2008 Formula One season

2008 FIA Formula One World Championship season Previous: 2007 Next: 2009 Index: Races by country | Races by season

The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races.

Lewis Hamilton won the driver's title by a point – by overtaking Toyota's Timo Glock on the final corner of the final grand prix of the season to claim the required 5th place finish – from Brazilian Felipe Massa while Massa's teammate, the 2007 world champion, Kimi Räikkönen was ranked third, with two wins. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro won the constructors' title.^[1] In winning the title, Hamilton became the youngest driver ever to win the title (a record since supplanted by Sebastian Vettel's winning of the 2010 driver's title) and the first black driver to do so. He was also the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996.^[2]

Eleven teams competed in the championship, although Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the 2008 Formula One season due to financial troubles, completing four races. New technical rules for 2008 included the banning of traction control after it was re-introduced in 2001. 2008 also introduced two new street circuits. The Valencia Street Circuit and Marina Bay Street Circuit hosted the European GP and the new Singapore GP respectively. The Singapore GP was also the first Formula One event held at night.

This was the last season for the Honda team before they pulled out of F1 later in December due to the global economic crisis. Then, Ross Brawn bought the team and renamed it to Brawn GP in February of 2009 using the Mercedes-Benz engines. This was also the last Formula One season to race with grooved tyres, used since 1998, before slick tyres returned to Formula One in 2009.

It was the first time in the history of Formula One that all teams have used the same two drivers throughout the season and it was the first time that all the race cars were driving without traction control since the beginning of 2001.

Contents 1 Pre-season testing 2 Teams and drivers 2.1 New Entries 2.2 Team Changes 2.3 Driver changes 3 2008 Race Calendar 3.1 Calendar changes 4 Rule changes 4.1 Qualifying 5 Results and standings 5.1 Grands Prix 5.2 Drivers 5.3 Constructors 6 Report 7 Race-fixing controversy 8 References 9 External links

Pre-season testing

The first multi-team test session started in Jerez on 14 January 2008. Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota all tested their 2008 cars. Williams tested a modified version of the FW29 whilst Renault and Red Bull tested their 2007 entries. Honda, Toro Rosso, Super Aguri and Force India also attended. BMW Sauber was not in attendance as they were launching the F1.08.^[3] Testing then moved to Valencia on 22 January. Renault and Williams were the only teams on the track for the first day of testing. They were both testing their 2008 challengers.^[4] They were joined by every other team except Super Aguri for the next three days. 1 February saw testing move to Barcelona. Again, all teams but Super Aguri were in action. The first day of testing saw Kazuki Nakajima crash his FW30.^[5] It also saw racist abuse directed at Lewis Hamilton. Williams withdrew from testing on day three to try to fix the problem that caused Nakajima's crash. Meanwhile on 4 February, Ferrari and Toyota moved to Bahrain to continue testing the F2008 and TF108.^[6]

On 12 February testing returned to Jerez. Red Bull and Williams were the only teams in action on the first day.^[7] The second day of testing saw all teams but Ferrari and Toyota (who were still in Bahrain) attending. After postponing their SA08 launch and cancelling testing at Valencia, Super Aguri turned up to test their SA07B interim car for the first time.^[8]

Testing moved to Barcelona on 19 February. The first day of tests got underway in rain with Williams, Red Bull, Renault and Toyota present. Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets for Williams. BMW were instead testing on their own in Jerez.^[9] Super Aguri did not turn up despite promising a Q&A with the media. They blamed circumstances beyond their control. On the second day Ferrari turned up and topped the time sheets with Felipe Massa on another wet track. McLaren joined on the final day and Williams finished on top with Nakajima. The final multi-team test began on 25 February with every team but Super Aguri attending. Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets faster than both Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher. McLaren continued to outpace Ferrari on day two with both drivers on top and Toyota were fastest with Jarno Trulli on the final day.

