It was now that Raikkonen had to make his advantage count, the Finn running fully six laps further than Alonso and opening out a 28-second gap by the time he peeled off. It proved to be enough, the
Ferrari crew keeping him stationary for just 6.6secs and returning him to the fray comfortably ahead of the
McLaren and on the same rubber as Alonso.
British interest may have begun to wane as the crowds realised that Hamilton was unlikely to win, but took a hit on the track too as
Anthony Davidson was forced to call it a day with a car he described as 'dangerous'. The Briton did not appear to have taken a hit during the race, but could simply not get on with the
Super Aguri and parked it - for a second time after initial attempts to cure the conditions - on lap 35.
Davidson was joined on the sidelines eight laps later by Trulli, who also complained of handling problems - something the Italian had apparently been unable to dial out from the start of the weekend - while Tonio Liuzzi joined the list of retirements just four laps from home after his Toro Rosso died under him.
The anticipation had also become subdued as the race entered its closing stages, the leaders strung out and with Alonso also appearing to have opted for conservation rather than chasing a lost cause and potentially damaging his Mercedes V8. That left the main attraction up front the brewing battle between Kubica - on course to repeat his fourth place from Magny-Cours - and Massa, who had found his progress up the order hampered by faster traffic once he made it into the points and had had to battle his way into fifth with help from the Ferrari team, which helped him dispose of Heidfeld during the final round of stops.
