The
2008 Formula One season was the 59th
FIA Formula One World
Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November
with eighteen Grand Prix races.
Lewis Hamilton won the driver's title
by a point - by overtaking Toyota's
Timo
Glock on the final corner of the final grand prix of the season
to claim the required 5th place finish - from Brazilian
Felipe Massa while Massa's teammate, the 2007
world champion,
Kimi
Räikkönen was ranked third, with two wins.
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro won the
constructors' title. In winning the title, Hamilton became the
youngest driver ever to win the title and the first
black driver to do so. He was also the first
British champion since
Damon Hill in
1996.
Eleven teams competed in the championship, although
Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the 2008
Formula One season due to financial troubles, completing four
races. New technical rules for 2008 included the banning of
traction control after it
was re-introduced in . 2008 also introduced two new street
circuits.
The Valencia Street Circuit
and Marina Bay Street Circuit
hosted the European GP
and the new Singapore GP respectively. The
Singapore GP was also the first Formula One event held at
night.
This was the last season for the
Honda team before they pulled out of F1
later in December due to the
global economic crisis.
Then, Ross Brawn bought the team and renamed it to
Brawn
GP
in February of using the Mercedes-Benz engines. This was also
the last Formula One season to race with grooved tyres, used since
, before
slick tyres returned to
Formula One in .
It was the first time in the history of
Formula One that all teams have used the same
two drivers throughout the season and it was the first time that
all the race cars were driving without
traction control since .
Pre-season testing
The first
multi-team test session started in Jerez
on 14
January 2008. Ferrari,
McLaren
and Toyota all tested
their 2008 cars. Williams tested a
modified version of the FW29 whilst
Renault
and Red Bull tested their 2007 entries.
Honda,
Toro
Rosso,
Super Aguri and
Force India also attended.
BMW was not in attendance as they were launching
the
F1.08.
Testing then moved to
Valencia
on 22 January. Renault and Williams were the
only teams on the track for the first day of testing. They were
both testing their 2008 challengers. They were joined by every
other team except Super Aguri for the next three days.
1 February saw testing
move to Barcelona
. Again, all teams but Super Aguri were in
action. The first day of testing saw
Kazuki Nakajima crash his
FW30. It also saw racist abuse directed at
Lewis Hamilton. Williams withdrew
from testing on day three to try to fix the problem that caused
Nakajima's crash.
Meanwhile on 4 February, Ferrari and Toyota
moved to Bahrain
to continue testing the F2008 and TF108.
On 12 February testing returned to Jerez. Red Bull and Williams
were the only teams in action on the first day. The second day of
testing saw all teams but Ferrari and Toyota (who were still in
Bahrain) attending. After postponing their SA08 launch and
cancelling testing at Valencia, Super Aguri turned up to test their
SA07B interim car for the first time.
Testing
moved to Barcelona on 19 February. The first day of tests got
underway in rain with Williams, Red Bull, Renault and Toyota
present.
Nico Rosberg topped the time
sheets for Williams. BMW Sauber were instead testing on their own
in Jerez. Super Aguri did not turn up despite promising a Q&A
with the media. They blamed circumstances beyond their control. On
the second day
Ferrari turned up
and topped the time sheets with
Felipe
Massa on another wet track. McLaren joined on the final day and
Williams finished on top with Nakajima. The final multi-team test
began on 25 February with every team but Super Aguri attending.
Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets faster than both
Kimi Räikkönen and
Michael Schumacher. McLaren continued to
outpace Ferrari on day two with both drivers on top and Toyota were
fastest with
Jarno Trulli on the final
day.
Team controversy
There were 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
(MoU) at the
2006 Spanish Grand
Prix. All teams in both groups have two spots each on the 2008
grid. One for each of their drivers determined through
Qualifying on the Saturday of the race weekend
(Sunday hosting the Grand Prix).
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 April 28, 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 (including the current teams and Prodrive), of which
the following were notable:
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.
Teams signed with FOM
GPMA manufacturers (MoU with FOM)
Bernie Ecclestone had signed an
agreement with the
GPMA to end their
threat of a breakaway series in 2008.
