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.

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## 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 
 did not  take part in the 2008 season.]]

**Changed teams**
* Fernando Alonso: Left McLaren and joined Renault F1
* Heikki Kovalainen: Left Renault F1 and Retired
* 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.but.

## 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.
* Team were not allowed to test more than 30,000&nbsp;km (18,641&nbsp;mi) during the 2008 calendar year.

## Results and standings
### Grands Prix
### Drivers 
|valign="top"|

**Bold**&nbsp;– Pole
*Italics*&nbsp;– Fastest Lap
|}
 Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

### Constructors
 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.
|valign="top"|

**Bold**&nbsp;– Pole
*Italics*&nbsp;– Fastest Lap
|}

## 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