An even bigger collision deeper in the pack threatened to bring the safety car back into play, but the marshals were able to clear the wreck of Wurz's
Williams - which had gone out of control under braking and clattered into Massa's
Ferrari - before the pack returned, allowing Hamilton to continue unhindered.
Massa, meanwhile, saw his race go from bad to worse as, despite surviving the clout from Wurz, he was summoned for a drive-thru' penalty, punishment for retaking his position after spinning under the safety car. Clearly fired up, the Brazilian skated off at turn one, again rejoining undamaged, but he wasn't quite as hot under the collar as local favourite
Takuma Sato, who pitted for a new front wing but had his car catch light as the
Super Aguri team carried out a routine fuel and tyre stop. Sato appeared unaware of the peril as he raced out of the pit, but the increasingly heavy rain provided suitable extinguishant and the Japanese was able to continue.
The leaders, split by just over two seconds, were lapping in the 1min 28s range by the time they were finally forced to pit for fuel and tyres, Alonso stopping first. The eleven-second stationary time confirmed that
McLaren was now able to contemplate the switch to a single-stop strategy, but the world champion's exit proved slightly mistimed as he rejoined in the midst of the battle for fourth involving
Giancarlo Fisichella,
Heikki Kovalainen,
Robert Kubica and
David Coulthard, miring the Spaniard in seventh.
Hamilton stopped next time around and, having pressed on once Alonso disappeared from his mirrors, got off a lot lighter as he pulled back into line
ahead of the Renaults. The Briton was, however, only third on the road, having been passed by the unlikely duo of
Sebastian Vettel and
Mark Webber while he was serviced.
