Massa took pole position for what was the first ever F1 night race and inaugural , beating Hamilton by six-tenths of a second. He maintained the lead at the start and after 14 laps, was over 5 seconds ahead of Hamilton. However, a crash for Nelson Piquet Jr. brought out the safety car, bunching up all the cars. It was then time for the first round of stops and during his stop Massa was given the green light to go, but the refueller was still refuelling the car. Massa left with the fuel rig attached and so had to stop at the end of the pitlane. The mechanics ran the length of the pitlane and finally removed the rig, but Massa was now last. He was then given a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release, and was 15 seconds behind the rest of the field. His race ruined, he finished 13th and Hamilton who finished third was now seven points ahead of him.
