With the AT&T Williams drivers starting the fifty six lap 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix from sixteenth and twenty second positions it was going to be a difficult time for Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

At the front Ferrari were on the harder tyre, joined by Kubica. The McLaren's were on the softer option. They would complete their formation lap and lined up on the grid. The lights would go out and Massa would lead  Raikkonen into Turn one. Kubica was in third followed by Webber and Trulli. Hamilton was able to move past Trulli. The Torro Rosso of Bourdais would spin off into the  gravel. Nico was down in fourteenth and Kazuki seventeenth. Kazuki was able to makeup five places at the start. Glock would pit joined by Nico on lap three.  Heidfeld was down in tenth after coming into close contact with Trulli.

Nico was to lose his nose after clashing with Glock. Glock would retire in the pit. Massa was still leading, setting a fastest lap on lap three, 1m:37.295. Raikkonen was still in second followed by Kubica, Webber, Hamilton, Trulli,  Kovalainen, and in eighth Heidfeld.

Another fastest lap for Massa, 1m:37.043, on lap five. Kazuki was in fifteenth and Nico last. Kazuki was challenging Sutil. Massa would take off an extra few tenths as he set another fastest lap on lap six,  1m:36.802. Kazuki was able to pass Sutil but the German was to retire. He would then pass Vettel going into Turn one.

Kazuki was now in thirteenth. Raikkonen would pick up the pace putting in a fastest lap, 1m:36.707, on lap eight. Hamilton was now closing in onto fourth placed Webber. Massa would respond to Raikkonen's pace with another fastest lap, 1m:36.263. Kubica was still in third. Lap twelve and another fastest lap for Massa, 1m:36.108. Kazuki was now right behind twelfth placed Piquet.

Raikkonen would again respond to Massa with a fastest lap on lap fourteen, 1m:35.871. Hamilton was pressuring Webber but was certainly giving his tyres a hard time doing it. Nico was still running last and had been lapped by the leaders. His car was really struggling.

Lap seventeen and Webber would pit. Kazuki would also come in from thirteenth. Webber would stay on the harder tyre. The next lap Massa would pit from the lead. Massa would also take the harder tyre. Trulli and Heidfeld would also pit. Raikkonen was now leading as he set a fastest lap on lap seventeen, 1m:35.679. He would pit on lap nineteen. It would be a quick stop taking on the harder tyre. Raikkonen would come out just in front of Massa. Kubica was leading as second placed Hamilton would pit on lap twenty. He would stay on the softer tyre but would have a slow stop with a problem with the right front tyre been changed. Hamilton would now struggle just to get some points.

Lap twenty one and Kovalainen would pit from second. He would switch to the harder tyre. Hamilton was down in eleventh. Kubica would pit from the lead on lap twenty two. He would stay on the harder tyre. As a result of the pit stops Raikkonen was now leading Massa by 3.5 seconds. Alonso would pit from fourth on lap twenty three. Button would also come in from seventh.

Nico was now in seventeenth and Kazuki fifteenth. It was really a struggle for the Williams pair. Coulthard would pit from fourth on lap twenty four. But Nico was still fighting passing Sato going into the final corner. Those yet to pit were Piquet, Vettel, and Barrichello. Piquet would pit on lap twenty five. He was joined by Vettel and Barrichello.

Lap twenty seven and Raikkonen was leading from Massa, Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber, Hamilton, and in eighth Heidfeld. Hamilton was again challenging Webber. But Heidfeld was running right behind Hamilton. Lap thirty and Kazuki would pit from thirteenth. Nico would also pit from seventeen. Nico would changed from the softer option to the harder.

But the race would take a major turn as Massa was to spin his Ferrari beaching his car in the gravel. He would spin the car between Turns seven and eight. Kubica was now in second and Kovalainen third. Trulli was in fourth followed by Webber, Hamilton, Heidfeld, and Alonso. Trulli was pushing Kovalainen. Kazuki was in fifteenth and Nico eighteenth.

Lap thirty three and Raikkonen's lead was now 22.3 seconds. Lap thirty seven and Raikkonen would set a new fastest lap, 1m:35.405. Kim i would pit the next lap seeing Kubica take the lead with Kovalainen in third. Lap forty and Webber would pit. Lap forty three and Heidfeld and Alonso would pit. Nico would be lapped by Hamilton. Kubica was still leading from Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Trulli, Coulthard, Button, and Heidfeld.

lap forty four Kubica would pit from the lead. He would take on the softer tyre. Raikkonen was also on the softer tyre. Button would pit. Both McLaren's had yet to stop. Hamilton would pit on lap forty five. He was joined by Coulthard. There would be no repeat of the front tyre problems for Hamilton. The next lap and Kovalainen was in for his second stop.

Hamilton was on the harder tyre while Kovalainen was on the softer tyre. Nico was running in fourteenth and Kazuki seventeenth. The order was Raikkonen from Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber, and Alonso in eighth. Barrichello would incur and pit lane speeding penalty. He would pit from lap forty eight.

The race was fairly quite at this stage with the closest fight between Webber and Alonso chasing him. But Hamilton was pushing hard to close the gap between himself and fourth placed Trulli. Raikkonen was cruising at the front with his lead now 20.9 seconds after forty nine laps. With both Williams drivers having been lapped this race was a real disappointment for the team.

With just a handful of laps Hamilton was still pushing with the gap now 2.6 seconds to Trulli. But Trulli would also respond. Alonso was just 0.5 behind Webber but he would not make it easy for the Renault driver. Lap fifty four and Trulli's lead over Hamilton was now 1.7 seconds.

With one lap left in the Malaysian Grand Prix neither Hamilton or Alonso had been able to get past Trulli and Webber. Lap fifty five and a new fastest lap for Heidfeld, 1m:35.366. As he completed the last lap Raikkonen would take the chequered flag and victory in Malaysia. Kubica was second followed by Kovalainen, Trulli, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber, and in eighth Alonso.

For the AT&T Williams team Nico and Kazuki would come home in fourteenth and seventeenth. Nico would strangely set his personal best lap time right at the end of the race, 1m:36.782. After the result in Australia the result in Malaysia must be a major disappointment for the team.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  1h31:18.555
 2.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    19.570
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    38.450
 4.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    45.832
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    46.548
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    49.833
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:08.130
 8.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:10.041
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:16.220
10.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +  1:26.214
11.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:32.202
12.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda     (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda     (B)  +    2 laps
17.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Heidfeld, 1:35.366

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    41
Massa         Ferrari               (B)    31
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)    7
Glock         Toyota                (B)    2
Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    1