Teams and drivers

There were a total of seven teams signed up to compete in the championship through an agreement with Formula One Management, with the other four major manufacturers in the Grand Prix Manufacturers’ Association (GPMA) having signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. All teams in both groups have two spots each on the 2008 grid. The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship:^[10]

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine †	Tyre	No.	Race drivers	Rounds	No.	Test driver(s)
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2008[11]	Ferrari 056	B	1	Kimi Räikkönen[12]	All	31	Luca Badoer[13] Marc Gené[13] Michael Schumacher[14]
					2	Felipe Massa[15]	All
BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.08[16]	BMW P86/8	B	3	Nick Heidfeld[17]	All	32	Christian Klien[18] Marko Asmer[18]
					4	Robert Kubica[17]	All
ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R28[19]	Renault RS27	B	5	Fernando Alonso[20]	All	33	Lucas di Grassi[21] Romain Grosjean[22] Sakon Yamamoto[23]
					6	Nelson Piquet, Jr.[20]	All
AT&T WilliamsF1 Team	Williams	FW30[24]	Toyota RVX-08[25]	B	7	Nico Rosberg[26]	All	34	Nico Hülkenberg[27]
					8	Kazuki Nakajima[26]	All
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB4[28]	Renault RS27	B	9	David Coulthard[29]	All	35	Sébastien Buemi[30]
					10	Mark Webber[31]	All
Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF108[32]	Toyota RVX-08	B	11	Jarno Trulli[33]	All	36	Kamui Kobayashi[34]
					12	Timo Glock[35]	All
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR2B[36] STR3[37]	Ferrari 056	B	14	Sébastien Bourdais[38]	All	37	Brendon Hartley[39]
					15	Sebastian Vettel[40]	All
Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA108[41]	Honda RA808E	B	16	Jenson Button [42]	All	38	Alexander Wurz[43] Anthony Davidson[44] Mike Conway[45] Luca Filippi[46]
					17	Rubens Barrichello[47]	All
Super Aguri F1 ‡	Super Aguri	SA08[48]	Honda RA808E	B	18	Takuma Sato[10]	1–4	39	none
					19	Anthony Davidson[10]	1–4
Force India Formula One Team	Force India	VJM-01[49]	Ferrari 056[50]	B	20	Adrian Sutil[51]	All	40	Vitantonio Liuzzi[51]
					21	Giancarlo Fisichella[51]	All
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-23[52]	Mercedes FO108V	B	22	Lewis Hamilton[53]	All	41	Pedro de la Rosa[54] Gary Paffett[54]
					23	Heikki Kovalainen[55]	All

• ^† All engines were 2.4 litre V8 configuration.
• ‡ Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the 2008 Formula One season due to financial troubles.

New Entries

On 14 February 2006 the FIA president Max Mosley announced that all teams interested in competing in the 2008 World Championship would have a seven-day window during which they would have to submit an application to compete.^[56] All eleven current teams applied, as well as several others. On April 28, 2006 the FIA announced that all of the current teams' applications for the 2008 season were granted, along with a new team Prodrive, fronted by the ex-BAR and -Benetton principal David Richards. There were 21 applications in total, several new teams applying included European Minardi F1 Team Ltd, Jordan Grand Prix, Direxiv and Carlin Motorsport. However despite the Prodrive application being accepted, Richards later announced that the team would not race in 2008 due to a dispute over the legality of customer cars.^[57]

Team Changes

• Rumours about the possible sale of the Spyker team had been abundant in the paddock throughout the last few months of the 2007 season. Only a year after Spyker bought the team from Midland, Indian businessman Vijay Mallya bought the team for €88 million, several million more than Spyker paid.^[58] On 24 October 2007, Mallya was granted permission to change the team's name to Force India. Force India had a driver announcement ceremony in January 2008 where it was revealed that Sutil would be second driver partnered by first driver Giancarlo Fisichella and test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.^[51]
• On 28 April 2006, rallying and motorsports technology firm Prodrive were officially granted entry to Formula One when the FIA announced the list of entrants to the 2008 Formula One World Championship. While a total of 21 teams applied for entry, the FIA had always maintained that only 12 teams would be granted entry, meaning only one new team would line up on the grid in 2008. FIA president Max Mosley revealed that Prodrive had found the finances to support their bid. Also, Prodrive's chief executive, David Richards, has experience as a Formula One team principal".^[59] However on 23 November 2007, after lengthy negotiations between FIA president Max Mosley regarding customer cars, Richards announced that Prodrive F1 would not compete in the 2008 Formula One World Championship, as the legal situation left no time for the team to be set up.^[60]
• During the 2008 season on May 6, the Super Aguri team folded and withdrew from Formula One. The team was in dire financial straits at the end of 2007 as the team did not receive a payment on a sponsorship deal.^[61] Super Aguri rejected a buyout offer in January 2008 from an Indian consortium led by the CEO of the Spice Group, on the condition Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan drove in the line-up, because it meant demoting or cutting one of the team's 2007 drivers.^[62] Despite this Super Aguri were unable to sign any contracts until agreements had been reached with their sponsors.^[63] Sato and Davidson were confirmed on 10 March.^[64] Super Aguri announced that a major deal had been made with Magma Group to solve the team's financial problems, however this fell through, and on 6 May 2008, Super Aguri withdrew from the Formula One World Championship.^[65] It affirmed a prediction at the start of the season by Max Mosley saying the team would not make it to the final race in Brazil.^[66]

Driver changes

Changed teams

• Fernando Alonso: McLaren → Renault F1
• Heikki Kovalainen: Renault F1 → McLaren
• Giancarlo Fisichella: Renault F1 → Force India
• Nelson Piquet, Jr.: Renault F1 (test driver) → Renault F1 (race seat)
• Timo Glock: GP2 Series/BMW Sauber F1 (test driver) → Toyota Racing (race seat)
• Vitantonio Liuzzi: Scuderia Toro Rosso → Force India (test driver)
• Kazuki Nakajima: GP2 Series/WilliamsF1 (test driver) → WilliamsF1 (race seat)^†
• Alexander Wurz: WilliamsF1 → Honda Racing F1 (test driver)
• Christian Klien: Honda Racing F1 (test driver) → BMW Sauber (test driver)
• Sakon Yamamoto: Spyker F1 → Renault F1 (test development driver)

Entered F1

• Sébastien Bourdais: Champ Car World Series → Scuderia Toro Rosso
• Marko Asmer: British Formula Three Championship → BMW Sauber (test driver)^†

Exited F1

• Ralf Schumacher: Toyota Racing → DTM Touring Cars series

2008 Race Calendar

The FIA World Council approved the 2008 schedule on 24 October 2007. Singapore was Formula One's first ever night race.^[67]

Round	Official race title	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date	Time
					Local	UTC
1	ING Australian Grand Prix	Australian GP	Albert Park, Melbourne	16 March	15:30	04:30
2	Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix	Malaysian GP	Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur	23 March	15:00	07:00
3	Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain GP	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	6 April	14:30	11:30
4	Gran Premio de España Telefónica	Spanish GP	Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona	27 April	14:00	12:00
5	Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix	Turkish GP	Istanbul Park, Tuzla	11 May	15:00	12:00
6	Grand Prix de Monaco	Monaco GP	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	25 May	14:00	12:00
7	Grand Prix du Canada	Canadian GP	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal	8 June	13:00	17:00
8	Grand Prix de France	French GP	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	22 June	14:00	12:00
9	Santander British Grand Prix	British GP	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	6 July	13:00	12:00
10	Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland	German GP	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	20 July	14:00	12:00
11	ING Magyar Nagydíj	Hungarian GP	Hungaroring, Budapest	3 August	14:00	12:00
12	Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe[68]	European GP	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia†	24 August	14:00	12:00
13	ING Belgian Grand Prix	Belgian GP	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa	7 September	14:00	12:00
14	Gran Premio Santander d'Italia	Italian GP	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	14 September	14:00	12:00
15	SingTel Singapore Grand Prix‡	Singapore GP	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Marina Bay†	28 September	20:00	12:00
16	Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix	Japanese GP	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	12 October	13:30	04:30
17	Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix	Chinese GP	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	19 October	15:00	07:00
18	Grande Prêmio do Brasil	Brazilian GP	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	2 November	15:00	17:00

