The 2008 season brought a significant technical change: traction control was banned by the FIA at the end of 2007, making this the first race since the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix without the system. Fernando Alonso had moved back to Renault, with Heikki Kovalainen replacing him at McLaren alongside Hamilton. Kimi Räikkönen remained at Ferrari alongside Felipe Massa following his 2007 title-winning season.
Hamilton claimed his seventh career pole position with a 1:26.714 in the final qualifying session. Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber was a tenth of a second behind in second. Kovalainen qualified third and Massa fourth. Räikkönen's qualifying was severely disrupted when a fuel pump problem at the end of Q1 prevented him from setting a time in the subsequent sessions, leaving him 16th. Mark Webber had a brake failure in Q2 and spun into the gravel, ending his session in 15th. Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso suffered an oil pump failure before Q3, preventing him from setting a time. Timo Glock qualified ninth but was demoted to 19th after two five-place grid penalties, one for a gearbox change and one for impeding Webber.
The race began in dry conditions with an air temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. The opening lap was calamitous: Massa spun out of turn one while racing Kovalainen and damaged his front wing on the barriers; Nelson Piquet Jr. made contact with Giancarlo Fisichella, forcing Fisichella to retire; at turn three, Mark Webber, Anthony Davidson, Jenson Button, and Sebastian Vettel all made contact and retired. Kazuki Nakajima then drove into the spinning Vettel and lost his own front wing. A safety car was deployed immediately.
Through the first stint Hamilton led comfortably from Kubica and Rosberg. Räikkönen, who had elevated himself from fifteenth to eighth on the opening lap, worked his way forward and eventually passed Rubens Barrichello for sixth on lap 19. A second safety car was deployed on lap 26 after Massa attempted to pass David Coulthard and the two collided; Coulthard retired and Massa followed three laps later with engine failure.
Räikkönen twice attempted ambitious overtakes on Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock at turn three and spun on both occasions, losing places. On lap 44, Glock ran wide onto the grass and the bottom of his car struck two large bumps; the second launched the car briefly into the air, breaking the suspension on landing. Glock retired and a third safety car was deployed. On the same lap, Barrichello left a pit stop prematurely due to a false signal from his chief mechanic before the fuel hose was removed; several mechanics suffered minor injuries, and Barrichello received a ten-second stop-go penalty for pitting while the pit lane was closed.
When racing resumed on lap 47, Kubica was eliminated on lap 48 after a collision with Nakajima. Fernando Alonso had profited from the heavy attrition to reach fifth with eight laps remaining before Kovalainen overtook him on the penultimate lap's back straight, only to accidentally activate the pit lane speed limiter and immediately surrender the position again.
Only seven cars of the original 22 finished the race. Barrichello was subsequently disqualified from sixth after the stewards ruled he had passed a red light at the pit lane exit. Hamilton won having led all but five laps during his pit stops. Heidfeld took second and Rosberg third. Räikkönen and Sébastien Bourdais — in his Formula One debut — were classified eighth and seventh respectively for completing 90 percent of race winner's distance.
Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with ten points, followed by Heidfeld on eight and Rosberg on six. McLaren led the Constructors' Championship with 14 points, five ahead of Williams — their strongest championship position since 2004. Nakajima was issued a ten-place grid penalty for the Malaysian Grand Prix for his collision with Kubica under safety car conditions.
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