2008 German Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The 2008 German Grand Prix (formally the LXIX Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland) was a Formula One
motor race held on July 20, 2008 at the Hockenheimring
, Hockenheim
, Germany
. It was the 10th race of the 2008 Formula One season
and was contested over 67 laps. It was won by Lewis Hamilton
for the McLaren team after starting from pole position
. Nelson Piquet, Jr. finished second for Renault
, with Felipe Massa
third for Ferrari
.
Hamilton maintained his startline advantage and led until he made his first pit stop on lap 18. As other cars made their pit stops, Hamilton regained the lead on lap 22. On lap 36, Timo Glock
crashed, and the race was neutralized by the deployment of the safety car
. Hamilton, on a two-stop strategy, did not stop to get more fuel during this period, while all the cars around him did. Thus, when he did eventually stop on lap 50, he rejoined the race in fifth position. In the closing stages of the race, Hamilton first overtook his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen
, then Massa, and finally Piquet, whilst also gaining a position due to Nick Heidfeld
's late pit stop. This allowed him to take the lead again on lap 60, which he maintained to win the race.
The victory was Hamilton's second consecutive win, having won the preceding British Grand Prix
at Silverstone
. The win also put him ahead of his two main rivals in the Drivers' Championship, Kimi Räikkönen
(who finished sixth) and Massa, who were on equal points with him before the race. After the race he was four points ahead of Massa, and seven ahead of Räikkönen. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren drew closer to the two teams ahead of them, BMW Sauber
and Ferrari. Ferrari still led by 15 points from McLaren, and 12 from BMW, whose drivers – Nick Heidfeld
and Robert Kubica
– finished fourth and seventh respectively.
, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault
, BMW Sauber
, Honda, Force India
, Toyota
, Red Bull Racing
, Williams
and Toro Rosso
. Prior to the race, Lewis Hamilton
, Kimi Räikkönen
, and Felipe Massa
led the Drivers' Championship jointly, all with 48 points. Behind them was Robert Kubica
in fourth with 46 points for BMW Sauber, and his teammate Nick Heidfeld
in fifth with 36 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading with 96 points, 14 points ahead of BMW Sauber, who at this stage were ahead of McLaren, despite Hamilton tying for the lead of the Drivers' World Championship. This was due to Heikki Kovalainen's low point score of 24. Toyota were fourth, with 25 points, ahead of Red Bull by one point, who in turn were one further point ahead of Renault.
Hamilton had won the preceding British Grand Prix
by 68 seconds from Heidfeld and Honda's Rubens Barrichello
. Of his championship rivals, Räikkönen had finished fourth, Kubica had retired, and Massa had had a nightmare of a race, spinning five times and finishing 13th. In the run-up to the German Grand Prix, Hamilton had tested the McLaren MP4-23
's new front wing – introduced at the British Grand Prix – extensively in the team's simulator, and then during a pre-race test session at the Hockenheim circuit. Having honed the car's setup to his liking after initially finding the handling difficult, he used it in the race. Kovalainen was not as comfortable with the car's handling and ran a greater front wing angle to produce more downforce
, at the expense of having to run larger radiators due to the reduced airflow produced over the car. This led to a slight reduction in his car's overall performance. In other technical developments, Ferrari introduced revised bargeboards
, exhaust exits and an altered windscreen for its F60
car. BMW Sauber added turning vanes to the top of its F1.08
's nose, while Toyota removed some bodywork from its TF108
's exhaust exits. Honda also introduced new bargeboards for its RA108
chassis. All of these changes were carried out with the aim of improving each car's aerodynamic performance.
sandwiched between them in fourth place. Kubica spun off the track and Sébastien Bourdais
had a mechanical problem with his flywheel sensor towards the end of the session. Both ended up at the bottom of the timesheets as a result of these problems. Friday's second session was held in dry conditions. Hamilton again set the fastest time. Massa and Räikkönen improved to second and third positions, pushing Kovalainen down to fourth. Mark Webber
set the fifth-fastest time, after earlier having electrical and clutch problems with the car. Alonso, Nico Rosberg
, Kubica, Heidfeld and David Coulthard
made up the rest of the top ten.