† New circuits
‡ Night Race

Calendar changes

• Singapore hosted its first Grand Prix in 2008, with a contract for the next five years. The race, held on a street circuit designed by KBR, is Formula One's first night race.,^[69] The practice and qualifying sessions also take place at night.^[70]
• The European Grand Prix took place at the Valencia Street Circuit in 2008, changing from the Nürburgring which hosted the event up until 2007. Because both German circuits share the right to host an F1 race, the German Grand Prix took place at Hockenheimring in 2008. It will continue to alternate between these two circuits yearly.
• The Indianapolis Motor Speedway did not hold a Grand Prix in 2008; however, a possible return to Indianapolis in the future has not been completely ruled out^[71] although the US Grand Prix is due return in 2012 to a circuit in Austin, Texas.
• In the run up to the 2007 French Grand Prix it was reported that it would be the last Grand Prix to be held at Magny-Cours.^[72] Some alternatives suggested for the French Grand Prix included Paul Ricard or a new circuit near Disneyland Paris or Charles de Gaulle airport. However on 24 July 2007 it was reported that Bernie Ecclestone had "agreed in principle to maintain the race at Magny-Cours in 2008, and even 2009, if there were no other alternatives."^[73]

Rule changes

• A standard Electronic Control Unit was supplied by Microsoft MES, a joint venture between Microsoft and McLaren Electronic Systems.^[74]
• Traction control and launch control banned along with several other electronic aids including engine braking reduction.^[75]
• An engine freeze to last five years was started in 2008,^[76] with the first unscheduled engine change of the season not leading to the usual 10 place grid penalty.^[77]
• Fuel of the cars must have been made up of at least 5.75% biological materials.^[78]
• Gearboxes to last four races, 5 place grid penalty for a gear box change. If a driver did not finish a race, he was allowed to change the gearbox for the next race without receiving a penalty.^[79]
• Improved cockpit protection.^[80]
• The use of a spare car was restricted. Each competing team would not be allowed to have more than two cars available for use at any time. In this context, a car was considered as such if it was a partially assembled survival cell, fitted with an engine, any front suspension, bodywork, radiators, oil tanks or heat exchangers.^[79]
• Bridgestone will be the official tyre supplier for the 2008–2010 seasons.^[81] They would also be marking their extreme wet weather tyres with a white line in the central groove to differentiate it from the softer wet weather tyre compound.^[82]
• No competing team was allowed to carry out more than 30,000 km (18,641 mi) of testing during the 2008 calendar year.^[79]

Qualifying

• The first part of qualifying lengthened to 20 minutes, and final part of qualifying shortened to 10 minutes. Teams taking part in Q3 would no longer be allowed to add fuel back to the car after qualifying to eliminate 'fuel-burn' phase.
• A minimum lap time for each qualifying session was implemented from Round 3 in Bahrain to stop cars coasting back to the pits at dangerously low speeds as seen in Round 2 in Malaysia. Both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were demoted five grid places after the stewards decided that they had impeded Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso. The minimum lap time was different for each race. For example, it was 1:39 in Bahrain.
• From 8 May 2008, the FIA announced that, following Super Aguri's departure from Formula One, the qualifying procedures changed. Rather than six drivers being eliminated at the end of Q1, only the five lowest-qualified drivers would be eliminated. This increased the likelihood that one of the midfield contenders would drop out, as only the top 15 drivers would go through to Q2. The Q2-Q3 transition remained unchanged.^[83]

