On a cloudy and chilly Sunday the grid would move off on the parade lap for the start of the fifty eight 2008 Turkish Grand Prix. For the AT&T Williams team Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima would start from eleventh and sixteenth grid positions. As in previous races the chances of points would come down to strategy and a fair share of luck.

On pole Massa and team-mate Raikkonen would start of the softer tyre. Both McLaren's were on the harder tyre. Rubens Barrichello would become the longest serving GP driver with 257 starts, beating Ricardo Patrese. The start would see Massa lead with Hamilton second. One of the Force India cars would be involved in an accident at Turn one. The Safety car would be deployed. Kubica was in third from fifth. Kazuki would lose his rear wing in the accident. Sutil would radio that he needed a new front wing. Fisichella had gone into the front corner way too fast, locking up and running into the back of Kazuki's car.

Kazuki would pull into his pit to retire with major damage to the rear of his car. Under the safety car Massa would lead from Hamilton, Kubica, Alonso, Raikkonen, and Webber. Kovalainen would pit with a left rear puncture putting him out of contention. This was as a result of his tyre making contact with the front wing of Raikkonen. Lap three would see Raikkonen pass Alonso. Massa would set a fastest lap as he pulled away from Hamilton. Nico was running in eighth after having started eleventh.

Lap nine and Hamilton was fastest, 1m:27.307, with the gap 1.5 seconds. Kubica was 3.5 seconds behind Hamilton. Lap ten and Nico was still in eighth. Kovalainen was down in eighteenth after his stop. At the front Hamilton was faster than Massa, 1m:26.869. Lap thirteen and the gap from Massa to Hamilton was now 1.1 seconds. Nico was twenty five seconds behind the leader. Alonso would pit on lap sixteen. The next lap would see Hamilton pit, stopping for 6.4 seconds. He would continue on the harder tyre. Nico was now in seventh. Kubica was now second followed by Raikkonen. Webber would pit from fourth on lap nineteen. He would come out behind Alonso. Massa would pit again taking on the softer tyre. He was followed by Kubica. Massa would return ahead of Hamilton.

Raikkonen was leading while Nico was in sixth behind Kubica. Lap twenty one and Raikkonen was pushing looking to open out the gap to Kubica when he was to make his stop. Raikkonen would pit for 8.6 seconds. He would come out in third ahead of Kubica. Massa was leading by 1.2 seconds. But on lap twenty four Hamilton would pass Massa in a late braking move. Hamilton had to get past the Ferrari given his lighter car as a s result of his short pit stop. Hamilton would open up the gap to Massa. Lap twenty five and his lead was 1.8 seconds. Bourdais was off the track and stuck in the gravel. Kovalainen would pit from
eleventh.

With twenty six laps remaining and Hamilton continued to extend his lead over Massa. He would pit again taking on harder tyres, been on a three stop strategy. He would come out behind Raikkonen. Nico had made one stop and was running in eighth on lap thirty, on what was turning out to be an uneventful race for the Williams driver. Massa was leading Raikkonen by ten seconds. Hamilton was in third and just 2.5 seconds behind Kimi with twenty laps remaining. He would have to increase his pace as Massa and Kubica would both pit with eighteen laps remaining. Raikkonen was now leading while Massa was now on the
harder tyre.

Alonso would pit on lap forty two. he was now in ninth. Heidfeld would pit coming out in front of Nico. Nico was running on the harder tyres in seventh with Coulthard just four seconds behind Nico. Raikkonen would pit from the lead. Nico would also come in with fifteen laps left. Hamilton was pushing hard at the front but would most likely come out behind Massa when he made his final stop. He would pit with thirteen laps remaining. He would take on the softer tyre coming back out in front of Raikkonen. Massa was leading from Hamilton with Raikkonen 1.1 seconds behind the McLaren.

Now on the softer tyre Nico was fending off the Red Bull of Coulthard. Nico was now in ninth and out of the points. Kovalainen would pass Coulthard while Trulli pitted from seventh. With nine laps remaining Kimi was still challenging Hamilton. Kovalainen was able to close in onto Nico and pass him going into Turn one. Raikkonen was closing in onto Hamilton with Hamilton some five seconds behind Massa. Kovalainen would pit with just seven laps remaining losing any chance of a points finish.

Raikkonen was very close to Hamilton but would he be able to pass. Nico was running in eighth. Kubica and Heidfeld were in fourth and fifth. Alonso was in sixth. Massa would start the final lap followed by Hamilton and a close Raikkonen. They would finish in this order giving Massa his second victory of 2008. Hamilton was in second followed by Raikkonen, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber and in the final points scoring place Nico Rosberg.

A single point for the Williams team was a pleasing result but far from what was hoped for. Losing Kazuki so early in the race did little to improve the teams chances in the race. Nico would drop to tenth in the drivers title, one place ahead of Kazuki.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  1h26:49.451
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     3.779
 3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +     4.271
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    21.945
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    38.741
 6.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    53.724
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:04.229
 8.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +  1:11.406
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:15.270
10.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +  1:16.344
11.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:26.506

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    25
Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)    1
Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)    1