In the final practice session on Saturday – which was held in dry conditions – Kovalainen was fastest, ahead of Massa and team-mate Hamilton. Alonso continued his strong practice form, finishing fourth, with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel
making it to fifth position. Kubica once again was at the bottom of the table, this time due to a transmission problem. The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes, and cars that finished the session 16th or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 15. The final part of qualifying determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position
. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions. Cars which competed in the final session of qualifying were not allowed to refuel before the race, and as such carried more fuel than in the previous sessions.
Hamilton took pole position for the ninth time in his career with a lap time of 1:15.666, having beaten Massa by two-tenths of a second in his final lap of the third session. Kovalainen, coming back after an error during his first run, qualified third, with Jarno Trulli
taking fourth position. Alonso and Räikkönen were close together in fifth and sixth positions, with just 0.006 seconds separating them. Kubica took a comfortable seventh, half a second quicker in the third session than eighth-placed Webber. Vettel and Coulthard completed the top ten. Timo Glock
took 11th place on the grid for Toyota, seven places behind his teammate Trulli. He was also the highest-placed German driver on the grid for his home race, qualifying immediately in front of compatriots Heidfeld and Rosberg. Jenson Button
and Bourdais took 14th and 15th positions respectively. Both Heidfeld and Button later said that they suffered from tyre problems during the session.
Completing the field, Kazuki Nakajima
was 16th, Nelson Piquet Jr. 17th, Rubens Barrichello
18th, whilst the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil
and Giancarlo Fisichella
brought up the rear of the grid in 19th and 20th positions. Piquet later complained that he was blocked during his first-session run by Vettel: "During my lap, Vettel was in front of me, which unsettled me a little, although the FIA
felt that he did not impede me." Kovalainen was, however, penalized by the stewards and fined €
5,000 for using a refuelling system during qualifying which had not been approved by the FIA.
At the start, Hamilton, Massa and Kovalainen all maintained their grid positions. Hamilton quickly began to pull away from the other cars, at the rate of about half a second per lap. Behind the leading trio, Kubica passed Räikkönen off the grid, and went on to pass both Alonso and Trulli at the hairpin
(turn 4), when Alonso's own attempted pass on Trulli delayed both drivers. The fight for fourth position continued in the early stages of the race. Kubica ran wide at the final corner on lap four, impeding Trulli and therefore allowing Alonso to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre on the Toyota down the main straight. However, Trulli held on to his position, and Alonso was instead passed by Räikkönen, moving him down to sixth position. At the back of the field, Nakajima spun his Williams but recovered back onto the track and continued in the race.
At the first round of pit stops, Hamilton had a lead of nearly 20 seconds over Massa, and fuelled longer than all the other drivers in the points-scoring positions when he pitted on lap 18. Coming out of the pits, Hamilton made an error and was passed by Trulli. The two drivers then nearly collided at the hairpin, with Hamilton holding back for the rest of the lap waiting for Trulli to pit. Trulli's team-mate Glock stayed out on the track longer than all of the other drivers except Barrichello and Piquet, meaning that when he pitted, he was actually in third position and rejoined the race in eighth. Hamilton regained the lead by lap 22 after Massa, Kovalainen, Trulli and Räikkönen made their pit stops, and had in the region of an 11 second lead over Massa at the half-way stage of the race. Behind the leaders, fourth-placed Kubica was beginning to catch Kovalainen in third, while Trulli, Räikkönen, Alonso and Vettel battled over the final four point-scoring places.
On the 36th lap, Glock's right-rear suspension failed coming out of the final corner. He spun through 180 degrees before hitting the pit wall with a strong rearward impact, with debris
flying across the track. The car, pointing the wrong way, rolled to a stop on the grass. A dazed Glock extracted himself before being treated at the medical centre. The safety car was deployed after the accident. When the pit lane opened on lap 38, most drivers headed in, including all of the leaders except Hamilton. McLaren believed that Hamilton had enough fuel to stay out, the plan being for him to then rapidly pull away from his heavily-fuelled rivals, after the safety car went in. Hamilton needed to build up enough of a lead to rejoin still in first position, following his final pit stop. This would prove to be very risky, as Massa rejoined in fourth position, fuelled to the finish.