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Rd.	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Heikki Kovalainen	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Felipe Massa	Nick Heidfeld	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	Report
3	Bahrain Grand Prix	Robert Kubica	Heikki Kovalainen	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Report
4	Spanish Grand Prix	Kimi Räikkönen	Kimi Räikkönen	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	Report
5	Turkish Grand Prix	Felipe Massa	Kimi Räikkönen	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Felipe Massa	Kimi Räikkönen	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
7	Canadian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Kimi Räikkönen	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	Report
8	French Grand Prix	Kimi Räikkönen	Kimi Räikkönen	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Report
9	British Grand Prix	Heikki Kovalainen	Kimi Räikkönen	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
10	German Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Nick Heidfeld	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
11	Hungarian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Kimi Räikkönen	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
12	European Grand Prix	Felipe Massa	Felipe Massa	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Report
13	Belgian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Kimi Räikkönen	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Report
14	Italian Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Kimi Räikkönen	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	Report
15	Singapore Grand Prix	Felipe Massa	Kimi Räikkönen	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
16	Japanese Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Felipe Massa	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Report
17	Chinese Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
18	Brazilian Grand Prix	Felipe Massa	Felipe Massa	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Report

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR ESP TUR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN CHN BRA Points 1 Lewis Hamilton 1 5 13 3 2 1 Ret 10 1 1 5 2 3 7 3 12 1 5 98 2 Felipe Massa Ret Ret 1 2 1 3 5 1 13 3 17† 1 1 6 13 7 2 1 97 3 Kimi Räikkönen 8† 1 2 1 3 9 Ret 2 4 6 3 Ret 18† 9 15† 3 3 3 75 4 Robert Kubica Ret 2 3 4 4 2 1 5 Ret 7 8 3 6 3 11 2 6 11 75 5 Fernando Alonso 4 8 10 Ret 6 10 Ret 8 6 11 4 Ret 4 4 1 1 4 2 61 6 Nick Heidfeld 2 6 4 9 5 14 2 13 2 4 10 9 2 5 6 9 5 10 60 7 Heikki Kovalainen 5 3 5 Ret 12 8 9 4 5 5 1 4 10† 2 10 Ret Ret 7 53 8 Sebastian Vettel Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 5 8 12 Ret 8 Ret 6 5 1 5 6 9 4 35 9 Jarno Trulli Ret 4 6 8 10 13 6 3 7 9 7 5 16 13 Ret 5 Ret 8 31 10 Timo Glock Ret Ret 9 11 13 12 4 11 12 Ret 2 7 9 11 4 Ret 7 6 25 11 Mark Webber Ret 7 7 5 7 4 12 6 10 Ret 9 12 8 8 Ret 8 14 9 21 12 Nelson Piquet, Jr. Ret 11 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 7 Ret 2 6 11 Ret 10 Ret 4 8 Ret 19 13 Nico Rosberg 3 14 8 Ret 8 Ret 10 16 9 10 14 8 12 14 2 11 15 12 17 14 Rubens Barrichello DSQ 13 11 Ret 14 6 7 14 3 Ret 16 16 Ret 17 Ret 13 11 15 11 15 Kazuki Nakajima 6 17 14 7 Ret 7 Ret 15 8 14 13 15 14 12 8 15 12 17 9 16 David Coulthard Ret 9 18 12 9 Ret 3 9 Ret 13 11 17 11 16 7 Ret 10 Ret 8 17 Sébastien Bourdais 7† Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret 13 17 11 12 18 10 7 18 12 10 13 14 4 18 Jenson Button Ret 10 Ret 6 11 11 11 Ret Ret 17 12 13 15 15 9 14 16 13 3 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Ret 12 12 10 Ret Ret Ret 18 Ret 16 15 14 17 Ret 14 Ret 17 18 0 20 Adrian Sutil Ret Ret 19 Ret 16 Ret Ret 19 Ret 15 Ret Ret 13 19 Ret Ret Ret 16 0 21 Takuma Sato Ret 16 17 13 0 22 Anthony Davidson Ret 15 16 Ret 0 Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR ESP TUR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN CHN BRA Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Light blue Practiced only (PO) Friday test driver (TD) (from 2003 onwards) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

^† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Constructors

Pos Constructor Car No. AUS MAL BHR ESP TUR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN CHN BRA Points 1 Ferrari 1 8† 1 2 1 3 9 Ret 2 4 6 3 Ret 18† 9 15† 3 3 3 172 2 Ret Ret 1 2 1 3 5 1 13 3 17† 1 1 6 13 7 2 1 2 McLaren-Mercedes 22 1 5 13 3 2 1 Ret 10 1 1 5 2 3 7 3 12 1 5 151 23 5 3 5 Ret 12 8 9 4 5 5 1 4 10 2 10 Ret Ret 7 3 BMW Sauber 3 2 6 4 9 5 14 2 13 2 4 10 9 2 5 6 9 5 10 135 4 Ret 2 3 4 4 2 1 5 Ret 7 8 3 6 3 11 2 6 11 4 Renault 5 4 8 10 Ret 6 10 Ret 8 6 11 4 Ret 4 4 1 1 4 2 80 6 Ret 11 Ret Ret 15 Ret Ret 7 Ret 2 6 11 Ret 10 Ret 4 8 Ret 5 Toyota 11 Ret 4 6 8 10 13 6 3 7 9 7 5 16 11 Ret 5 Ret 8 56 12 Ret Ret 9 11 13 12 4 11 12 Ret 2 7 9 13 4 Ret 7 6 6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 14 7† Ret 15 Ret Ret Ret 13 17 11 12 18 10 7 18 12 10 13 14 39 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 17 5 8 12 Ret 8 Ret 6 5 1 5 6 9 4 7 Red Bull-Renault 9 Ret 9 18 12 9 Ret 3 9 Ret 13 11 17 11 16 7 Ret 10 Ret 29 10 Ret 7 7 5 7 4 12 6 10 Ret 9 12 8 8 Ret 8 14 9 8 Williams-Toyota 7 3 14 8 Ret 8 Ret 10 16 9 10 14 8 12 14 2 11 15 12 26 8 6 17 14 7 Ret 7 Ret 15 8 14 13 15 14 12 8 15 12 17 9 Honda 16 Ret 10 Ret 6 11 11 11 Ret Ret 17 12 13 15 15 9 14 16 13 14 17 DSQ 13 11 Ret 14 6 7 14 3 Ret 16 16 Ret 17 Ret 13 11 15 10 Force India-Ferrari 20 Ret Ret 19 Ret 16 Ret Ret 19 Ret 15 Ret Ret 13 19 Ret Ret Ret 16 0 21 Ret 12 12 10 Ret Ret Ret 18 Ret 16 15 14 17 Ret 14 Ret 17 18 11 Super Aguri-Honda‡ 18 Ret 16 17 13 0 19 Ret 15 16 Ret Pos Constructor Car No. AUS MAL BHR ESP TUR MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN CHN BRA Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Light blue Practiced only (PO) Friday test driver (TD) (from 2003 onwards) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

^† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

‡ Super Aguri withdrew from the Formula One world championship on May 6, 2008, with immediate effect.^[84] The company went into administration a day later.^[85]

Report

The 2008 Formula 1 season was one of the closest in the history of the sport. Kimi Räikkönen rivaled Lewis Hamilton during the first half of the season, and Felipe Massa challenged Hamilton through the second half. In the final round in Brazil, the Championship came down to a single overtake of Timo Glock by Lewis Hamilton on the last corner of the last lap to secure 5th position and thus he was able surpass Felipe Massa by one point.

