Lewis Hamilton secured the 2008 Formula One Drivers' Championship on the final lap of the season's last race, while Felipe Massa won the Grand Prix itself.
Key Facts
- Race winner
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
- Race distance
- 71 laps
- Championship round
- 18th and final race of 2008 season
- Drivers' Champion
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
- Coulthard's final race
- 246 career race starts
- Massa's career GP wins
- 11 total, last on 2 Nov 2008
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 2008 Formula One season reached its final round at Interlagos with the Drivers' Championship still undecided. Lewis Hamilton needed only fifth place to clinch the title, while Felipe Massa required a race win and Hamilton to finish outside the points. Rain before the start delayed proceedings and added further uncertainty.
Felipe Massa started from pole position and led throughout, winning the 71-lap race ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen. Hamilton, running fifth in the closing laps, passed Timo Glock in the final corners as the Toyota driver struggled on dry-weather tyres on a wet track, sealing the championship by a single point.
Hamilton became the youngest Formula One World Champion at the time, receiving congratulations from Queen Elizabeth II and British prime minister Gordon Brown. Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship. David Coulthard retired from Formula One after 246 starts, and Massa's victory proved to be the last of his career.