The 58-lap race, the fifth of the 2008 Formula One World Championship, was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team from pole position.

Massa claimed pole, with teammate Räikkönen fourth, the two Ferrari cars sandwiching the McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen and Hamilton.

During the course of the race, Hamilton, intending to make one more pit stop than both Ferrari drivers, was faster than Massa due to carrying a lighter fuel load and overtook him on lap 24.

After Hamilton had made his third pit stop, he rejoined in second behind Massa but in front of the Championship leader, Räikkönen.

Rubens Barrichello celebrated his 257th Grand Prix start, breaking Riccardo Patrese's previous record of 256.

The teams, also known as "constructors", were Ferrari, BMW Sauber, Renault, Williams, Red Bull Racing, Toyota, Toro Rosso, Honda, Force India and McLaren.

[11] The Super Aguri team had been in financial trouble since a proposed takeover deal backed by equity firm Dubai International Capital, under the "Magma Group" banner, failed to take effect.

[13] Suzuki then admitted that his financial troubles could not be solved by existing primary sponsor SS United Group Oil & Gas Company, leaving the team with no choice but to withdraw from Formula One as of May 6.

[14] The Toro Rosso team's plan to introduce its new car, the STR3, at this race were postponed due to a lack of spare parts.

[15] This was due to an accident suffered by driver Sébastien Bourdais during testing prior to the previous race, which had resulted in the chassis sustaining heavy damage.

[18] Ferrari decided not to use a new nose for their car that had made its début at the previous race due to the low-downforce nature of the Turkish circuit.

[19] According to team manager Luca Baldisserri, "The cars used by Kimi [Räikkönen] and Felipe [Massa] are basically to the same specification as those that were used in Spain, with the exception that at Istanbul Park we will not use the slotted nose.

The new nose worked very well, but as we said when we gave it its race debut in Barcelona, we would only use it at circuits where we deem it will bring us an advantage over a more conventional component.

[22] In the first free practice session, several large damp patches around the circuit – caused by late track cleaning rather than rain – dissuaded drivers from attempting laps and left the frustrated teams sitting in the pits waiting for the surface to dry as low track temperatures made the situation worse.

[23] Massa set the session's fastest time, ahead of McLaren duo Heikki Kovalainen and Hamilton.

[24] The second free practice session was held in dry conditions, but the track was still damp from earlier drizzle.

[25] Massa was third, while David Coulthard of Red Bull broke up the Ferrari-McLaren domination by setting the fourth-fastest time, ahead of Kovalainen.

[25] The third and final practice session was held on the Saturday morning in dry conditions, but with damp patches on the track from earlier rain.

[26] As was the pattern for the season, the championship contenders appeared to work on preparations for the final part of qualifying and the race in this session and thus carry heavier fuel loads.

[30] Afterward Bourdais said that his low position was due to being held up by both Force India drivers: "Bad traffic, basically the Force India guys, ruined my afternoon: on my first run I was held up by Sutil as early as Turn 3 and on the second, I came up behind Fisichella in Turn 8".

[35] The two cars made light contact, with Räikkönen's front wing touching Kovalainen's left rear tyre.

This resulted in a puncture for the McLaren driver which forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop on the second lap, which dropped him to 18th and last position.

[35][36] Räikkönen damaged his front wing but continued the entire race distance without changing the nose section of his car.

[36] "I thought he [Hamilton] was light – He pushed me hard" The safety car was withdrawn at the end of the second lap and the race got underway again with Massa in the lead.

[36] Running lighter on fuel with a view to making an additional pit stop to the Ferrari driver, Hamilton was able to close the gap on Massa and on lap 24, he overtook him at turn twelve.

[36] Further back in fourth and fifth were the two BMW Saubers of Kubica and Heidfeld and behind them were Alonso, Trulli, Webber, Rosberg and Coulthard, with Kovalainen pursuing closely behind them.

[36] Felipe Massa won the race, making it his third consecutive win at the circuit, 3.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with Räikkönen a further half-second behind in third.

[5][36] The two BMWs of Kubica and Heidfeld finished fourth and fifth respectively while further back Alonso, Webber and Rosberg completed the top eight.

[5] After his puncture at the start, Kovalainen had managed to recover to 12th by the end of the race, passing Glock in the closing stages.

When Hamilton came underneath me at an incredible pace, I preferred not to take too many risks: the pit wall informed me that he was clearly running a lighter fuel load even if we were not certain he was on a three stop strategy.