On 29 July 2008, the
Formula One Teams Association
(FOTA) was formed at a meeting of the teams competing in the 2008
championship.This new organization gives a united voice in ongoing
discussions regarding the future of Formula One with the
FIA and
Bernie Ecclestone's
Formula One Group.
Headed by Ferrari
president Luca di
Montezemolo, the first task of FOTA will be to negotiate the
terms of the new Concorde
Agreement, the commercial contract which governs the
championship, with the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.
New car launches
* Team started the season with updated versions of their 2007
car.
Notes
- Renault and Honda both started testing their 2008 cars a week
before their official launch.
- Although they did not have an official
launch, Williams-Toyota gave the FW30 its track debut on 21
January at Valencia during winter testing with a livery of former
Formula One drivers on the nose cone who
have driven for Williams in the past 30
years. Their season livery was revealed at their photography
studio in Oxfordshire on 3 March.
- Toro Rosso-Ferrari started the 2008 season with an
updated B spec version of their STR2
car stating that their 2008 challenger, the Toro Rosso STR3, was due to make its debut
at the fourth or fifth round. The new car made its test debut in the hands
of Red Bull junior driver, Brendon Hartley in Italy
on 2 April,
and was also tested by Sébastien
Bourdais. The car made its public debut in Barcelona on
April 16. It was later confirmed that the car would first race in
Monaco.
Teams and drivers
The following
constructors and
drivers participated in the 2008
Formula One season.
†
Toro Rosso started 2008 with a
modified version of their 2007 car, labelled the STR2B. The Italian
team originally planned to introduce the new STR3 around the fourth
or fifth round of the 2008 championship, but it finally made its
debut in the sixth round, the
Monaco Grand Prix.
‡
Super Aguri withdrew on 6 May from the
2008 Formula One season due to
financial
troubles.
2008 was the first season where no driver was replaced during the
course of the season. Usually some drivers are replaced either for
an injury, a lack of performance or sponsorship related issues.
However, the withdrawal of Super Aguri meant that the line up was
still not identical at every race.
2008 race schedule
The
FIA World
Council approved the 2008 schedule on 24 October 2007.
Singapore was Formula One's first ever night race.
| Round |
Official race title |
Grand
Prix |
Circuit |
Date |
Time |
| Local |
UTC |
| 1 |
ING Australian
Grand Prix |
Australian GP |
Albert Park Grand Prix
Circuit , Melbourne |
16 March |
15:30 |
04:30 |
| 2 |
Petronas Malaysian
Grand Prix |
Malaysian GP |
Sepang International Circuit , Kuala
Lumpur |
23 March |
15:00 |
07:00 |
| 3 |
Gulf Air Bahrain
Grand Prix |
Bahrain GP |
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir,
Manama |
6 April |
14:30 |
11:30 |
| 4 |
Gran Premio de España Telefónica |
Spanish GP |
Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona |
27 April |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 5 |
Petrol Ofisi
Turkish
Grand Prix |
Turkish GP |
Istanbul Park |
11 May |
15:00 |
12:00 |
| 6 |
Grand Prix de Monaco |
Monaco GP |
Circuit de Monaco |
25 May |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 7 |
Grand Prix du Canada |
Canadian GP |
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve , Montreal |
8 June |
13:00 |
17:00 |
| 8 |
Grand Prix de France |
French GP |
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours , Magny-Cours |
22 June |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 9 |
Santander
British
Grand Prix |
British GP |
Silverstone Circuit |
6 July |
13:00 |
12:00 |
| 10 |
Großer Preis Santander von
Deutschland |
German GP |
Hockenheimring |
20 July |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 11 |
ING Magyar
Nagydíj |
Hungarian GP |
Hungaroring , Budapest |
3 August |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 12 |
Telefónica
Grand Prix of
Europe |
European GP |
Valencia Street Circuit† |
24 August |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 13 |
ING Belgian
Grand Prix |
Belgian GP |
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps , Spa |
7 September |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 14 |
Gran Premio Santander d'Italia |
Italian GP |
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza |
14 September |
14:00 |
12:00 |
| 15 |
SingTel Singapore Grand Prix‡ |
Singapore GP |
Marina Bay Street Circuit† |
28 September |
20:00 |
12:00 |
| 16 |
Fuji Television Japanese Grand
Prix |
Japanese GP |
Fuji Speedway , Oyama |
12 October |
13:30 |
04:30 |
| 17 |
Sinopec Chinese
Grand Prix |
Chinese GP |
Shanghai International
Circuit |
19 October |
15:00 |
07:00 |
| 18 |
Grande Prêmio do Brasil |
Brazilian GP |
Autódromo
José Carlos Pace , São
Paulo |
2 November |
15:00 |
17:00 |
|
† New circuits
‡ Night Race
Changes
Rule changes
ECU
Engine and gearbox
- Max Mosley proposed an engine freeze
for ten years. Later, all teams agreed to shorten the engine freeze
to five years.
