|
Ferrari's Felipe Massa awarded
|
|
Britain's Lewis Hamilton
|
At the end of lap 42, Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen converged on entry into the Bus Stop chicane, and the duo collided, pushing the Briton on to the run-off area. Hamilton resumed the lead, but had to yield otherwise he would have been penalized by the stewards.
Within a heartbeat of allowing Raikkonen back in front down the start-finish straight, Hamilton attacked again, and passed at La Source. The rain then poured down, and from then on the rest of the lap became a lottery as Hamilton first ran wide, allowing Raikkonen back in front. But moments later Raikkonen slid off into a wall, out of the race, and potentially out of the championship.
Hamilton then tip-toed around the track for the last lap, punching the air when he finally crossed the line. Massa managed to claim second, with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld taking advantage of the mayhem to finish a flying third.
A stewards' inquiry then handed the race to Massa as Hamilton was given a 25-second penalty after it was adjudged the McLaren driver had cut that Bus Stop chicane to gain an advantage over leader Raikkonen.
(CCTV September 9, 2008)