2008 Formula One World Championship

The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on March 16 and was over on November 2 after eighteen races. Lewis Hamilton became the Drivers' World Champion while Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro won the Constructors' title.



Teams and drivers 
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship:

 Team started the 2008 season with an updated version of their 2007 car.
 Super Aguri withdrew from the 2008 Formula One season on 6 May due to financial troubles.

Team changes 
 Only a year after Spyker bought the Midland team, Indian businessman Vijay Mallya  bought the team for €88 million. Mallya was allowed to change the team's name to Force India.
 During  the  2008 season on 6 May, the Super Aguri team folded and withdrew from Formula One. The team was in financial problems at the end of . The team did not receive payment on a sponsorship deal.

Driver changes 

Changed teams
 Fernando Alonso: Left McLaren and joined Renault F1
 Heikki Kovalainen: Left Renault F1 and Retirered
 Giancarlo Fisichella: Left Renault F1 and joined Force India
 Nelson Piquet, Jr.: Left Renault F1 as a test driver and joined Renault F1
 Timo Glock: Came from racing in GP2 Series and as a test driver for BMW Sauber F1 and joined Toyota Racing
 Vitantonio Liuzzi: Left Scuderia Toro Rosso and joined Force India as a test driver
 Kazuki Nakajima: Came from racing in GP2 Series and WilliamsF1 as a test driver and joined WilliamsF1
 Alexander Wurz: Left WilliamsF1 and joined Honda Racing F1 as a test driver
 Christian Klien: Left Honda Racing F1 as a test driver and joined BMW Sauber F1 as a test driver
 Sakon Yamamoto: Left Spyker F1 and joined Renault F1 as a test and development driver

Entered F1
 Sébastien Bourdais: Came from Champ Car World Series and joined Scuderia Toro Rosso
 Marko Asmer: Came from British Formula Three Championship and joined BMW Sauber F1 as a test driver

Exited F1
 Ralf Schumacher: Left Toyota Racing and started being test driver for McLaren

2008 Race Calendar 
The FIA World Council approved the 2008 schedule on 24 October 2007. Singapore was Formula One's first ever night race.

 New circuits
 Night Race

Rule changes 
 A standard Electronic Control Unit (ECU) was supplied by Microsoft and McLaren Electronic Systems.
 Traction control and launch control were banned. Other electronic aids including engine braking were also baned.
 Engine design changes will not be allowed for five years was started in 2008
 Fuel used in the race cars must contain at least 5.75% biological materials.
 Gearboxes (transmissions) must last four races.
 Cockpit protection was improved.
 Teams were not allowed to bring a third race car to use as a spare.
 Bridgestone will be the official tyre supplier for the 2008–2010 seasons.
 Team were not allowed to test more than 30,000 km (18,641 mi) during the 2008 calendar year.

Qualifying 
 The first qualifying session was lengthened to 20 minutes. The third qualifying session was shortened to 10 minutes. After Q3, teams would no longer be allowed to add fuel back to the car. This got rid of the 'fuel-burn' phase.
 A minimum lap time for each qualifying session was implemented starting in Bahrain. This was to stop cars coasting back to the pits at dangerously low speeds.
 Following the departure of Super Aguri from Formula One, only the five drivers would be eliminated from Q1.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Drivers 

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

Constructors

Race-fixing controversy 

A scandal developed that became known as "Crashgate" in the media, during the 2009 season around the time of the Belgium Grand Prix. Claims were made by former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. about his crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. This led to charges of race-fixing against Renault. Team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds left Renault.

References

Other websites 

Formula One seasons
2008 in sports