2008 German Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lewis Hamilton had to win the German Grand Prix twice: first through his opening pace, then through overtaking after a risky safety-car strategy. Nelson Piquet seized his opportunity to finish second, while Felipe Massa completed the podium behind another impressive McLaren performance.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Pole time	1:15.666
Fastest lap	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber
Fastest-lap time	1:15.987 on lap 52
First	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Second	Nelson Piquet	Renault
Third	Felipe Massa	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
18 July 2008	Practice 1	10:00
18 July 2008	Practice 2	14:00
19 July 2008	Practice 3	11:00
19 July 2008	Qualifying	14:00
20 July 2008	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at round 10 leading the 2008 F1 World Championship on 48 points, with Felipe Massa on 48. Ferrari headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 96 points.

Race entries

The 10 teams kept the same race line-ups for the German Grand Prix.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton led Heikki Kovalainen in a wet-to-dry FP1, surviving a spin without damage. Robert Kubica was less fortunate after going off, while Sebastien Bourdais lost running to a flywheel-sensor problem. The changing grip caught out several drivers as McLaren immediately showed strong pace at Hockenheim.

Dry conditions in FP2 allowed Lewis Hamilton to extend McLaren’s advantage over the Ferraris. Mark Webber recovered from electrical and clutch trouble to complete competitive laps, while Timo Glock had a frightening excursion over a bump. With fewer interruptions, the session provided a more useful comparison of the leading cars.

Heikki Kovalainen headed final practice in sunny but windy conditions. Robert Kubica again lost valuable running, this time through a transmission problem, while Adrian Sutil also slid off the circuit. McLaren’s consistent speed across the weekend made it a strong pole contender, though Felipe Massa remained close on the timesheet.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2008 German Grand Prix FP1, 18 July 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:15.537	22
2	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	+0.129s	19
3	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.259s	22
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+0.626s	22
5	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.790s	23
6	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.069s	27
7	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+1.081s	25
8	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.182s	20
9	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+1.284s	26
10	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	+1.526s	26
11	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+1.571s	18
12	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.594s	28
13	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+1.648s	28
14	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.731s	11
15	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	+1.934s	30
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.963s	24
17	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+2.019s	29
18	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+2.247s	29
19	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+3.242s	8
20	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	+5.969s	16

Free Practice 2 Classification

2008 German Grand Prix FP2, 18 July 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:15.025	37
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.697s	31
3	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.735s	34
4	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	+0.965s	37
5	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.992s	25
6	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+1.205s	38
7	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.330s	41
8	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.338s	36
9	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.352s	40
10	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+1.353s	35
11	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+1.397s	41
12	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.505s	45
13	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.517s	38
14	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.652s	28
15	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	+1.709s	42
16	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+1.756s	44
17	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+1.804s	21
18	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	+1.835s	14
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.983s	39
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	+2.022s	37

Free Practice 3 Classification

2008 German Grand Prix FP3, 19 July 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	1:15.621	18
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.072s	21
3	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.218s	21
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+0.322s	18
5	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+0.416s	24
6	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+0.512s	25
7	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	+0.540s	21
8	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.575s	19
9	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.759s	19
10	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+0.784s	20
11	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+0.826s	22
12	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+0.894s	19
13	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+0.909s	18
14	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+1.015s	27
15	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	+1.187s	23
16	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.285s	24
17	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.317s	20
18	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.568s	20
19	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	+1.691s	22
20	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.848s	15

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton beat Felipe Massa to pole with his final lap, with Heikki Kovalainen third after recovering from an earlier mistake. Jarno Trulli qualified fourth following Toyota’s development work, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen.

Nelson Piquet was eliminated in Q1 and started 17th, while Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button reported tyre difficulties. Robert Kubica recovered from his practice problem to qualify seventh. The grid gave Lewis Hamilton a clear opportunity to build on his Silverstone victory.

Qualifying Classification

2008 German Grand Prix Qualifying, 19 July 2008

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:15.218	1:14.603	1:15.666	13
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:14.921	1:14.747	1:15.859	16
3	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	1:15.476	1:14.855	1:16.143	17
4	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:15.560	1:15.122	1:16.191	21
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:15.917	1:14.943	1:16.385	19
6	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:15.201	1:14.949	1:16.389	19
7	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:15.985	1:15.109	1:16.521	20
8	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:15.900	1:15.481	1:17.014	20
9	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	1:15.532	1:15.420	1:17.244	22
10	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:15.975	1:15.338	1:17.503	20
11	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:15.560	1:15.508	—	17
12	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:15.596	1:15.581	—	14
13	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:15.863	1:15.633	—	16
14	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:15.993	1:15.701	—	15
15	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	1:15.927	1:15.858	—	15
16	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	1:16.083	—	—	10
17	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	1:16.189	—	—	7
18	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:16.246	—	—	10
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:16.657	—	—	10
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	1:16.963	—	—	10

What happened in the 2008 German Grand Prix?