Piquet, on a one-stop strategy after his poor qualifying performance, had fortuitously pitted immediately prior to the safety car's deployment and was also fuelled to the end of the race. Promoted to third place from 14th beforehand following the pit stops, he was set to take the lead once Hamilton and Heidfeld (who also had not pitted under the safety car conditions) pitted for their final stops. Further back, Vettel squeezed past Alonso at the pit exit, pushing him over the white line separating the pit lane exit from the track. Alonso complained over his radio but no action was taken against either driver. Meanwhile, Räikkönen dropped several places to 11th, having had to queue behind Massa at the second pit stops.
When the safety car came in on lap 42, Hamilton led, while Heidfeld and Piquet were running second and third. Behind them were Massa, Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg and Räikkönen. Webber's Red Bull had been dripping oil for a couple of laps after picking up debris from Glock's crash, and on lap 40 he pulled out of the race. Räikkönen quickly passed Rosberg, and then overtook the squabbling Vettel and Alonso on the way down to the hairpin, while Hamilton desperately tried to pull away at the front. Räikkönen passed Trulli two laps later, while Kovalainen overtook Kubica for fifth place. Coulthard and Barrichello collided on the 48th lap with both cars pitting for repairs. Barrichello retired three laps later due to damage sustained as a result of the incident. Hamilton pitted on lap 50, coming out behind Heidfeld, Piquet, Massa and Kovalainen. Kovalainen let his team-mate past at the hairpin one lap later, meaning that Hamilton was now fourth. On lap 52, Heidfeld set a new fastest lap time of 1:15.987. He was the only driver to go under one minute 16 seconds during the Grand Prix. At the end of the following lap, Heidfeld entered the pits with a sizeable gap over Piquet, returning to the field comfortably ahead of Kovalainen, but behind Hamilton.
Hamilton's speed allowed him to quickly catch Massa in second position, with Piquet in the lead by a further three seconds. On lap 57, Hamilton passed Massa at the hairpin. Massa appeared to have the inside line covered, but he was not fully committed to the line into the braking zone, giving Hamilton the chance to take second position. Three laps later, he used a similar overtaking move to overtake Piquet, although the Renault driver put up a greater fight than Massa had. Hamilton led easily to the finish, although Piquet kept within six seconds of him. Heidfeld threatened a slowing Massa in the last laps, while Räikkönen was able to pass Kubica for sixth place on lap 60.
Hamilton took the chequered flag first, while Piquet enthusiastically celebrated his drive from 17th to second, just 5.5 seconds behind. Massa held on to take third ahead of Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Räikkönen, and Kubica. Vettel secured eighth – the last points-scoring position – for Toro Rosso, ahead of Trulli in ninth, and Rosberg in 10th. Alonso finished 11th, ahead of Bourdais. Coulthard was 13th, Fisichella 14th, Nakajima 15th, Sutil 16th and Button was last of the classified finishers in 17th. A record of sixteen drivers finished on the lead lap, beating the previous highest number of fourteen at the 1999 Belgian Grand Prix
.
, the top three finishers appeared in the obligatory press conference. Hamilton said that the decision to not make a pit stop during the safety car period was the team's decision: "We had two very comfortable, two very decent stints and the team opted for me to stay out. I guess they thought I could pull out a gap but it was a 23 second gap I needed and I only had seven laps or something, so I don't know how that worked out." Hamilton added that he felt that things looked good for the rest of the season, stating that "if we [McLaren] can continue with this momentum we have got we are looking very good".
Ron Dennis
, McLaren's team principal, also commented on the pit stop decision:
Piquet was delighted with his drive to second after qualifying 17th, saying:
Although Piquet's result was fortuitous, Renault Engineering Director, Pat Symonds
, subsequently praised him for stepping up to the job of staying with the leaders in the final stint of the race. Meanwhile, Massa commented that his car was not in good order during the race: "It was just slow with difficult stability and also on braking I think I had a little problem as well and lost a lot of performance. I didn’t have the car to fight. I tried but it was not possible." Team-mate Räikkönen also struggled with low grip and hot brakes for the duration of the race, while Kovalainen and Kubica had problems with their tyres.
Fisichella was penalised 25 seconds for unlapping lead cars during the safety car period, which dropped him from 14th to 16th position. The stewards issued the following statement about the decision: "While the safety car was deployed, the driver of car 21 [Fisichella] chose to enter the pits before 'Lapped cars may now overtake' was shown on the timing monitors. Having done so the driver of car 21 on leaving the pitlane should then not have unlapped himself."
