Kubica suddenly lapped a full seven tenths of a second quicker than he had at any point before during the grand prix, as Webber came in at the end of lap 19 from a temporary fourth spot, the Australian not quite managing to reclaim his position from Alonso.
Massa stopped the following time around, as Kubica joined him, and
status quo was rejoined when the
Ferrari ace took back to the track again, with Hamilton within sight – but, agonisingly for the Briton, not quite touching distance. That flurry of stops promoted Raikkonen to the head of the field as the Finn finally found some speed, setting a new fastest lap of the race on lap 20.
Raikkonen was indeed right on the limit as he entered the pit-lane almost out of control, but his strategy had done the job as he rejoined the fray ahead of Kubica in a lonely third place – and clearly intent on making a dent in the two race leaders' advantage.
By lap 24, meanwhile, Hamilton had got the gap to Massa down to just half a second, and a superbly-timed move into turn twelve saw the
McLaren dive through into the lead – and he immediately pulled away. Further back Kovalainen made a similarly successful move on Piquet for eleventh spot shortly prior to his second pit-stop of the grand prix, with the Brazilian almost running off-track as the Silver Arrow shot past.
With the Scuderia Toro Rossos running 17th and 18th out of 18, Sébastien Bourdais became the race's third retirement as his STR3 became beached in the gravel trap, likely the result of a mechanical failure. At the front of the field, meanwhile, Hamilton was now on a charge, pulling five seconds clear of Massa and almost ten ahead of Raikkonen, as the Briton regularly lapped a second quicker than either of them.
