By that point, the race had lost another of its frontrunners as
Nick Heidfeld suffered a comedy moment in the pits. The German had risen to lead the race after running longer even than Hamilton, but his first stop was marred when the
BMW Sauber team failed to seat the right front wheel nut. Waved back into the fray, Heidfeld realised the problem and halted just yards from the garage, but was then forced to crawl around another lap before the situation could be rectified. The initial issue dropped him to 13th and the second stop two places further down the order, although it mattered little as Heidfeld would eventually retire with gearbox problems on lap 47.
Once order was restored, Massa picked up from where he left off, again easing away from the two McLarens. Hamilton, however, was also opening a gap over Alonso, whose gamble on the harder rubber was not paying off as track conditions changed enough to make the MP4-22 a handful. Kubica began to close in on the Spaniard, suggesting a possible repeat of Heidfeld's Bahrain battle with the
McLaren but, in truth, there was very little passing on track, despite the installation of the new chicane before the final corner.
Coulthard continued to lead Rosberg and Kovalainen, the former GP2 sparring partners running strongly for
Williams and
Renault respectively, with Barrichello upholding
Honda honour on the fringe of the points, despite pressure from Fisichella and the hovering Sato. The two Renault pilots, however, were harbouring secret problems after neither received the full complement of fuel and would have to make three stops in order to complete the race. Fortunately, their pace - while not exactly frontrunning - was enough to keep both in the hunt for a score.