The treatment of Glock after his crash caused Toyota some concern. Toyota did not think that normal FIA procedure had been followed. After crashes, drivers are normally taken out of the car in their seat, whereas Glock was unstrapped and then hauled out by the marshals. Glock stayed in hospital overnight for observation, but was released the next day with no injuries. Toyota subsequently confirmed that the failed suspension component had already completed a full race distance at the previous Grand Prix, and resolved to adjust its checking procedures.
The new gap between Hamilton and Massa in the Drivers' Championship after the race stood at four points in Hamilton's favour. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren somewhat caught up on Ferrari, although the gap between the two teams was still sizeable at 19 points. McLaren were ten points behind BMW coming into the race and the deficit was reduced to three due to the race result.
Constructors' Championship standings
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
motor race held on July 20, 2008 at the Hockenheimring
Hockenheimring
The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is an automobile racing track situated near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it biennially hosts the Formula One German Grand Prix...
, Hockenheim
Hockenheim
Hockenheim is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, about 20 km south of Mannheim. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the touristical theme routes Baden Asparagus Route and Bertha Benz Memorial Route...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It was the 10th race of the 2008 Formula One season
2008 Formula One 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....
and was contested over 67 laps. It was won by Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
for the McLaren team after starting from pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
. Nelson Piquet, Jr. finished second for Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
, with Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
third for Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
.
Hamilton maintained his startline advantage and led until he made his first pit stop on lap 18. As other cars made their pit stops, Hamilton regained the lead on lap 22. On lap 36, Timo Glock
Timo Glock
Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship...
crashed, and the race was neutralized by the deployment of the safety car
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...
. Hamilton, on a two-stop strategy, did not stop to get more fuel during this period, while all the cars around him did. Thus, when he did eventually stop on lap 50, he rejoined the race in fifth position. In the closing stages of the race, Hamilton first overtook his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus....
, then Massa, and finally Piquet, whilst also gaining a position due to Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium...
's late pit stop. This allowed him to take the lead again on lap 60, which he maintained to win the race.
The victory was Hamilton's second consecutive win, having won the preceding British Grand Prix
2008 British Grand Prix
The 2008 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 6 July 2008 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, England. It was the 9th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 60 laps, was won by Lewis Hamilton for the McLaren team after starting from fourth...
at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
. The win also put him ahead of his two main rivals in the Drivers' Championship, Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
(who finished sixth) and Massa, who were on equal points with him before the race. After the race he was four points ahead of Massa, and seven ahead of Räikkönen. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren drew closer to the two teams ahead of them, BMW Sauber
BMW Sauber
BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s...
and Ferrari. Ferrari still led by 15 points from McLaren, and 12 from BMW, whose drivers – Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium...
and Robert Kubica
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006...
– finished fourth and seventh respectively.
Background
The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two. The teams, also known as "constructors", were FerrariScuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
, BMW Sauber
BMW Sauber
BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s...
, Honda, Force India
Force India
Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and...
, Toyota
Toyota F1
Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002...
, Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
, Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
and Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team...
. Prior to the race, Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
, Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
, and Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:...
led the Drivers' Championship jointly, all with 48 points. Behind them was Robert Kubica
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006...
in fourth with 46 points for BMW Sauber, and his teammate Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium...
in fifth with 36 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading with 96 points, 14 points ahead of BMW Sauber, who at this stage were ahead of McLaren, despite Hamilton tying for the lead of the Drivers' World Championship. This was due to Heikki Kovalainen's low point score of 24. Toyota were fourth, with 25 points, ahead of Red Bull by one point, who in turn were one further point ahead of Renault.
Hamilton had won the preceding British Grand Prix
2008 British Grand Prix
The 2008 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 6 July 2008 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, England. It was the 9th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 60 laps, was won by Lewis Hamilton for the McLaren team after starting from fourth...
by 68 seconds from Heidfeld and Honda's Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
. Of his championship rivals, Räikkönen had finished fourth, Kubica had retired, and Massa had had a nightmare of a race, spinning five times and finishing 13th. In the run-up to the German Grand Prix, Hamilton had tested the McLaren MP4-23
McLaren MP4-23
The McLaren MP4-23 was Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes' Formula One car for the 2008 Formula One season. It was revealed at Mercedes-Benz's motor sport museum in Stuttgart on 7 January 2008, and it had its first on-track appearance at Jerez in Spain on 9 January...
