2008 Formula One World Championship (Alt)

This is a fictional account of an alternative version of the 2008 F1 season. For the real 2008 season, see the 2008 Formula One World Championship

The **2008 FIA Formula One World Championship** was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over eighteen races commencing in Australia on 16 March and ending in Brazil on 2 November. The 2008 season saw the debut of the Singapore Grand Prix, which was held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Marina Bay, Singapore and was the first Formula One race held at night. The European Grand Prix moved to a new venue at the Valencia Street Circuit, in Valencia, Spain.

## Teams and drivers

There was 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: Teams competed with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.

* † All engines were 2.4-litre V8 configuration.

### 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. All eleven current teams applied, as well as several others. On 28 April 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.

### Team changes

**Jordan -> Force India.** Rumours about the possible sale of the Jordan team had been abundant in the paddock throughout the last few months of the 2007 season. Indian businessman Vijay Mallya bought the team for €88 million. 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.

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, had experience as a Formula One team principal. 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.

### Driver changes

**Lewis Hamilton: BMW Sauber -> McLaren, Nick Heifeld -> BMW Sauber.** Lewis Hamilton moved from BMW Sauber to McLaren, replacing Pedro de la Rosa. Nick Heidfeld returned to the grid to replace Hamilton.

**Giancarlo Fisichella: Renault -> Force India, Nelson Piquet Jr -> Renault.** Fisichella moved to Force India in place of erstwhile Jordan driver Sakon Yamamoto, who became Renault's test development driver. Fisichella's place at Renault was taken by the team's test driver Nelson Piquet Jr. (son of the three-time World Drivers' Champion Nelson Piquet).

**Ralf Schumacher retires, Timo Glock -> Toyota.** After an unsuccessful test for Force India in December 2007, Ralf Schumacher left Toyota to drive for Mücke Motorsport in the DTM series. 2007 GP2 champion Timo Glock, who had also been the test driver for BMW Sauber, returned to a Formula One race seat in place of Schumacher. Christian Klien, previously the test driver for Honda, and the Estonian driver Marko Asmer took up test driver roles at BMW Sauber.

Sébastien Bourdais, who won his fourth consecutive Champ Car title in 2007, joined Toro Rosso in 2008, replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi, who moved to Force India as their test driver.

## Season calendar

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

### Calendar changes

The new Marina Bay Street Circuit which hosted the Singapore Grand Prix at night

* 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. The practice and qualifying sessions also take place at night.
* 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 continued to alternate between these two circuits yearly until 2014.
* The Indianapolis Motor Speedway did not hold a Grand Prix in 2008; however, a possible return to Indianapolis in the future was not completely ruled out, although the United States Grand Prix made its return in 2012 at the Circuit of the Americas 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. 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".

## Rule changes

* A standard Electronic Control Unit was supplied by Microsoft MES, a joint venture between Microsoft and McLaren Electronic Systems.
* Traction control banned along with engine braking reduction.
* An engine freeze to last five years was started in 2008, with the first unscheduled engine change of the season not leading to the usual 10 place grid penalty.
* Fuel of the cars must have been made up of at least 5.75% biological materials.
* 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.
* Improved cockpit protection.
* 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.
* Bridgestone would be the official tyre supplier for the 2008–2010 seasons. 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.
* No competing team was allowed to carry out more than 30,000 km (18,641 mi) of testing during the 2008 calendar year.

## Results and standings

### Scoring system

Points are awarded to drivers and constructors as follows: