With the McLarens showing no real speed – Hamilton lapping a full two seconds slower than the pace-setting Ferraris – fans witnessed the unexpected sight of Trulli's
Toyota piling the pressure on the Melbourne winner, though once the Briton had got into his groove he began to inch clear again and take a look at Webber's
Red Bull.
Hamilton's cause was aided as Webber became the first man to blink – entering the pit-lane absolutely on the ragged edge and almost on the grass – and as Massa came in next time around, Raikkonen was handed his chance.
In a scene not unlike that witnessed in Magny-Cours last year, the Finn immediately got the hammer down, setting a new fastest lap on Massa's in-lap before blitzing the first two sectors of his own. With the Brazilian – who had rejoined the fray behind Kovalainen – suffering a tardy out-lap, almost seven tenths of a second slower than Raikkonen's, the reigning world champion's efforts would
just prove enough as he exited the pit-lane narrowly ahead of his team-mate. Job done.
That promoted Kubica into the lead with the McLarens second and third, but when Hamilton made his own stop disaster struck as there was a problem removing the right front wheel, and more than ten additional seconds were lost in the process. The 23-year-old rejoined the action sandwiched between Webber – another big loser in the first round of stops – and Heidfeld on the outer fringes of the points-scoring positions.
Ahead of the trio, Kovalainen was one of the main beneficiaries of the stops, jumping not only his team-mate but also Trulli and Webber to move into fourth, whilst Alonso failed to run as long as many had expected him to, the
Renault slipping back outside of the top ten following his first pit visit.
