HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 ING Magyar Nagydíj 2008) was a
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
motor race held on 3 August 2008, at the
Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...
in
Mogyoród Mogyoród is a small traditional village in Pest County, Hungary. The Battle of Mogyoród took place here on 14 March 1074, between Solomon, King of Hungary and his cousins Géza and Ladislaus, who were claiming rights to the throne. To commemo ...
, near Budapest. It was the 11th race of the 2008 Formula One World Championship. Contested over 70 laps, the race was won by
Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish auto racing, racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT ...
for the
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
team, from a second position start.
Timo Glock Timo Glock (; born 18 March 1982) is a German racing driver, who competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Dörr Motorsport. Glock competed in Formula One between and . Glock raced in Formula One for Jordan, Toyota, Virgin and Marussi ...
finished second in a
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
car, with
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One ...
third in a
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
. It was Kovalainen's first Formula One victory, which made him the sport's 100th driver to win a World Championship race, and it was Glock's first podium finish. It also turned out to be the only F1 race Kovalainen ever won. The majority of the race consisted of a duel between
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...
and
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
, who drove for McLaren and Ferrari, respectively. Hamilton started from
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
but was beaten at the first corner by Massa, who passed him around the outside. The two championship rivals began a battle for the lead that was resolved when Hamilton sustained a punctured tyre just over halfway through the race, giving Massa a lead of more than 20 seconds over Kovalainen. The Ferrari's engine, however, failed with three laps remaining, allowing the McLaren driver to win. Räikkönen set the race's
fastest lap In motorsports, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. In some racing series, like NASCAR, the fastest lap award championship points for a driver or team. In Formula One and MotoGP no point is awarded for the fastest lap. Formula O ...
in the other Ferrari, but was hampered by a poor qualifying performance and was stuck behind
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...
(
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
) and Glock in turn for almost all of the race. As a consequence of the race, Hamilton extended his lead in the
World Drivers' Championship Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which a ...
to five points over Räikkönen, with Massa a further three behind.
Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. Kubica competed in Formula One between and , and the World Rally Championship ...
, who finished eighth after finding his
BMW Sauber The German automobile manufacturer/brand BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Form ...
car uncompetitive at the Hungaroring, slipped to 13 points behind Hamilton, ahead of teammate
Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (; born 10 May 1977) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Heidfeld began competitive kart racing aged 11. He progressed to Formu ...
and Kovalainen. In the
World Constructors' Championship Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which ...
, McLaren passed BMW Sauber for second position, 11 points behind Ferrari.


