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 - Brazil - Interlagos Qualifying - Hamilton verses Massa

With just one race left in the F1 Grand Prix Championship, Saturday's qualifying was all important. Interlagos is a relatively short lap circuit, meaning all qualifying times would be very close together with any mistakes being very costly. In terms of the F1 2008 World Champion, it is Lewis Hamiltion verses Phillipe Massa.

Massa set the early pace in the first qualifying session although it was clear that both Ferraris was suffering from slight under steer. Shockingly, both Williams cars were eliminated at this stage. Williams driver, Nico Rosberg said,

"We were suffering from tyre graining, but I didn't think it would go that bad."

David Coulthard, competing in his last Grand Prix sneaked through in 15th place to go the the second session. Unfortunately he could progress no further. The Red Bull car was suffering from tyre graining and was struggling for grip in the second sector.

The second session saw the Toyotas looking unusually fast. It was possible one of them could get in the way of the Hamilton/Massa Championship battle. Both Toro Rossos also looked fast and qualified for the final session in which Kovalainen went quickest.

In the final session, Phillipe Massa grabbed pole position for the third year in succession with an amazing lap of 1:12.368. This was a staggering four tenths quicker than the second place man.

Who was second place man?

Toyota's Jarno Trulli !!!

Although far from disastrous for the Championship, this is not what Lewis needed. One suspects that the Mclaren is a little heavier on fuel than the Toyotas. Kimi Raikonnen made it to third spot with 1:12.825 with Lewis in fourth in a virtually identical time.

Lewis has both Ferraris in front of him, but most worryingly of all, he has Fernando Alonso positioned immediately behind him on the grid. Fernando has publicly said he doesn't want Mclaren to win and would like to see Massa take the Championship. Alonso has nothing to lose and it is likely he will be fairly aggressive going into the first turn. Lewis also threatens breaking Alonso's record of youngest ever F1 Champion... unless some one bumps into him of course.

Trulli has a history of being quick in qualifying and slower in the race. He could well provide a bit of an obstacle with a dangerous unpredictable train of cars behind him.

Pole Position for Massa, 4th for Hamilton. If Lewis can survive the first lap chaos he stands an excellent chance of becoming the youngest driver ever and first black driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship. It is probably that this race will be with incident as rain is also predicted.

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