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A night to remember
Monday 29 September 2008
A pit-lane mix up could yet prove to be the difference in the 2008 Drivers’ Championship, with the terrible mistake made by Ferrari costing Felipe Massa dearly and handing Lewis Hamilton the advantage.
On a night where Formula One made its post-sunset debut, an extraordinary race was littered with incidents, none more telling than Massa's attempts to exit the pits with the fuel line still attached to his car.
The blunder moved him from first to last and opened the door for Fernando Alonso to grab his first win of the season, brilliantly working his way up from 15th on the starting grid.
There were big smiles from Williams' Nico Rosberg as well, who enjoyed his best ever finish, a second-place spot - but the most satisfied man must have been McLaren's Hamilton, who saw his Championship lead extend to seven points following his third-place finish.
"This was a positive end to a difficult weekend," the British driver commented. "After the second re-start, I tried to stay as close as possible behind Nico, however, I didn't want to take chances, particularly as the Ferraris were outside the points.
"Also, this is not a track where overtaking is easy. The first night race in Formula 1 history was great fun."
Renault's Alonso was full of praise for his team after nailing his first podium finish of the year: "We chose a very aggressive strategy and we had a bit of luck," he said, "but we had the pace and the car was fantastic throughout the weekend."
(Photo Copyright © Toyota Motorsport GmbH)
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