Racing | Formula 1 | 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix — Hamilton Wins the Title by One Point at Interlagos

Rain had already delayed the start when the Formula 1 field formed at São Paulo’s Autódromo José Carlos Pace on 2 November 2008. Lewis Hamilton arrived seven points ahead of Felipe Massa and needed fifth place if Massa won, while Massa started the 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix from pole with Hamilton fourth.

Massa led from the first corner and controlled the race through an early switch from intermediate tyres to dry-weather rubber. Hamilton spent much of the afternoon near the position he required, while Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso closed toward him and dark clouds gathered over Interlagos.

Rain returned in the closing laps. Alonso, Räikkönen, Hamilton and Vettel changed to intermediate tyres on lap 67, with Massa following one lap later, while Toyota left Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli on dry tyres. That choice briefly moved Glock ahead of Hamilton in the running order.

With one lap remaining, Vettel passed Hamilton and pushed the McLaren driver down to sixth—one place short of the championship. Massa crossed the line first in 1:34:11.435 and Ferrari began celebrating a home victory, but Glock’s dry tyres had lost grip as the rain intensified. Vettel and Hamilton passed the slowing Toyota near the final corner, returning Hamilton to fifth.

The final classification placed Massa ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen, with Vettel fourth, Hamilton fifth and Glock sixth. Hamilton finished 0.896 seconds behind Vettel and 5.461 seconds ahead of Glock; the four points for fifth took him to 98 championship points, one more than Massa’s 97, and secured Hamilton’s first Drivers’ Championship.

The result does not require a claim about Glock’s intent: contemporary reporting records that Toyota kept both cars on dry tyres, and that worsening conditions reduced Glock’s pace. The official Formula 1 archive records the finishing order unchanged, with no post-race penalty altering the podium or title.

The pin marks Autódromo José Carlos Pace, commonly called Interlagos. The race used the 4.309 km, 15-turn, anti-clockwise Grand Prix configuration introduced in 1999; the accompanying route diagram depicts that layout.

Sources: Formula 1 official race result, starting grid, fastest laps and 2008 Drivers’ standings; Grandprix.com’s contemporary race notes; Motor Sport Magazine’s race database. Image: Will Pittenger, “Autódromo José Carlos Pace (AKA Interlagos) track map,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, a route diagram created in 2009 and used here to show the 1999-present circuit configuration.