- The first unscheduled engine change of the season for each car
did not lead 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.
Cars
- 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.
Tyres
- Bridgestone will be the official
tyre supplier for the 2008-2010 seasons.
Qualifying
- The first part of qualifying lengthened to 20 minutes, and
final part of qualifying shortened to 10 minutes. Teams taking part
in Q3 would no longer be allowed to add fuel back to the car after
qualifying to eliminate 'fuel-burn' phase.
- A minimum lap time for each qualifying session was implemented
from Round 3 in Bahrain to stop cars coasting back to the pits at
dangerously low speeds as seen in Round 2 in Malaysia. Both Lewis
Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were demoted five grid places after
the stewards decided that they had impeded Nick Heidfeld and
Fernando Alonso. The minimum lap time was different for each race.
For example, it was 1:39 in Bahrain.
- From 8 May 2008, the FIA announced that, following Super Aguri's departure from Formula One, the
qualifying procedures changed. Rather than six drivers being
eliminated at the end of Q1, only the five lowest-qualified drivers
would be eliminated. This increased the likelihood that one of the
midfield contenders would drop out, as only the top 15 drivers
would go through to Q2. The Q2-Q3 transition remained
unchanged.
Testing
- No competing team was allowed to carry out more than
30,000 km (18,641mi) of testing during the 2008 calendar
year.
Driver changes
Changed teams
Entered F1
Exited F1
Notes
†
Marko Asmer also drove in the
GP2 Series with the
FMS International team in
2008.
†
Kazuki Nakajima actually replaced
Alex Wurz at the 2007 Brazilian Grand
Prix.
Team changes
- Rumours about the possible sale of the Jordan/Spyker
team had been abundant in the paddock throughout the last few
months of the 2007 season. Only a year after Spyker bought the team
from Midland, Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya bought the team for €88 million, several million more than Spyker paid. 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, has 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.
- During the 2008 season on May 6, the Super Aguri team folded and withdrew from
Formula One. The team was in dire financial straits at the end of
as the team did not receive a payment on a sponsorship deal. This
has led to them becoming the poorest team in Formula One. Super
Aguri rejected a buyout offer in January 2008 from an Indian
consortium led by the CEO of the Spice Group on the condition
Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan
drove in the line-up, because it meant demoting or cutting one of
the team's 2007 drivers. Despite this Super Aguri were unable to
sign any contracts until agreements had been reached with their
sponsors. Sato and Davidson were confirmed on 10 March.
GP2 series driver Luca Filippi was
linked to race for the team in 2008, however he instead stayed with
the GP2 series for 2008.
Super Aguri announced that a major deal
had been made with Magma Group to solve the team's financial
problems, however this fell through, supposedly because of Magma
Group's unwillingness to invest money in a team with poor results.
On 6 May 2008, Super Aguri withdrew from the Formula One World
Championship. It affirmed a prediction at the start of the season
by Max Mosley saying the team would not
make it to the final race in Brazil.
Race changes
- It
had been confirmed that Singapore
would host a Grand Prix from 2008 for the next five
years. It would be a street circuit, with the route designed
by KBR. It had been confirmed that the
Grand Prix would be a night
race, with a start time of 20:00 local time (12:00 GMT) and run
in an anti-clockwise direction to enhance safety by avoiding a
bottle neck at the end of the start finish straight. It had also
been revealed that practice sessions and qualifying would take
place at night.
- The
European Grand
Prix would take 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 will continue to alternate
between these two circuits yearly.
- It
had been confirmed that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
would not hold a Grand Prix in 2008; however, a
possible return to Indianapolis in the future has not been
completely ruled out.