's new front wing – introduced at the British Grand Prix – extensively in the team's simulator, and then during a pre-race test session at the Hockenheim circuit. Having honed the car's setup to his liking after initially finding the handling difficult, he used it in the race. Kovalainen was not as comfortable with the car's handling and ran a greater front wing angle to produce more downforce
Downforce
Downforce is a downwards thrust created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car. The purpose of downforce is to allow a car to travel faster through a corner by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip....
, at the expense of having to run larger radiators due to the reduced airflow produced over the car. This led to a slight reduction in his car's overall performance. In other technical developments, Ferrari introduced revised bargeboards
Bargeboard (aerodynamics)
Bargeboards are pieces of bodywork on open-wheel racing cars, serving a purely aerodynamic function. They are curved vertical planes situated longitudinally, between the front wheels and the sidepods, held away from the chassis at the front on struts or other connectors, and connecting to the...
, exhaust exits and an altered windscreen for its F60
Ferrari F60
The Ferrari F60 is a Formula One motor racing car, which Scuderia Ferrari used to compete in the 2009 Formula One season. The car was unveiled on 12 January 2009.-Launch:...
car. BMW Sauber added turning vanes to the top of its F1.08
BMW Sauber F1.08
The BMW Sauber F1.08 is a Formula One racing car used by the BMW Sauber team during the 2008 Formula One season.-Launch:The F1.08 was launched on January 14, 2008 in Munich. The car was taken out for the first time at the Valencia circuit a day after the launch, where Nick Heidfeld took the car for...
's nose, while Toyota removed some bodywork from its TF108
Toyota TF108
The Toyota TF108 was a Formula One car with which Toyota competed in the 2008 Formula One season.-Launch:The 2008 Toyota challenger the Toyota TF108 was launched on the 10th of January 2008, at the team's factory in Cologne, Germany....
's exhaust exits. Honda also introduced new bargeboards for its RA108
Honda RA108
The Honda RA108 was the Formula One racing car with which Honda Racing F1 contested the 2008 Formula One season.-Launch:The car was unveiled at a test in Valencia on 23 January 2008, a week before the car's official launch, driven by Rubens Barrichello...
chassis. All of these changes were carried out with the aim of improving each car's aerodynamic performance.
Practice and Qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race – two on Friday, and a third on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted 90 minutes. The third session was held on Saturday morning and lasted an hour. During the first practice session the track was wet following early-morning rain, and shortly after the session started, further precipitation made the track even wetter, although it did begin to dry out as the session progressed. Hamilton was fastest in this session ahead of his teammate Kovalainen. The Ferraris of Massa and Räikkönen came third and fifth respectively, with Renault's Fernando AlonsoFernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
sandwiched between them in fourth place. Kubica spun off the track and Sébastien Bourdais
Sébastien Bourdais
Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007....
had a mechanical problem with his flywheel sensor towards the end of the session. Both ended up at the bottom of the timesheets as a result of these problems. Friday's second session was held in dry conditions. Hamilton again set the fastest time. Massa and Räikkönen improved to second and third positions, pushing Kovalainen down to fourth. Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
set the fifth-fastest time, after earlier having electrical and clutch problems with the car. Alonso, Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg
Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career...
, Kubica, Heidfeld and David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
made up the rest of the top ten.
In the final practice session on Saturday – which was held in dry conditions – Kovalainen was fastest, ahead of Massa and team-mate Hamilton. Alonso continued his strong practice form, finishing fourth, with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
making it to fifth position. Kubica once again was at the bottom of the table, this time due to a transmission problem. The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes, and cars that finished the session 16th or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 15. The final part of qualifying determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions. Cars which competed in the final session of qualifying were not allowed to refuel before the race, and as such carried more fuel than in the previous sessions.
Hamilton took pole position for the ninth time in his career with a lap time of 1:15.666, having beaten Massa by two-tenths of a second in his final lap of the third session. Kovalainen, coming back after an error during his first run, qualified third, with Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...
taking fourth position. Alonso and Räikkönen were close together in fifth and sixth positions, with just 0.006 seconds separating them. Kubica took a comfortable seventh, half a second quicker in the third session than eighth-placed Webber. Vettel and Coulthard completed the top ten. Timo Glock
Timo Glock
Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship...
took 11th place on the grid for Toyota, seven places behind his teammate Trulli. He was also the highest-placed German driver on the grid for his home race, qualifying immediately in front of compatriots Heidfeld and Rosberg. Jenson Button
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...
and Bourdais took 14th and 15th positions respectively. Both Heidfeld and Button later said that they suffered from tyre problems during the session.
