Behind the scenes

With his first season at Panasonic Toyota Racing drawing to a close, Timo took race team members out for dinner in Shanghai at the end of what has been a marathon stint in Asia. Timo admitted that he was looking forward to returning home to remind himself what European food tastes like. He was also amused to find a banner opposite that Toyota pits proclaiming, “Timo Glock – one stop sexpot!” He wasn’t sure whether to be honoured or whether, having qualified 13th, the locals were merely second-guessing his race strategy!

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McLaren-Mercedes Lewis Hamilton dominated the Chinese Grand Prix meeting, taking his seventh pole position of the season and romping to his fifth win of the year. The victory means that irrespective of Felipe Massa’s result at his home race at Interlagos on November 2, Hamilton can secure the world title with fifth place in Brazil.

Outgoing world champion Kimi Raikkonen qualified his Ferrari on the front row in Shanghai and spent most of the race in second place before conceding the position to team-mate Massa, in the interests of Felipe’s championship challenge. “I know what the team expected of me and it is normal in that situation,” said the Finn, who was the recipient of Massa’s help while fighting for his own championship win last year.

BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica’s outside hopes of the championship ended in China when he finished sixth, behind team mate Nick Heidfeld. Kubica failed to qualify in the top 10 for only the second time this year and it was left to Heidfeld to spearhead the team’s challenge despite a grid penalty for impeding David Coulthard.

Nelson Piquet Jr backed up Fernando Alonso’s fourth place for Renault with his fifth points-scoring drive of the season to eighth place, 15s behind Timo’s Toyota at the flag. Renault still has not confirmed the Brazilian’s seat in the team next year alongside double champion Alonso. 

Race Report

Timo Glock scored two more points for Panasonic Toyota Racing in a fighting drive to seventh place in the Chinese Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2008 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
Timo struggled to find the right car balance in practice and qualifying. But he made full use of a strong one-stop strategy to make up five places after qualifying 13th and starting 12th following a grid penalty for Mark Webber.

“I think there were only four drivers who opted for a one-stop race,” Timo explained. “It was quite difficult at first because the car was heavy and it was difficult to warm up the tyres. I went for 32 of the race’s 56 laps before I refuelled and switched to the option tyre. I pushed as hard as I could from beginning to end and I was not far behind the two BMWs at the finish. If I hadn’t been held up by Nick during the first stint I could have finished ahead of Robert. Still, it feels good to come away with another couple of points.”

Team-mate Jarno Trulli was happier with the feel of the Toyota TF108 throughout the weekend and started seventh after the grid penalties to Webber and Nick Heidfeld. Unfortunately, however, he was taken out at the first corner by contact with Toro Rosso’s Sébastien Bourdais, damaging the right side of his car’s bodywork.

Jarno said: “Away from the line I was side-by-side with Sebastian Vettel but I had to give up on him because he had the inside line. Then Sébastien Bourdais suddenly hit the right side of my car at the rear and damaged it. It is frustrating because he did this once before this year at Spa, where he also ruined my race at the first corner. I couldn't carry on which is a pity because we had a very good chance of more points.”

Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina added: “The day got off to the worst of starts when Jarno was put out of the race by another car. His motivation was very high and he could certainly have made the top six. But instead he suffered damage to the whole of the right side of his car, including the bodywork and aerodynamic parts so it was undriveable. Timo did a great job, especially considering how practice and qualifying had gone for him. He drove well and the one-stop strategy was the right one.”