- In
the run up to the 2007 French
GP 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."
- The
2008 season also saw changes to the race start times for China, moved to 15:00 and Australia, moved from its traditional 14:00 slot to
15:30.
Other changes
- On 7 March, the official Formula One tyre supplier Bridgestone announced that they would 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. This was so spectators could differentiate between the
tyres in the same way they could with the dry compounds.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
Drivers
|
|
Bold - Pole
Italics - Fastest Lap |
† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as
they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Constructors
| Pos |
Constructor |
Car
No. |
AUS
|
MAL
|
BHR
|
ESP
|
TUR
|
MON
|
CAN
|
FRA
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
EUR
|
BEL
|
ITA
|
SIN
|
JPN
|
CHN
|
BRA
|
Pts |
| 1 |
Ferrari |
1 |
8† |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
Ret |
2 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
Ret |
18† |
9 |
15† |
3 |
3 |
3 |
172 |
| 2 |
Ret |
Ret |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
13 |
3 |
17† |
1 |
1 |
6 |
13 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
| 2 |
McLaren -Mercedes |
22 |
1 |
5 |
13 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Ret |
10 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
3 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
151 |
| 23 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
Ret |
12 |
8 |
9 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
10 |
2 |
10 |
Ret |
Ret |
7 |
| 3 |
BMW
Sauber |
3 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
9 |
5 |
14 |
2 |
13 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
5 |
10 |
135 |
| 4 |
Ret |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
Ret |
7 |
8 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
11 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
| 4 |
Renault |
5 |
4 |
8 |
10 |
Ret |
6 |
10 |
Ret |
8 |
6 |
11 |
4 |
Ret |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
80 |
| 6 |
Ret |
11 |
Ret |
Ret |
15 |
Ret |
Ret |
7 |
Ret |
2 |
6 |
11 |
Ret |
10 |
Ret |
4 |
8 |
Ret |
| 5 |
Toyota |
11 |
Ret |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
13 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
9 |
7 |
5 |
16 |
11 |
Ret |
5 |
Ret |
8 |
56 |
| 12 |
Ret |
Ret |
9 |
11 |
13 |
12 |
4 |
11 |
12 |
Ret |
2 |
7 |
9 |
13 |
4 |
Ret |
7 |
6 |
| 6 |
Toro
Rosso-Ferrari |
14 |
7† |
Ret |
15 |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
13 |
17 |
11 |
12 |
18 |
10 |
7 |
18 |
12 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
39 |
| 15 |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
17 |
5 |
8 |
12 |
Ret |
8 |
Ret |
6 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
4 |
| 7 |
Red
Bull-Renault |
9 |
Ret |
9 |
18 |
12 |
9 |
Ret |
3 |
9 |
Ret |
13 |
11 |
17 |
11 |
16 |
7 |
Ret |
10 |
Ret |
29 |
| 10 |
Ret |
7 |
7 |
5 |
7 |
4 |
12 |
6 |
10 |
Ret |
9 |
12 |
8 |
8 |
Ret |
8 |
14 |
9 |
| 8 |
Williams-Toyota |
7 |
3 |
14 |
8 |
Ret |
8 |
Ret |
10 |
16 |
9 |
10 |
14 |
8 |
12 |
14 |
2 |
11 |
15 |
12 |
26 |
| 8 |
6 |
17 |
14 |
7 |
Ret |
7 |
Ret |
15 |
8 |
14 |
13 |
15 |
14 |
12 |
8 |
15 |
12 |
17 |
| 9 |
Honda |
16 |
Ret |
10 |
Ret |
6 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
Ret |
Ret |
17 |
12 |
13 |
15 |
15 |
9 |
14 |
16 |
13 |
14 |
| 17 |
DSQ |
13 |
11 |
Ret |
14 |
6 |
7 |
14 |
3 |
Ret |
16 |
16 |
Ret |
17 |
Ret |
13 |
11 |
15 |
| 10 |
Force
India-Ferrari |
20 |
Ret |
Ret |
19 |
Ret |
16 |
Ret |
Ret |
19 |
Ret |
15 |
Ret |
Ret |
13 |
19 |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
16 |
0 |
| 21 |
Ret |
12 |
12 |
10 |
Ret |
Ret |
Ret |
18 |
Ret |
16 |
15 |
14 |
17 |
Ret |
14 |
Ret |
17 |
18 |
| 11 |
Super
Aguri-Honda‡ |
18 |
Ret |
16 |
17 |
13 |
WD
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
| 19 |
Ret |
15 |
16 |
Ret |
WD
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Pos |
Constructor |
Car
No. |
AUS
|
MAL
|
BHR
|
ESP
|
TUR
|
MON
|
CAN
|
FRA
|
GBR
|
GER
|
HUN
|
EUR
|
BEL
|
ITA
|
SIN
|
JPN
|
CHN
|
BRA
|
Pts |
|
Bold - Pole
Italics - Fastest Lap |
† 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, with immediate effect. The company went into
administration a day later.