Completing the field, Kazuki Nakajima
Kazuki Nakajima
is a Formula One driver from Japan who drove for the Williams-Toyota team from to . Prior to that he had been their test driver, as well as a competitor in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team....
was 16th, Nelson Piquet Jr. 17th, Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
18th, whilst the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil
Adrian Sutil
-Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002...
and Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events...
brought up the rear of the grid in 19th and 20th positions. Piquet later complained that he was blocked during his first-session run by Vettel: "During my lap, Vettel was in front of me, which unsettled me a little, although the FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
felt that he did not impede me." Kovalainen was, however, penalized by the stewards and fined €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
5,000 for using a refuelling system during qualifying which had not been approved by the FIA.
Race
Hairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
(turn 4), when Alonso's own attempted pass on Trulli delayed both drivers. The fight for fourth position continued in the early stages of the race. Kubica ran wide at the final corner on lap four, impeding Trulli and therefore allowing Alonso to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre on the Toyota down the main straight. However, Trulli held on to his position, and Alonso was instead passed by Räikkönen, moving him down to sixth position. At the back of the field, Nakajima spun his Williams but recovered back onto the track and continued in the race.
At the first round of pit stops, Hamilton had a lead of nearly 20 seconds over Massa, and fuelled longer than all the other drivers in the points-scoring positions when he pitted on lap 18. Coming out of the pits, Hamilton made an error and was passed by Trulli. The two drivers then nearly collided at the hairpin, with Hamilton holding back for the rest of the lap waiting for Trulli to pit. Trulli's team-mate Glock stayed out on the track longer than all of the other drivers except Barrichello and Piquet, meaning that when he pitted, he was actually in third position and rejoined the race in eighth. Hamilton regained the lead by lap 22 after Massa, Kovalainen, Trulli and Räikkönen made their pit stops, and had in the region of an 11 second lead over Massa at the half-way stage of the race. Behind the leaders, fourth-placed Kubica was beginning to catch Kovalainen in third, while Trulli, Räikkönen, Alonso and Vettel battled over the final four point-scoring places.
On the 36th lap, Glock's right-rear suspension failed coming out of the final corner. He spun through 180 degrees before hitting the pit wall with a strong rearward impact, with debris
Debris
Debris is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc. The singular form of debris is debris...
flying across the track. The car, pointing the wrong way, rolled to a stop on the grass. A dazed Glock extracted himself before being treated at the medical centre. The safety car was deployed after the accident. When the pit lane opened on lap 38, most drivers headed in, including all of the leaders except Hamilton. McLaren believed that Hamilton had enough fuel to stay out, the plan being for him to then rapidly pull away from his heavily-fuelled rivals, after the safety car went in. Hamilton needed to build up enough of a lead to rejoin still in first position, following his final pit stop. This would prove to be very risky, as Massa rejoined in fourth position, fuelled to the finish.
Piquet, on a one-stop strategy after his poor qualifying performance, had fortuitously pitted immediately prior to the safety car's deployment and was also fuelled to the end of the race. Promoted to third place from 14th beforehand following the pit stops, he was set to take the lead once Hamilton and Heidfeld (who also had not pitted under the safety car conditions) pitted for their final stops. Further back, Vettel squeezed past Alonso at the pit exit, pushing him over the white line separating the pit lane exit from the track. Alonso complained over his radio but no action was taken against either driver. Meanwhile, Räikkönen dropped several places to 11th, having had to queue behind Massa at the second pit stops.
Hamilton's speed allowed him to quickly catch Massa in second position, with Piquet in the lead by a further three seconds. On lap 57, Hamilton passed Massa at the hairpin. Massa appeared to have the inside line covered, but he was not fully committed to the line into the braking zone, giving Hamilton the chance to take second position. Three laps later, he used a similar overtaking move to overtake Piquet, although the Renault driver put up a greater fight than Massa had. Hamilton led easily to the finish, although Piquet kept within six seconds of him. Heidfeld threatened a slowing Massa in the last laps, while Räikkönen was able to pass Kubica for sixth place on lap 60.
