Webber again lost out in the second round of stops as he rejoined behind backmarker
Takuma Sato, who it took the Aussie some time to clear and whose obstinacy in being lapped enabled Heidfeld to get past. Hamilton was again the first of the two McLarens to pit second time around – switching over to the harder tyres for the final twelve laps – and crucially he held his position over Heidfeld, whilst Kovalainen's stop a lap later saw the Finn rejoin comfortably ahead of Trulli, dashing
Toyota's podium hopes.
Indeed, the major interest in the closing stages of the race was the gap between Trulli and Hamilton behind, as the 2007 vice-champion pushed hard to put pressure on the Italian, taking increasing chunks of time out of the fourth-placed man's lead. With eight laps to go the deficit stood at 4.7 seconds, and Trulli's earlier pace was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Further back, Alonso was similarly beginning to hound Webber for seventh place, closing right in on the back of the RB4 as the chequered flag loomed. A little ahead, Hamilton's pursuit of an increasingly ragged-looking Trulli had cut the deficit to under three seconds, forcing the Toyota pilot – who memorably lost third place to
Rubens Barrichello in the final corner of the 2004 French Grand Prix, leading to a sizeable falling-out with
Renault MD Flavio Briatore and his premature departure from the
Régie later that season – to raise his game.
When the pair began the final tour they were practically nose-to-tail, as Heidfeld unexpectedly produced the fastest lap of the race and
Jenson Button went for a spot of late-race grass-cutting in the
Honda, but up front nobody could hold a candle to Raikkonen, who crossed the line some 19.5 seconds ahead of Kubica for his second Malaysian victory and 16th of his
F1 career, equalling no less a man than the great Sir
Stirling Moss.