Statistics
Drivers
Constructors
Report
The 2008 Formula 1 season was one of the closest in the history of
the sport.
Kimi Räikkönen
rivaled
Lewis Hamilton during the
first half of the season, and
Felipe
Massa challenged Hamilton through the second half. The
championship came down to a single overtake of
Timo Glock by Lewis Hamilton to surpass Felipe
Massa by one point.
TV coverage
All broadcasters of Formula One worldwide take what is known as the
world feed for the majority of their race coverage. The host
broadcaster which produces the world feed has access to trackside,
onboard and pitlane cameras. Timing, position and other graphics
are also added to the world feed before it is provided to the
broadcasters. For the 2008 season,
Formula One Management, owner of the
commercial rights to the sport acted as host broadcaster for 16 of
the 18 rounds of the championship.
- In the Arab world, practice, qualifications and races were
broadcast exclusively by Al Jazeera
Sports.
- In Australia, qualification was aired
early in the morning on the race day. The race had recently been
shown live on Ten HD. If it started at
10:00pm AEST, it would be shown later on Network Ten, however if at a different time, it
would be shown live.
- In
Brazil
, all races and qualifications were broadcast by
Rede Globo.
- In
Canada
, the races were shown on TSN, although in Quebec
, it also aired on RDS.
- In
France, both qualifications and races were broadcast by TF1
.
- In
Greece
ALPHA TV broadcast the Grands Prix
live.
- In India, all races were broadcast by ESPNStar alliance,
primarily on Star Sports.
- In
Japan
, Fuji
TV broadcast all the races and qualifications,
digests in terrestrial
channel and live in satellite
channel (Fuji CS721) via SKY
PerfecTV. In parallel with the two channels, the
company started broadcasting high-definition live program in
HD satellite channel (Fuji CSHD) after the 2008
Bahrain Grand Prix.
- In
Malaysia
, the race is broadcast live on Pay-TV Astro's
ESPNStar Star-Sport's channel. Free TV channel RTM's shows the race delayed, and takes the ITV commentary feed.
- In Mexico, all races were broadcast live on Fox Sports, and by Televisa's XHTV Canal 4 a few
hours later using a tape delay broadcast.
- In Sweden, the qualification was broadcast in both TV 6 and Viasat
Motor simultaneously, although Viasat Motor did not have
commercials.
- In
the United
Kingdom
, ITV provided the coverage for
the last time before the BBC took over in
2009.
- In
the United
States
, all races were broadcast live on the Speed cable channel except for four races
broadcast by the terrestrial
Fox: the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, 2008 French Grand Prix, 2008 British Grand Prix and the
2008 German Grand
Prix. However, only the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix was
televised live, and others were tape delayed.
- In
Venezuela
, all races were broadcast live on Televen, and by Meridiano Televisión a few hours
later using a tape delay broadcast.
Race-fixing controversy
In a scandal that became known as "
Crashgate" in the
media, during the 2009 season around the time of the Belgium Grand
Prix, allegations by former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. about
his crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix led to charges of
race-fixing against Renault and the departure of team boss Flavio
Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds.
References
- 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship
Classifications Retrieved from www.fia.com on 13 November
2008
-
http://www.nextautos.com/motorsports/williams-f1-celebrates-thirty-years-with-anniversary-livery
- Ecclestone agrees to keep French GP
External links
.jpg/180px-Kimi_Raikkonen_2008_(square).jpg)
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