Hamilton took the chequered flag first, while Piquet enthusiastically celebrated his drive from 17th to second, just 5.5 seconds behind. Massa held on to take third ahead of Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Räikkönen, and Kubica. Vettel secured eighth – the last points-scoring position – for Toro Rosso, ahead of Trulli in ninth, and Rosberg in 10th. Alonso finished 11th, ahead of Bourdais. Coulthard was 13th, Fisichella 14th, Nakajima 15th, Sutil 16th and Button was last of the classified finishers in 17th. A record of sixteen drivers finished on the lead lap, beating the previous highest number of fourteen at the 1999 Belgian Grand Prix
1999 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1999 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 29, 1999 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. It was the twelfth race of the 1999 Formula One season.__FORCETOC__- Classification :-Standings after Grand Prix:...
.
Post-race
Following the podium ceremony, in which two Brazilian drivers participated for the first time since the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix1991 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1991 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on August 25, 1991. It was the eleventh round of the 1991 Formula One season and the debut race of Michael Schumacher.- Pre-race :...
, the top three finishers appeared in the obligatory press conference. Hamilton said that the decision to not make a pit stop during the safety car period was the team's decision: "We had two very comfortable, two very decent stints and the team opted for me to stay out. I guess they thought I could pull out a gap but it was a 23 second gap I needed and I only had seven laps or something, so I don't know how that worked out." Hamilton added that he felt that things looked good for the rest of the season, stating that "if we [McLaren] can continue with this momentum we have got we are looking very good".
Ron Dennis
Ron Dennis
Ronald "Ron" Dennis CBE is the executive chairman of McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group, and is also a significant shareholder in both companies...
, McLaren's team principal, also commented on the pit stop decision:
Piquet was delighted with his drive to second after qualifying 17th, saying:
Pat Symonds
Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds is the former Executive Director of Engineering of the Renault Formula One team....
, subsequently praised him for stepping up to the job of staying with the leaders in the final stint of the race. Meanwhile, Massa commented that his car was not in good order during the race: "It was just slow with difficult stability and also on braking I think I had a little problem as well and lost a lot of performance. I didn’t have the car to fight. I tried but it was not possible." Team-mate Räikkönen also struggled with low grip and hot brakes for the duration of the race, while Kovalainen and Kubica had problems with their tyres.
Fisichella was penalised 25 seconds for unlapping lead cars during the safety car period, which dropped him from 14th to 16th position. The stewards issued the following statement about the decision: "While the safety car was deployed, the driver of car 21 [Fisichella] chose to enter the pits before 'Lapped cars may now overtake' was shown on the timing monitors. Having done so the driver of car 21 on leaving the pitlane should then not have unlapped himself."
The treatment of Glock after his crash caused Toyota some concern. Toyota did not think that normal FIA procedure had been followed. After crashes, drivers are normally taken out of the car in their seat, whereas Glock was unstrapped and then hauled out by the marshals. Glock stayed in hospital overnight for observation, but was released the next day with no injuries. Toyota subsequently confirmed that the failed suspension component had already completed a full race distance at the previous Grand Prix, and resolved to adjust its checking procedures.
The new gap between Hamilton and Massa in the Drivers' Championship after the race stood at four points in Hamilton's favour. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren somewhat caught up on Ferrari, although the gap between the two teams was still sizeable at 19 points. McLaren were ten points behind BMW coming into the race and the deficit was reduced to three due to the race result.
