Formula 1 - The 2008 Season, Scores and Statistics

World Champion
Lewis Hamilton, Mclaren-Mercedes

Drivers Championship 2008 Final Table
1 Lewis Hamilton, British, McLaren-Mercedes 98
2 Felipe Massa, Brazilian, Ferrari 97
3 Kimi Räikkönen, Finnish, Ferrari 75
4 Robert Kubica, Polish, BMW Sauber 75
5 Fernando Alonso, Spanish, Renault 61
6 Nick Heidfeld, German, BMW Sauber 60
7 Heikki Kovalainen, Finnish, McLaren-Mercedes 53
8 Sebastian Vettel, German, STR-Ferrari 35
9 Jarno Trulli, Italian, Toyota 31
10 Timo Glock, German, Toyota 25
11 Mark Webber, Australian, Red Bull-Renault 21
12 Nelsinho Piquet, Brazilian, Renault 19
13 Nico Rosberg, German, Williams-Toyota 17
14 Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian, Honda 11
15 Kazuki Nakajima, Japanese, Williams-Toyota 9
16 David Coulthard, British, Red Bull-Renault 8
17 Sebastien Bourdais, French, STR-Ferrari 4
18 Jenson Button, British, Honda 3

Constructors Championship Final Table
1 Ferrari 172
2 McLaren-Mercedes 151
3 BMW Sauber 135
4 Renault 80
5 Toyota 56
6 STR-Ferrari 39
7 Red Bull-Renault 29
8 Williams-Toyota 26
9 Honda 14

(Teams Force-India and Super Aguri failed to score. Super Aguri withdrew after Race 4)

2008 Race Winners
Australia 16/03/2008 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Malaysia 23/03/2008 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Bahrain 06/04/2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
Spain 27/04/2008 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Turkey 11/05/2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
Monaco 25/05/2008 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Canada 08/06/2008 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
France 22/06/2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
Great Britain 06/07/2008 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Germany 20/07/2008 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Hungary 03/08/2008 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
Europe 24/08/2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
Belgium 07/09/2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
Italy 14/09/2008 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari
Singapore 28/09/2008 Fernando Alonso Renault
Japan 12/10/2008 Fernando Alonso Renault
China 19/10/2008 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Brazil 02/11/2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari

Race Wins
Felipe Massa 6
Lewis Hamilton 5
Kimi Räikkönen 2
Fernando Alonso 2
Heikki Kovalainen 1 (First ever win)
Robert Kubica 1 (First ever win)
Sebastian Vettel 1 (First ever win and record youngest driver to win at 21 years, 73 days.

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Formula 1 2008 - Lewis Hamilton World Champion !!!

He's done it !!!

Lewis Hamilton is the new Formula 1 Champion of the World !!!

Felipe Massa won the race which meant Lewis just had to finish 5th or better to take the title. It was far from plain sailing.

A short spell of rain delayed the race by 10 minutes, then stopped. All teams were now in a quandary as to which tyres to use. Not ideal, when Lewis just wanted a nice boring race.

Starting fourth on the grid, Lewis was far less aggressive in turn 1 than last year and focused on keeping the car on circuit. Team mate Kovalainen was able to give him some protective cover.

For most the race, Hamilton concentrated on remaining in the top five, taking as little risk as possible. This was a good plan had it not been for more rain.

Pit stops threw the race up in the air as everyone pitted late on to change to Intermediate tyres from slick low grip. Everyone that is except Toyota driver, Timo Glock. Glock gambled on slicks. This put him way ahead of Hamilton on the track.

Hamilton came out in fifth, the minimum position he needed, but he had, young gun, Sebastian Vettel all over his gear box in the Torro Rosso. Lewis couldn't afford for him to overtake, otherwise the Championship was gone. Vettels car was dealing with the wet conditions a lot better than Hamilton's Mclaren and he struggled to keep ahead.

This was high drama.

Then disaster. Hamilton went wide coming on to the start finish straight with just a few laps to go. Vettel passed by on the inside and heads went down in the Mclaren garage. Lewis tried desperately to keep up with Vettel, but he was slowly edging away, the position had gone. 6th was no good. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa's Ferrari was way ahead of the pack and the title was surely his going into the last lap.

Massa crossed the finish line and all the Ferrari pit crew and Massa's father started to celebrate. He had won! But wait....

Struggling badly on slick tyres, Timo Glock lost 18 seconds on the final lap. Lewis surely couldn't have believed his eyes. Glock was in sight travelling extremely slowly. As they hit the start/finish straight for the last time, Hamilton passed him to retake 5th place and become the youngest Formula 1 World Champion of all time!!!

It was probably the most exciting finish to a World Championship ever. It was absolutely unbelievable. Massa had it, then Lewis came back from the dead within the last quarter of a mile. Championship battles surely can not get any closer than this. Lewis Hamilton wins at the season end by just 1 point.

Next year he races with the coverted Number 1 on his car. One suspects there will be more Championships to come.

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Formula 1 2008 - Lewis Hamilton, second time lucky?

He was in a similar position in his rookie year, but things didn't work out. Can it be second time lucky for British F1 Driver, Lewis Hamilton?

If so, he will become the first Brit since Damon Hill in 1996 to win and become the youngest World Champion in F1 History. The record is currently held by Fernando Alonso at 24 years, 59 days. You may have heard of him.

Hamilton leads the Drivers Championship by 7 points with just a single race remaining. The last deciding race takes place this weekend at Interlagos race track, Brazil.

Last year, Hamilton was defeated by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen for the Championship and this year it is his Brazillian team mate, Phillipe Massa's turn to try to upset the party. 2007 World Champion Raikkonen, has suffered a mysterious drop of form the second half of 2008 and is way out of the running. He could however, still provide a bit of a nuisance to Hamilton during Sunday's Grand Prix.

In interview Hamilton said,

"I know we didn't have the pace to win last year, but things could be very different this season. I'm really looking forward to getting out on the track at Interlagos and seeing where we stand."

Last year, after an eventful race, Lewis was forced to retire with gearbox failure.

Astonishingly, Mclaren haven't had a Drivers World Champion since Mika Hakkinen in 1999. Team Boss, Ron Dennis and all his pit-crew will surely be keeping their fingers crossed as will most of the British viewing public.

Massa was second at Interlagos last year and won the race the previous, we know he is quick at the track. All this makes for a potentially exciting and nail biting race. Phillipe will be racing to become the first Brazillian World Champion since Ayrton Senna. That surely is incentive enough.

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