Hamilton was in just two laps after Raikkonen, and a supremely quick pit-stop saw him regain the circuit
ahead of the Finn – now with 13 laps left to chase down the 5.5-second gap separating him from race leader Massa and stave off the other scarlet machine right behind him.
As the race entered its closing stages, Kovalainen was still endeavouring to break into the top ten, less than half a second behind Coulthard in that quest, and a strong move into turn twelve once more – down the inside this time – earned him the place. With Trulli pitting, that left Rosberg – just ahead of the
McLaren – in the final points-paying position. A superb tussle the following time around saw the pair swapping places through the complex before the Finn went past to snatch eighth spot with ten laps left to run.
Raikkonen hadn’t given up either, as he continued hounding Hamilton for second place with the Briton struggling a little on the softer rubber, whilst with just eight laps to go, Kovalainen pitted again for a quick splash n’ dash – McLaren’s curious strategy destroying his hopes of points.
From being in full attack mode for the majority of the afternoon, as the race entered its closing laps, Hamilton suddenly found himself having to play a defensive role, with Raikkonen’s
Ferrari looming ever-larger in his mirrors.
On the comeback trail once more, Kovalainen went around the outside of Glock for twelfth place at turn three, with Button the next man on his radar. Tenth-placed Trulli, meanwhile, had been told to push hard to close down the 1.6-second gap separating the
Toyota ace from Rosberg and Coulthard ahead – and with it the final point – with the Italian rather amusingly replying that he was ‘pushing like hell!’