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Name | Constructor | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 |  Lewis HamiltonLewis Hamilton Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.218 | 1:14.603 | 1:15.666 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |  Felipe MassaFelipe Massa Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:14.921 | 1:14.747 | 1:15.859 | 2 |
| 3 | 23 |  Heikki KovalainenHeikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus.... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.476 | 1:14.855 | 1:16.143 | 3 |
| 4 | 11 |  Jarno TrulliJarno Trulli Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:15.560 | 1:15.122 | 1:16.191 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 |  Fernando AlonsoFernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari.... |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:15.917 | 1:14.943 | 1:16.385 | 5 |
| 6 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:15.201 | 1:14.949 | 1:16.389 | 6 |
| 7 | 4 |  Robert KubicaRobert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
1:15.985 | 1:15.109 | 1:16.521 | 7 |
| 8 | 10 |  Mark WebberMark Webber Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:15.900 | 1:15.481 | 1:17.014 | 8 |
| 9 | 15 |  Sebastian VettelSebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and .... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:15.532 | 1:15.420 | 1:17.244 | 9 |
| 10 | 9 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:15.975 | 1:15.338 | 1:17.503 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | Timo Glock Timo Glock Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:15.560 | 1:15.508 | 11 | |
| 12 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
1:15.596 | 1:15.581 | 12 | |
| 13 | 7 | Nico Rosberg Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:15.863 | 1:15.633 | 13 | |
| 14 | 16 | Jenson Button Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British... |
Honda | 1:15.993 | 1:15.701 | 14 | |
| 15 | 14 |  Sébastien BourdaisSébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007.... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:15.927 | 1:15.858 | 15 | |
| 16 | 8 |  Kazuki NakajimaKazuki Nakajima is a Formula One driver from Japan who drove for the Williams-Toyota team from to . Prior to that he had been their test driver, as well as a competitor in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team.... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
1:16.083 | 16 | ||
| 17 | 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
1:16.189 | 17 | ||
| 18 | 17 | Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable... |
Honda | 1:16.246 | 18 | ||
| 19 | 20 | Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil -Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:16.657 | 19 | ||
| 20 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
1:16.963 | 20 | ||
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | 1:31:20.874 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
67 | +5.586 | 17 | 8 |
| 3 | 2 | Felipe Massa Felipe Massa Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
67 | +9.339 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Nick Heidfeld Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
67 | +9.825 | 12 | 5 |
| 5 | 23 | Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus.... |
McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | +12.411 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | 1 | Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... |
Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
67 | +14.403 | 6 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 | Robert Kubica Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006... |
BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
67 | +22.682 | 7 | 2 |
| 8 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and .... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
67 | +33.299 | 9 | 1 |
| 9 | 11 | Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
67 | +37.158 | 4 | |
| 10 | 7 | Nico Rosberg Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
67 | +37.625 | 13 | |
| 11 | 5 | Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari.... |
Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
67 | +38.600 | 5 | |
| 12 | 14 | Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007.... |
Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso , also known simply as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, is an Italian Formula One racing team... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
67 | +39.111 | 15 | |
| 13 | 9 | David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
67 | +54.971 | 10 | |
| 14 | 8 | Kazuki Nakajima Kazuki Nakajima is a Formula One driver from Japan who drove for the Williams-Toyota team from to . Prior to that he had been their test driver, as well as a competitor in the GP2 Series for the DAMS team.... |
Williams WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head... -Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
67 | +1:00.003 | 16 | |
| 15 | 20 | Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil -Biography:Sutil is the son of professional musicians Monika, a German, and Jorge, a Uruguayan. He has two brothers named Daniel and Raphael. He weighs 165 pounds and is 6 feet tall. A talented pianist, Sutil started karting at 14 before moving up to Swiss Formula Ford 1800 in 2002... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
67 | +1:09.488 | 19 | |
| 16 | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events... |
Force India Force India Sahara Force India Formula One Team, the trading name of Force India Formula One Team Limited, is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and... -Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
67 | +1:24.093 | 20 | |
| 17 | 16 | Jenson Button Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British... |
Honda | 66 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
| Ret | 17 | Rubens Barrichello Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable... |
Honda | 50 | Collision damage | 18 | |
| Ret | 10 | Mark Webber Mark Webber Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career... |
Red Bull Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
40 | Oil leak | 8 | |
| Ret | 12 | Timo Glock Timo Glock Timo Glock is a German motor racing driver, currently driving in Formula One for the Virgin Racing team. At the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, standing in for Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with Jordan Grand Prix, he joined a select group of drivers who have scored a World Championship... |
Toyota Toyota F1 Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002... |
35 | Suspension | 11 | |
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire... |
58 |
| 2 | Felipe Massa Felipe Massa Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He finished second in the Drivers' World Championship, and is under contract to race for Scuderia Ferrari until the end of the season.-Early years:... |
54 |
| 3 | Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Räikkönen Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered... |
51 |
| 4 | Robert Kubica Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica is the first Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW Sauber F1 team, promoted from test driver to race driver during 2006... |
48 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium... |
41 |
Constructors' Championship standings
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing.... |
105 |
| 2 | BMW Sauber BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s , before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s... |
89 |
| 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 86 |
| 4 | Toyota |
25 |
| 5 |  Red BullRed Bull Racing Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
24 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.