2008 Japanese Grand Prix

Bridgestone used tyres with green grooves for this race only. Rubens Barrichello (top) demonstrates the "prime" compound, whilst Nick Heidfeld (bottom) is running on the "option" compound, distinguished by the fact that one of the grooves is white.

Make Cars Green tyres

The Grand Prix saw the debut of Bridgestone's Green Striped grooved tyres as part of the FIA's Make Cars Green campaign, an initiative demonstrating that Formula One’s teams and partners are backing the Make Cars Green campaign’s goal to reduce the impact of motoring on the environment.¹²³

Circuit Facility Improvements

Because Fuji Speedway was criticized on a lot of faults in the previous year, the circuit worked out improvement plans, especially on two points: access to the circuit by shuttle buses, and hospitality and environment in the circuit.⁴　The circuit spent about two billion yen (US$19 million) for this improvement.⁵

Report

Practice

The first practice session saw McLaren's Lewis Hamilton take the fastest lap with a 1:18.91, beating Brazilian title hopeful Felipe Massa by 0.153s. 3rd was Hamilton's teammate Heikki Kovalainen who finished 2nd in 2007 to get his first ever podium. Kimi Räikkönen rounded out the top 4, the Ferrari driver looking to keep his title hopes alive by winning the race and hoping Massa and Hamilton did not score points. The top 8 was finished by Fernando Alonso, Nelson Piquet Jr., Sebastian Vettel, and Polish driver Robert Kubica. The 2nd practice threw up a surprise, with Toyota's Timo Glock grabbing the fastest lap, ahead of Alonso.⁶

Qualifying

Race

The race was notable for incidents involving both the championship contenders, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. At the start of the race, Kimi Räikkönen made a good start from second position, getting ahead of pole-sitter Hamilton. Hamilton, however, moved down the inside before the first corner, outbraking himself and running wide. This forced the drivers behind him to also go off the track, including the cars of Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen, for which Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty.

The second incident happened soon afterwards on the second lap when Hamilton attempted to pass Massa into the chicane at turn 10. Hamilton pulled alongside the Ferrari and Massa ran wide to avoid a car ahead, enabling Hamilton to pass. Massa, who did not have enough space to pull alongside Hamilton going into the corner, crossed the grass and came back in at the second bend of the chicane, pushing the McLaren into a spin. Massa was later given a drive-through penalty for this move. Hamilton, who had been in 6th place behind Massa, dropped down to last place and managed to finish the race in 12th place.

The third notable incident happened on lap 50 between Massa and Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso. Massa, continually setting fastest lap times, had climbed up to 8th place after having dropped down to 13th as a result of his drive-through and his first pit-stop. Just after Bourdais left the pitlane after making his final stop, Massa attempted to pass him and the two cars collided at the first corner. Massa spun, but rejoined the track and eventually finished 8th. Bourdais finished the race in 6th place, but had 25 seconds added to his overall time as a penalty for the incident, dropping him down to 10th place. This ultimately had the effect of promoting Massa to 7th place, and giving him an extra championship point. It was a controversial penalty as prior to the race FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting clarified that drivers leaving the pit lane had the right of way.⁹ Bourdais was adamant that he was not to blame.¹⁰

The race was won by Fernando Alonso for Renault, with Robert Kubica and Räikkönen in 2nd and 3rd. Kubica and Alonso had both benefitted from the first-lap incident, though it was Kubica who was ahead of Alonso before the first pit-stops. The positions were reversed when Alonso made a later but shorter pitstop. He then set a series of fastest laps on a clear track with a lighter fuel load, building up enough of a lead to eventually win the race. Kubica came under pressure from Räikkönen in the final few laps but managed to hold on for 2nd. Earlier, Kovalainen had retired from the race with an engine failure while running 3rd on lap 17.

Massa picked up two points (7th place after Bourdais' penalty was imposed), and so trailed Hamilton by five points in the drivers' championship with two races to go. Ferrari, meanwhile, took eight points from the race and went back to the top of the constructors' standings, ahead of McLaren by seven points.