Background

The 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix was the 11th of the 18th rounds of the 2008 Formula One World Championship and occurred at the
Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...
circuit, in
Mogyoród Mogyoród is a small traditional village in Pest County, Hungary. The Battle of Mogyoród took place here on 14 March 1074, between Solomon, King of Hungary and his cousins Géza and Ladislaus, who were claiming rights to the throne. To commemo ...
, Hungary, on 3 August 2008. The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers in ten teams of two. The teams, also known as " constructors", were
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
,
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...
- Mercedes,
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
,
Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
,
Force India Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 200 ...
-Ferrari,
BMW Sauber The German automobile manufacturer/brand BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Form ...
,
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
,
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...
-Renault, Williams-Toyota and Toro Rosso-Ferrari. Before the race, Ferrari was in the lead of the Constructors' Championship with 105 points, 16 ahead of BMW Sauber and a further three in front of McLaren. Vying for fourth place were Toyota, Red Bull and Renault, all within two points of each other but more than 60 points behind McLaren. In the Drivers' Championship,
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with M ...
(McLaren) led with 58 
points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...
, ahead of Ferrari teammates
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
and
Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One ...
, who were on 54 and 51 points respectively. BMW drivers
Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. Kubica competed in Formula One between and , and the World Rally Championship ...
(48) and
Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (; born 10 May 1977) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Heidfeld began competitive kart racing aged 11. He progressed to Formu ...
(41) were fourth and fifth in the championship, followed by
Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish auto racing, racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT ...
, who had scored 28 points in the second McLaren. Following the on July 20, the teams conducted testing sessions at the
Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campi� ...
circuit from July 22–25. Each team was limited to of testing during the 2008 calendar year, a reduction compared with previous seasons.
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who most recently competed in Formula One from to . Vettel won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won consecutively from to with Red Bull, and rema ...
(Toro Rosso) set the fastest time of the first and second days, while Mark Webber (Red Bull) topped the third day's running, and
Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish auto racing, racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT ...
was fastest on the final day of testing. Several teams tested using
Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...
slick tyre A racing slick or slick tyre is a type of tyre that has a smooth tread used mostly in auto racing. The first production slick tyre was developed by M&H Tires in the early 1950s for use in drag racing. By eliminating any grooves cut into the tre ...
s, as preparation for the switch from grooved to slick tyres for the 2009 season, and
BMW Sauber The German automobile manufacturer/brand BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Form ...
tested a
Kinetic Energy Recovery System A kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) is an automotive system for recovering a moving vehicle's kinetic energy under braking. The recovered energy is stored in a reservoir (for example a flywheel or high voltage batteries) for later use under ...
, also for the following year. Among the other teams, Force India's test driver,
Vitantonio Liuzzi Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi (born 6 August 1980) is an Italian former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Bari, Liuzzi began competitive kart racing aged nine. After a successful karting career—culminating in ...
, tested the team's new "seamless-shift"
gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
ahead of the system's race début later in the year, while
Timo Glock Timo Glock (; born 18 March 1982) is a German racing driver, who competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Dörr Motorsport. Glock competed in Formula One between and . Glock raced in Formula One for Jordan, Toyota, Virgin and Marussi ...
of Toyota took part after a heavy crash at the German Grand Prix. In the week leading up to the race, a meeting between the teams at Ferrari's headquarters in
Maranello Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a city of Italy in the province of Modena, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula One racing team, ...
resulted in the formation of a new representative body, the
Formula One Teams Association The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was a group of Formula One teams that formed at a meeting in Maranello on 29 July 2008. The organisation was formed to give the teams a united voice in negotiations with the FIA and the Formula One Gro ...
(FOTA), which was led by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo. McLaren team principal
Ron Dennis Sir Ronald Dennis (born 1 June 1947) is a British businessman and motorsport executive. From 1981 to 2009, Dennis served as team principal, CEO and co-owner of McLaren in Formula One, winning seven World Constructors' Championship titles betw ...
said the establishment of FOTA was intended to encourage greater co-operation between the teams, particularly in framing new sporting and technical regulations, and to act as a counterweight to the sport's existing governing body, the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...
(FIA) and the company responsible for its commercial management,
Formula One Management The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the Promotion (marketing), promotion of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights. The ...
(FOM). On July 31, the day before the event's first free practice sessions took place, McLaren confirmed the team would retain Kovalainen for 2009 alongside Hamilton, while the organisers of the Hungarian Grand Prix signed a deal with
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate, motorsport executive and former racing driver. Widely known in journalism as the "F1 Supremo", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the c ...
, the president of FOM, to continue hosting the race until 2016. Several teams made technical changes to their cars for the Grand Prix. Ferrari altered the F2008 chassis's cooling system and bodywork following high brake wear and engine water temperatures at the German Grand Prix. McLaren and Force India introduced revised
aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...
packages for their MP4-23 and VJM01 chassis, aimed at increasing the amount of
downforce Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more gri ...
, and therefore grip, produced by the bodywork. Force India also brought its seamless-shift gearbox to the event. Ferrari, Honda and Toyota also débuted raised engine covers, nicknamed "shark-fins" for the way they stretched toward the rear wing, and Honda introduced a new rear suspension package. The sport's sole tyre supplier, Bridgestone, provided two specifications of grooved dry tyres for the race, designated Soft (also referred to as the "prime" tyre) and Super Soft (also referred to as the "option" tyre). The Super Soft compound was distinguished by a white stripe in one of the tyre's grooves. As was the case for all of the 2008 Grands Prix, the rules stipulated that all cars should use both types of tyre during the course of the race, and each driver was limited to seven sets of dry tyres for the weekend.


Practice

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday from 10:00 to 11:30 and 14:00 to 15:30 local time, and a third on Saturday morning between 11:00 and 12:00. The first practice session took place in dry conditions. The ambient temperature was between , and the track temperature ranged from during the hour-long period. Massa set the session's fastest time with a lap of 1 minute and 20.981 seconds, almost four-tenths of a second ahead of his teammate Räikkönen. The two McLaren drivers were third and fourth, Kovalainen ahead of Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...
and Nelson Piquet Jr. set the fifth and eighth-fastest times respectively for Renault; they were separated by Glock and Kubica. Their teammates, Heidfeld and Toyota driver
Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Trulli won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix with Renault in Formula One, Renault. He regularly competed in Formula ...
, completed the top ten. Vettel's Toro Rosso car was afflicted by a hydraulics problem; this restricted him to completing only four timed laps, and he was slowest overall. The second practice session was held in similar weather to the first; the only difference was a slightly higher peak track temperature of . During this session, Hamilton set the quickest lap time of the day, a 1:20.554; Kovalainen finished with the third-fastest time. The Renault drivers were again quick—Piquet in second and Alonso fourth—although the team's Executive Director of Engineering, Pat Symonds, admitted both cars were running with slightly lower fuel loads than normal, improving their performance. Räikkönen and Massa slipped to fifth and sixth respectively, their best times one-thousandth of a second apart. They were ahead of Heidfeld, Kubica, Trulli and Williams driver
Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German and Finnish former racing driver and entrepreneur, who competed under the German flag in Formula One from to . Rosberg won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes, and w ...
. Vettel's car was still suffering from the hydraulics problem and he completed just five laps, again setting the slowest time of the session. Saturday's weather was again dry for the third and final practice session, with ambient temperature between and track temperature from . Hamilton again set the fastest time, a 1:20.228, quicker than his best on Friday. This put him immediately ahead of Massa, Glock, Kovalainen and Piquet. Heidfeld was much happier with the
setup Setup (the noun) or set up (the verb) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Set Up'' (2005 film), a 2005 Hong Kong horror film * ''Setup'' (2011 film), a 2011 action thriller heist film Literature * ''Set Up'', a 1992 nov ...
of his car and set the sixth-fastest time, but Kubica suffered a mechanical problem that restricted him to 18th position. Vettel had a trouble-free session and set the eighth-fastest time, one position behind teammate
Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (; born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently races in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the Hypercar category. He is one of the most successful dr ...
. Räikkönen and Rosberg completed the top ten ahead of qualifying.


Qualifying

Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. In the first 20-minute period, cars finishing 16th or lower were eliminated. The second qualifying period lasted 15 minutes, at the end of which the fastest 10 cars went into the final period to determine their grid positions for the race. Cars failing to make the final period were allowed to be refuelled before the race, but those competing in it were not and carried more fuel than they had done in the earlier qualifying sessions to see them through the first part of the race. The session was held in dry weather slightly hotter than any of the free practice sessions; the ambient temperature ranged between , while track temperature ranged between . Hamilton set the fastest time in the first and final parts of the session, which clinched him
pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
with a lap of 1:20.899. Although he was pleased with the handling of his McLaren—he said that he had never been more comfortable in the car—he believed that he could have recorded a faster lap, as he made a slight mistake going into Turn Five. Hamilton was joined on the front row by his teammate Kovalainen, who recorded a lap time 0.241 seconds slower and was fuelled for an additional two laps in the race. Massa set the session's fastest time of 1:19.068 during its second part, but was delayed by other cars, which prevented him from heating his tyres sufficiently to achieve the maximum grip possible. He dropped to third overall in the final part of qualifying. Räikkönen was on a heavier fuel load than his teammate but made a mistake on his final flying lap that restricted him to sixth place. That left him behind Kubica and Glock on the grid. Kubica achieved his competitive time despite handling problems, which led him to describe his lap as his best so far of the season, while Glock recorded the best qualifying result of his career thus far. Alonso qualified in seventh position with Piquet in tenth on a heavy fuel load; the Renault teammates were split by Webber and Trulli. As the Soft tyres were expected to perform better in the race than the Super Softs, the McLaren drivers' use of one fewer set of the Soft tyres than their Ferrari counterparts during the qualifying session suggested Hamilton and Kovalainen might have had a tyre performance advantage in the race. This was because the Soft tyre was the fastest tyre choice over the course of a single lap, despite the theoretical performance advantage of the Super Soft; Ferrari used one more set of Soft tyres than McLaren before realising this was the case. Vettel was the fastest driver not to advance into the final session, qualifying 11th; his best time of 1:20.131 was just over a second slower than Massa's pace in the second session. His teammate, Bourdais, set the 14th-fastest lap, but was penalised five positions on the grid for impeding Heidfeld during the first part of qualifying, a delay which limited the BMW Sauber driver to the 16th-fastest time. The Toro Rosso drivers were split before Bourdais' penalty by
Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Button competed in Formula One from to , and won the World Drivers' Championship in with Brawn; ...
—who found his Honda's revised suspension a significant improvement—and
David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster from Scotland who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' ...
, who believed the Hungaroring did not suit the handling characteristics of his Red Bull RB4 chassis. Rosberg made it into the second part of qualifying, but did not complete any laps thereafter after his Williams car developed a hydraulics problem.
Kazuki Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In Japanese motorsport, Nakajima won the Super Formula Championship in 2012 and 2014 with TOM'S. In endurance racing, Nakajima won the 2018� ...
(Williams),
Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves Barrichello (; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (), Barrichello competed in Formula One fro ...
(Honda) and Force India drivers
Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Bo ...
and
Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Starnberg, Sutil started kart racing, karting aged 14 and moved into single seater racing in 2002 in the Formula Ford, Sw ...
failed to advance beyond the first part of qualifying, and thus completed the final rows of the grid. In the first part of qualifying (the only section in which all drivers took part), the entire field was covered by just under three seconds.


Qualifying classification

* –
Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (; born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently races in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the Hypercar category. He is one of the most successful dr ...
was penalised five places on the grid for impeding
Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (; born 10 May 1977) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Heidfeld began competitive kart racing aged 11. He progressed to Formu ...
during first qualifying.


