When the action got underway again for the third time, the question now was whether Hamilton could make any impression on second-placed Massa, whilst Heidfeld's penalty destroyed his hopes of a rostrum finish, and maybe even any points at all as he dropped right down to the back of the field as a result. Webber, Trulli and Rosberg, meanwhile – the latter enjoying an increasingly strong race from his lowly grid slot – reprised their Bahrain showing to battle it out over the lower points-scoring positions and Brits Button and Coulthard were also in close proximity again further back, with just 16 runners left in play.
On lap 33 there was heartbreak for Spanish fans as Alonso suddenly slowed from third place, with flames licking out of the back of his
Renault engine as he parked it on the grass to make it a double whammy for the luckless
Régie. That promoted Webber, Trulli and Rosberg's battle to one for fifth place, with Nakajima eighth and, incredibly, the plucky
Takuma Sato ahead of
Giancarlo Fisichella, Button, Coulthard,
Timo Glock and Heidfeld just shy of the points. Only 14 drivers now remained in contention following Barrichello's retirement, and both
Super Aguri and
Force India began to sense a real opportunity to open their accounts for the year.
Massa, Hamilton and Kubica were still tussling it out over the runner-up spot, just under three seconds adrift of race leader Raikkonen with half-distance completed, though the Finn seemed merely to be pacing himself and able to turn up the wick at will. On laps 39 and 40 Hamilton again gave a small indication of what
McLaren's true pace could be should the team only be able to properly unlock it, by lapping quicker than Raikkonen for two laps in succession, but there was misery for Rosberg, who like Alonso suffered an engine failure coming onto the pit straight, dashing the young German's hopes of a points finish.