The season started at Australia where Hamilton took pole and his fifth career victory. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finished second while Williams' Nico Rosberg sealed his first podium finish. The race saw only seven drivers finish the race, reduced to six after Honda's Rubens Barrichello was disqualified for exiting the pits under a red light. Despite an engine problem, Toro Rosso debutant Sébastien Bourdais completed over 90% of the race distance, earning him points in seventh.

A grid penalty for impeding drivers and a pit stop mishap left Hamilton in fifth place at Malaysia, while Räikkönen took his 16th career victory after qualifying in pole position. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica finished second for the first time with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen third.

Hamilton qualified third at Bahrain despite a crash, with Kubica taking his first pole position. Massa won the race with team-mate Räikkönen in second. Kubica made it onto the podium, while Hamilton had a bad race, finishing 13th. He was back in the points at Barcelona, while Räikkönen took Ferrari's third consecutive victory, Massa making it another 1-2.

Massa took pole and won for the third succesive Istanbul race, Hamilton splitting the Ferraris on the podium. At Monaco, Ferrari locked out the front row with Massa on pole, but on a bad day for Ferrari, with Räikkönen ruining what could have been Sutil's chance to score, Hamilton won the race despite a mid-race barrier scrape causing him a puncture. Kubica finished second and Massa was third.

Hamilton was on pole position at Montreal for the first time since the beginning of the season, a drought of five races, however a pit lane mishap involving himself and Räikkönen eliminated both drivers from the race. Kubica (who also got caught up in the mess but made it through safely) won for the first time with team-mate Heidfeld second. Räikkönen started the French Grand Prix on pole, but exhaust problems allowed team-mate Massa to get the better of him, and he took his third season victory. Hamilton won back-to-back at Silverstone and Hockenheim. Kovalainen took advantage of Massa's engine failure to take his first career victory at Hungary.

The new Valencia Street Circuit was the new host of the European Grand Prix, Massa taking pole and winning with Hamilton second. At Belgium, Hamilton qualified on pole and finished in first, though he received a 25-second penalty for gaining an advantage during a scrap with Räikkönen. Massa was the classified winner.

Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever pole man and victor after a stunning weekend at Monza. The race saw a downfall for the big teams, Kovalainen doing a good job for second. Singapore hosted its first ever F1 race and F1's first ever night race, taking place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Massa qualified on pole. The race saw Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. purposely crash (see 'Race-fixing controversy' below), although Piquet never released this until dropped from the team after the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, assisting team-mate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win. He was victorious from a fuel feed problem in Q2 leaving him 15th on the grid, though he still out-qualified Piquet Jr. Rosberg finished on the podium for the second and last time in 2008.

Alonso won again in Japan with Kubica second. Hamilton started the race on pole, however after he forced other drivers off the track thanks to an error (earning him a drive-through), and spun shortly after that, he had a bad race, finishing twelfth. He was back to winning ways for the first time since Hockenheim, though, victorious at Shanghai.

At this point, Hamilton had a seven-point lead over Massa, meaning if Massa was to be the victor at his home race in Brazil, Hamilton would need to finish fifth, and he was holding this position though being stalked by Vettel, who eventually passed him on lap 69, as Massa won to momentarily take the title. However, fourth-placed Glock was failing in a futile attempt to finish the race on dry tyres. Both Vettel and Hamilton passed him, gifting Hamilton the championship title by one point.

Race-fixing controversy

In a scandal that became known as "Crashgate" in the media, during the 2009 season around the time of the Belgium Grand Prix, allegations by former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. about his crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix led to charges of race-fixing against Renault and the departure of team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds.

References

External links

• formula1.com – 2008 official driver standings
• formula1.com – 2008 official team standings
• 2008 Formula One images Retrieved from www.motorsport.com on 13 November 2008
• 2008 Formula One videos Season review videos retrieved from several video sites
• 2008 Formula One Circuits 2008 Formula One Race Tracks on Google Maps

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