One man having an extremely good day was
STR debutant Bourdais – up into an incredible sixth place as Sato became the race's latest retiree – but at the front Hamilton was powering away again, more than five seconds ahead of Kovalainen, with new third-placed man Heidfeld keeping the Finn honest behind.
Raikkonen's scrappy afternoon got even worse when he put two wheels onto the grass in turn three –
Ferrari's cursed corner – as he attempted to pass Glock, spinning round again. Following Hamilton and Heidfeld's second pit-stops shortly afterwards, however, all hell was about to let loose once more as the aforementioned German
Toyota ace suffered a huge shunt after running wide into turn twelve, spinning violently across the track as his TF108 literally disintegrated and brought out – yes, you guessed it – the safety car for the third time.
That harmed Kovalainen more than anyone, with the Finn having to wait until the pit-lane opened before being able to make his second stop. He would consequently rejoin right at the rear of the field in company with Alonso and Raikkonen, an incongruous bottom three in the opening race of the 2008 campaign.
Barrichello was awarded a stop-go penalty for pitting before the pit-lane had been officially re-opened – the Brazilian pulling down his re-fueller after the lollipop board was lifted prematurely and leaving the pit-lane with the red light still showing for good measure – whilst both Kubica and Nakajima subsequently pitted for treatment to damaged noses, the former's problem proving to be terminal but the latter being able to rejoin the fray following a lengthy stop.
The action on-track, though, remained as hot as ever, with both Kovalainen and Alonso diving past a startled Raikkonen in one go – the Finn doing little to justify his reigning world champion status in the season curtain-raiser – and the opportunistic Alonso almost immediately demoting Kovalainen too to move up into sixth place.
