leading from Nico and Hamilton. Kazuki was challenging Coulthard for eighth.

lap fifty four and Alonso's lead was 3.7 seconds. Nico was 1.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Amazing to see Alonso extending his lead by three seconds over Nico in one lap. Will Hamilton settle for third given that Massa will not score any points. lap fifty five and Alonso's lead was 6.1 seconds. Hamilton was now right behind Nico with Glock in fourth followed by Raikkonen, Vettel, Heidfeld, and Coulthard in eighth. Lap fifty six and Nico was now 6.0 seconds behind Alonso with Hamilton still chasing the Williams. Raikkonen was challenging fourth placed Glock. Lap fifty seven and Nico was now 6.5 seconds behind Alonso. Raikkonen would crash into the wall at Turn ten. He hit some of the kerbs and it helped him into the barrier.

Hamilton was now 1.0 seconds behind Nico with two laps remaining. Raikkonen's crash would see Kazuki move into eighth. Nico was now 4.6 seconds behind Alonso after lap fifty nine. Hamilton had dropped off Nico looking to have settled for third. Alonso would start his final lap with Nico still second and Hamilton third. Kazuki was still eighth. Williams was on the way fro a double points scoring finish. Alonso would win the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix with Nico in a fantastic second. Hamilton was third followed by Glock, Vettel, Heidfeld, Coulthard, and Kazuki getting the final point. This was a fantastic drive by Nico is light of his penalty. Nico's second place was well deserved for him and all the team. Only Williams would see both their drivers score points. Just a fantastic result.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  1h57:16.304
 2.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     2.957
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     5.917
 4.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +     8.155
 5.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    10.268
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    11.101
 7.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    16.387
 8.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    18.489
 9.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +    19.885
10.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    26.902
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    27.975
12.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    29.432
13.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    35.170
14.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +    43.571
15.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    4 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:45.599

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Trulli        Toyota                (B)    51
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)    50
Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)    30
Barrichello   Honda                 (B)    15
Piquet        Renault               (B)    14