Lewis Hamilton controlled the opening stint and built a comfortable lead. Timo Glock’s suspension failure and heavy crash at the final corner then brought out the safety car. Most leaders stopped when the pit lane reopened, but McLaren kept Lewis Hamilton out, expecting him to rebuild enough of a margin before his final stop.

The plan left Lewis Hamilton needing to overtake. Nelson Piquet, who had stopped just before the safety car on a one-stop strategy, inherited the lead. Lewis Hamilton rejoined behind several rivals, passed Heikki Kovalainen, then caught and overtook Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet at the hairpin to regain first place.

Lewis Hamilton won by 5.5 seconds, while Nelson Piquet celebrated his first podium after starting near the back. Felipe Massa held third ahead of Nick Heidfeld, with Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Räikkönen following. Lewis Hamilton’s second consecutive victory gave him a clear lead in the drivers’ championship after arriving level on points with both Ferrari drivers.

After the race, Lewis Hamilton headed the drivers’ standings with 58 points, followed by Felipe Massa on 54. Ferrari led the constructors’ table on 105, with BMW Sauber on 89.

2008 German Grand Prix race results

The 2008 German Grand Prix was held on 20 July 2008, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	67	1:31:20.874	10
2	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	67	+5.586	8
3	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	67	+9.339	6
4	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	67	+9.825	5
5	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	67	+12.411	4
6	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	67	+14.403	3
7	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	67	+22.682	2
8	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	67	+33.299	1
9	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	67	+37.158	0
10	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	67	+37.625	0
11	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	67	+38.600	0
12	14	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	67	+39.111	0
13	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	67	+54.971	0
14	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	67	+1:00.003	0
15	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	67	+1:09.488	0
16	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	67	+1:24.093	0
17	16	Jenson Button	Honda	66	+1 Lap	0
Ret	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	50	Collision damage	0
Ret	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	40	Oil leak	0
Ret	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	35	Suspension/Crash	0

2008 German Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	52	1:15.987	216.700
2	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	17	1:16.039	216.552
3	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	66	1:16.342	215.692
4	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	63	1:16.495	215.261
5	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	19	1:16.502	215.241
6	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	17	1:16.610	214.937
7	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	24	1:16.712	214.652
8	15	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	20	1:16.772	214.484
9	6	Nelson Piquet	Renault	66	1:16.910	214.099
10	14	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso	63	1:16.969	213.935
11	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	18	1:16.994	213.866
12	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	17	1:17.023	213.785
13	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	17	1:17.115	213.530
14	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	20	1:17.206	213.278
15	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams	34	1:17.380	212.799
16	16	Jenson Button	Honda	56	1:17.636	212.097
17	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	23	1:17.691	211.947
18	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	66	1:17.889	211.408
19	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	30	1:17.986	211.145
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India	67	1:18.208	210.546

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2008 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2008 German Grand Prix.

2008 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	58
2	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	54
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	51
4	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	48
5	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	41
6	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren	28
7	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	20
8	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	18
9	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	13
10	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	11
11	Nelson Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	10
12	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams	8
13	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams	8
14	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull Racing	6
15	Sebastian Vettel	German	Toro Rosso	6
16	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	5
17	Jenson Button	British	Honda	3
18	Sébastien Bourdais	French	Toro Rosso	2
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Force India	0
20	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri	0
21	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India	0
22	Anthony Davidson	British	Super Aguri	0

2008 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Ferrari	105
2	BMW Sauber	89
3	McLaren	86
4	Toyota	25
5	Red Bull Racing	24
6	Renault	23
7	Williams	16
8	Honda	14
9	Toro Rosso	8
10	Force India	0
11	Super Aguri	0

2008 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2008 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	16 March
2	2008 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	23 March
3	2008 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	6 April
4	2008 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	27 April
5	2008 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	11 May
6	2008 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	25 May
7	2008 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	8 June
8	2008 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	22 June
9	2008 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	6 July
10	2008 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	20 July
11	2008 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	3 August
12	2008 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	24 August
13	2008 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	7 September
14	2008 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	14 September
15	2008 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	28 September
16	2008 Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	12 October
17	2008 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	19 October
18	2008 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	2 November