With AT&T Williams drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima starting the fifty six lap 2008 Chinese Grand Prix from fourteenth and seventeenth it was going to be a difficult race for the pair. With Hamilton on pole the cars would move away on their parade lap. Heidfeld was given a three grid place penalty for holding up Coulthard in qualifying. Kubica was told that there could be rain twenty minutes into the race. Hamilton was on the harder tyre while both Ferrari's were on the softer tyre. Fourth paced Alonso was on the harder tyre.

With the start of the race it would be Hamilton leading from Raikkonen, Massa, Kovalainen, and Alonso. Heidfeld was now sixth from ninth while Kubica was up to eighth. Nico was in thirteenth and Kazuki sixteenth. lap one and Hamilton was leading by 1.1 seconds. Alonso would pass Kovalainen for fourth. Bourdais had dropped from eighth at the start to eighteenth. Trulli would pit for a new nose. A fastest lap for Hamilton on lap two, 1m:37.332. Hamilton's lead was out to 1.9 seconds over Raikkonen. Massa was 1.1 seconds behind his team-mate. Trulli and Bourdais had made contact at Turn one after the start. Lap three and a new fastest lap for Hamilton, 1m:37.081. Trulli would pit for a second time to retire with damage to the side of his car.

Hamilton's lead was now 2.7 seconds after lap four. Nico was attacking twelfth placed Glock while Kazuki was 1.1 seconds behind fifteenth placed Button. Hamilton was pulling away at the front with a new fastest lap on lap five, 1m:36.940, and his lead was now 3.1 seconds. lap six and Hamilton continued to push with another fastest lap, 1m:36.792. Even with their softer tyre the Ferrari's were not able to match Hamilton. Nico had not been able to get past Glock. Webber would pass Barrichello for tenth going into the final turn. Lap eight and Hamilton's lead was out to 3.8 seconds. Fifth placed Kovalainen had dropped way from Alonso with Heidfeld sixth followed by Vettel and Kubica. Lap nine and a new fastest lap from Hamilton, 1m:36.683.

Webber was now in ninth having past Piquet. Raikkonen would pick up the pace setting a fastest lap on lap ten with a 1m:36.664. Nico was still right with twelfth placed Glock but unable to pass. Kazuki was down in seventeenth. Raikkonen would lower the fastest lap with a 1m:36.612. Hamilton's lead was now 3.7 seconds but third placed Massa was now 4.3 seconds behind Raikkonen. His chances of getting in front of Hamilton were looking poor. Nico was told to get past Glock as they were losing time. Webber would pit from tenth on lap thirteen. Nico would finally pass Glock with Nico running on the softer tyre. lap thirteen and Hamilton was again fastest with a 1m:36.325.

Nico was told that it was a good effort (to pass Glock0 and that he needed to put in qualifying type laps before his stop. Lap fourteen and Hamilton's lead was now 4.2 seconds. On lap fifteen both Massa and Alonso would pit. Massa stayed on the softer tyres while Alonso remained on the hard. Massa was now seventh. The next lap and Hamilton would pit from the lead. Raikkonen also come in. Sutil would run off the track at the final turn and retire. Nico would also pit from twelfth. Both Hamilton and Raikkonen would return to the track on the harder tyre. Kovalainen was now leading from Heidfeld and Hamilton now in third. Vettel was fourth followed by Raikkonen, Kubica, Massa, and Piquet. Alonso was behind his team-mate.

Heidfeld would pit on lap eighteen. Kovalainen and Vettel would pit on the next lap. This would see Hamilton again leading but his lead over Raikkonen was now 6.8 seconds. Kubica was now third followed by Massa. Massa was 13.3 seconds behind Hamilton. His chances of taking the championship fight to Hamilton were looking very remote. Nico had dropped down to eighteenth while Kazuki was fourteenth. Piquet was fifth but yet to make his first stop. Alonso was sixth followed by Kovalainen and Heidfeld. Both Ferrari's continued to fall away from Hamilton. Twelfth placed Button would make his first stop on lap twenty three. Third placed Kubica still had to make his first stop, seeming to indicate that he was on a one stop strategy. Lap twenty four and Bourdais would pit from eleventh. Sixth placed Piquet would pit on lap twenty five.

