2008 European Grand Prix

The 2008 European Grand Prix (formally the LII Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held on August 24, 2008, at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain. It was the 12th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team in his 100th Grand Prix entry. Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren-Mercedes, came second, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica in third, more than thirty seconds behind Hamilton.

Massa started from pole position alongside premier title rival Hamilton. Kubica began in third spot, next to Massa's Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen. Massa led the race from start to finish (excluding times where he pitted), closely followed by Hamilton.

Although it was the first race at Valencia, the European Grand Prix had been held 17 times in Formula One. The Grand Prix had been held in Spain twice before, both times at Jerez de la Frontera. The 1994 race was won by Michael Schumacher, whilst the 1997 race was made infamous by Schumacher's attempt to run Championship rival Jacques Villeneuve off the track, handing Villeneuve the title. Mika Häkkinen eventually won the race. Fernando Alonso won the 2007 European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Germany for McLaren. Alonso and Rubens Barrichello were the only former European Grand Prix winners in the field.

Report

Practice

The very first session on the newly opened Valencia Street Circuit was held on a dusty and slippery track, but despite the drivers' relative unfamiliarity with the circuit there were no major incidents (though David Coulthard did hit the barriers late in the session). Sébastien Bourdais went fastest early on, but it was his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastian Vettel who posted the quickest time of the session. Massa and Hamilton scored the next two highest times, with Bourdais just behind them. Following the session, the drivers and personnel observed a minute's silence for those killed in the plane crash in Madrid two days previously.

Kimi Räikkönen topped the timesheets in second practice, having traded fastest times with team-mate Massa for the majority of the session. Fernando Alonso had the set the quickest time late, but was surpassed by Räikkönen in his final flying lap. A notable incident in the session involved Nico Rosberg spinning under brakes in the final corners, and narrowly missing Mark Webber on the inside, before rejoining the track with no damage done. Big surprises in the session were Jenson Button running his Honda third, and Giancarlo Fisichella getting his Force India to tenth.

Rain overnight meant that the Valencia track began with almost no rubber on the surface, but Robert Kubica was still able to carry enough speed to become the first man of the weekend to break into the 1:38s, with Rosberg and Bourdais close behind. There were minimal mishaps, with only Hamilton and Timo Glock spinning. Jarno Trulli spent the majority of the session in the pits with gearbox problems, completing only two laps.

Race

Felipe Massa's Ferrari was released from its pit stop into the path of Adrian Sutil's oncoming Force India car. There was no collision as Massa backed off as soon as he realised what had happened. This incident was deemed "unsafe" and was being investigated by the stewards. Shortly afterwards it was announced the incident would be investigated fully after the race. Massa was subsequently reprimanded by the stewards and fined €10,000, but the Brazilian kept his victory.

Kimi Räikkönen left a pit stop with his car's fuel hose still attached. The incident left a Ferrari mechanic with a minor fracture, as well as losing Räikkönen a place. The same problem was to plague his team-mate in Singapore a month later.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Name	Constructor	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Grid
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:38.176	1:37.859	1:38.989	1
2	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.464	1:37.954	1:39.199	2
3	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:38.347	1:38.050	1:39.392	3
4	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:38.703	1:38.229	1:39.488	4
5	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.656	1:38.120	1:39.937	5
6	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:38.141	1:37.842	1:40.142	6
7	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:37.948	1:37.928	1:40.309	7
8	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:38.738	1:37.859	1:40.631	8
9	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:38.595	1:38.336	1:40.721	9
10	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:38.622	1:38.417	1:40.750	10
11	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:38.667	1:38.428		11
12	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:38.268	1:38.435		12
13	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:38.532	1:38.499		13
14	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:38.559	1:38.515		14
15	6	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Renault	1:38.787	1:38.744		15
16	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:38.880			16
17	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:39.235			17
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:39.268			18
19	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:39.811			19
20	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:39.943			20

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	1:35:32.339	1	10
2	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+5.611	2	8
3	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	57	+37.353	3	6
4	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+39.703	5	5
5	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	57	+50.684	7	4
6	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	57	+52.625	6	3
7	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	57	+1:07.990	13	2
8	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	57	+1:11.457	9	1
9	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	57	+1:22.177	8
10	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	57	+1:29.794	10
11	6	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Renault	57	+1:32.717	15
12	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	56	+1 Lap	14
13	16	Jenson Button	Honda	56	+1 Lap	16
14	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	18
15	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	56	+1 Lap	11
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	56	+1 Lap	19
17	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	56	+1 Lap	17
Ret	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	45	Engine	4
Ret	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	41	Accident	20
Ret	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	0	Collision damage	12

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	70
2	Felipe Massa	64
3	Kimi Räikkönen	57
4	Robert Kubica	55
5	Heikki Kovalainen	43

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	121
2	McLaren–Mercedes	113
3	BMW Sauber	96
4	Toyota	41
5	Renault	31

Notes

• Both Rubens Barrichello and Adrian Sutil started from the pit lane.
• Lap Leaders: Felipe Massa 50 (1–14, 20–36, 39–57), Lewis Hamilton 4 (15–16, 37–38), Robert Kubica 1 (17), Heikki Kovalainen, 2 (18–19).
• The car of race leader Felipe Massa's Ferrari was released from its second pit stop into the path of Adrian Sutil's oncoming Force India. Massa had to back off to avoid a collision. The stewards lauched an investigation into this and fined Massa €10,000.
• Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen left a pit stop with his car's fuel hose still attached. The right rear tyre of Räikkönen's car hit Ferrari mechanic Pietro Timpini, who suffered a minor fracture to his right leg. Räikkönen did not last much longer in the race, retiring with an engine failure two laps later.
• Fernando Alonso's retirement meant that he retired from both of his home Grands Prix held in 2008.
• This race was Bridgestone's 200th Formula One Grand Prix since its full time entry in 1997. The company's tyres were also used in the 1976 and 1977 Japanese Grand Prix therefore strictly speaking it was Bridgestone's 202nd Grand Prix.

References

External links

• Detailed European Grand Prix results
• Official FIA results