Kazuki was now twelfth and yet to pit. Lap twenty six and Kubica would pit from third. He would stay on the same tyres indicating that he would be stopping again. Massa was now in third 8.7 seconds behind Raikkonen. Nico was now seventeenth and soon to be lapped. Kazuki would set a personal best on lap twenty six. Raikkonen was edging closer to Hamilton, with Hamilton's lead now 6.4 seconds after lap twenty seven. Coulthard would pit from ninth on lap twenty nine, this being his first stop. Fisichella would pit from seventeenth. Kazuki was up to eleventh and was looking to find a way past Vettel. Raikkonen would lose over second to Hamilton on lap thirty as he tried to pass Fisichella. Hamilton's lead now 7.5 seconds. Massa was 7.0 seconds behind Raikkonen. Kazuki and Webber would pit from eleventh and twelfth on lap thirty two. Kazuki would switch to the harder tyre.

Glock would pit from seventh on lap thirty three. Nico would pass Coulthard for thirteenth while Kazuki had dropped to sixteenth. Lap thirty six and Kovalainen would suffer a right tyre puncture and as he slowly returned to his pit the tyre would disintegrate but he would make it back in to have his tyres changed. Lap thirty seven and Alonso would pit taking on the softer tyre. The next lap and Massa would pit taking on the harder tyre for his final run. Raikkonen was dropping away from Hamilton and on lap thirty nine both would pit. Piquet would also come in. Both Hamilton and Raikkonen were on the softer tyre. Heidfeld would pit from second on lap forty. Bourdais and Nico would also pit. Nico would swap to the harder tyre. Kubica would from fourth pit on lap forty one returning to the track on the softer tyre.

With Kazuki now thirteenth and Nico seventeenth there was little chance of either driver scoring any points. Lap forty two and Vettel would pit from sixth. Hamilton's lead was now 12.2 seconds. Massa was now 2.6 seconds behind his team-mate and would be looking at a second placed finish in the race. Lap forty five and Button would pit from eleventh. Massa was now 1.9 seconds behind Raikkonen. In thirteenth place Kazuki was been challenged by Bourdais. Raikkonen would extend his lead over Massa to 2.4 seconds but on lap forty six it was down to 2.0. Lap forty seven and it was now 1.4 seconds. lap forty eight and Hamilton's lead was now 14.6 seconds with Massa 1.1 seconds behind Raikkonen. Alonso was in fourth with Heidfeld fifth followed by Kubica, Glock and Piquet in eighth.

Kazuki was now twelfth and Nico sixteenth and lapped. Massa would finally pas Raikkonen on lap fifty with Massa passing his team-mate at the hairpin. Massa was now second and 16.5 seconds behind Hamilton. Kovalainen would pit again on lap fifty to park his car in his garage to retire. Nico would move up to fifteenth. Lap fifty two and the order was Hamilton from Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso, Heidfeld, Kubica, Glock, and Piquet. Alonso had taken a few seconds off Raikkonen in a somewhat unlikely hope to secure a podium finish. Kazuki was still twelfth as the leaders started their final lap. Hamilton would complete the lap to take victory in the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix. Massa was second followed Raikkonen, Alonso, Heidfeld, Kubica, Glock, and the final point would go to Piquet.

Hamilton's lead over Massa was now out to seven points with just the final race in Brazil set to decide the championship. As for the AT&T Williams team this race was a repeat of the previous one in Japan where both drivers would finish outside the points in a race that saw both drivers struggle to find any performance from their cars. Far from the way that the team and drivers would want to see the season out.