Race

The race took place in the afternoon from 14:00 local time, in dry and sunny weather, with an ambient temperature of between , and a track temperature ranging from . The race-day attendance was 84,000. As usual, the race was broadcast worldwide, with the "World Feed" coverage being produced by FOM. Every driver except Coulthard started on the Soft compound tyres. Massa made a good start on his only remaining new set of Soft tyres, moving ahead of Kovalainen from the grid and drawing alongside Hamilton into the first corner. Hamilton held the inside line for the turn, but Massa braked later than the McLaren driver and passed him around the outside. Behind the leading three in the run down to the first corner, Glock moved ahead of Kubica, while Alonso overtook Räikkönen. Barrichello made the best start in the field, moving from 17th to 13th place at the end of the first lap, while Vettel made a poor start and lost four places over the same distance. At the completion of the first lap, Massa led from Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Kubica, Alonso, Räikkönen, Webber, Trulli, Piquet, Coulthard, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Button, Vettel, Bourdais, Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil. Massa and Hamilton immediately began to pull clear of Kovalainen. On lap 3, Button overtook his teammate Barrichello for 13th position, but both Honda drivers were stuck behind Heidfeld, who was carrying a heavier fuel load than them. As the race progressed, Massa began to open a small lead over Hamilton, who put his McLaren into a "fuel-saving mode", attempting to jump ahead of Massa later in the race by making a pit stop after the Ferrari driver. In addition, the high track temperature was to the Ferrari chassis's advantage, as it was easier on its tyres than the McLaren and was able to run them at an
operating temperature An operating temperature is the allowable temperature range of the local ambient environment at which an electrical or mechanical device operates. The device will operate effectively within a specified temperature range which varies based on the de ...
of up to 10 °C (18 °F) lower, resulting in less tyre wear. By lap 18, Massa had a lead of 3.5 seconds over Hamilton, who in turn was almost 8 seconds ahead of Kovalainen. Glock was a further 3 seconds behind the second McLaren driver, but was drawing ahead of Kubica in fifth, who was finding his BMW Sauber difficult to drive in race conditions with a lack of grip and stability under braking, and was holding up a group of cars behind him. Massa, Kubica and Webber were the first three drivers to make pit stops by coming in on lap 18. The McLaren mechanics timed Massa's stop to estimate the amount of fuel he received, and when Hamilton made his own first stop on the next lap, they fuelled him to run for three laps longer than the Ferrari in the second stint of the race. Kovalainen took over the lead of the race for two laps before his pit stop on lap 21 returned it to Massa. Piquet was the last of the leading runners to make a pit stop, on lap 25, allowing him to jump ahead of Kubica, Trulli and Webber. Further down the order, Vettel made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 20 and retired two laps later with an overheating engine. By the end of lap 26, all of the leading drivers on two-stop strategies had taken their pit stops. The race order was Massa leading from Hamilton, Kovalainen, Glock, Coulthard (who was yet to pit), Alonso, Räikkönen, Piquet, Trulli, Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld, Button, Barrichello, Bourdais, Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil. Hamilton rejoined the race following his first pit stop 2.6 seconds behind Massa, and needed to stay within approximately 3.5 seconds of the Ferrari driver to gain track position after the second round of pit stops. Massa began to pull away again, easing the gap open to 4 seconds by lap 32, while Hamilton locked his front-left wheel as he tried to keep up with the Ferrari, flat-spotting the tyre in the process. The two continued to set fastest laps as they pulled away from the rest of the field. On lap 29, Coulthard made his first pit stop, dropping to 12th place as a result. Button, Barrichello, Bourdais, Rosberg, Nakajima, Fisichella and Sutil also made their first pit stops at this stage of the race. Three of these drivers experienced delays during their pit stops which dropped them down the running order: Barrichello and Bourdais suffered flash fires, while Rosberg's fuel hose jammed, losing him time. At the front of the field, Massa continued to pull away gradually from Hamilton; the gap between the two had risen to 5 seconds by the end of lap 40. On the following lap, Hamilton's front-left tyre deflated approaching Turn Two; the resultant slow lap back to the pit lane and stop for a replacement tyre dropped him to tenth place. Massa now had a 23-second lead over Kovalainen and slowed his pace accordingly, adjusting the performance of the engine to place it under less mechanical stress. He made his final pit stop on lap 44, allowing Kovalainen to take the lead until his own stop four laps later, handing Massa back his lead. On lap 41, Heidfeld made his only pit stop, dropping from 11th to 12th position. In the following laps, the other drivers made their second stops, except Nakajima, who switched to a one-stop strategy at his first visit to his pit box. Behind the leading trio of Massa, Kovalainen and Glock, Räikkönen moved ahead of Alonso despite running off the road just before his pit stop; after he exited the pit lane, Piquet fended off Trulli as they battled for position. The pit stop sequence allowed Hamilton to move back up the order, to sixth place behind Alonso. Further back, Bourdais suffered another flash fire on lap 45, and made another visit to the pit lane one lap later to have
fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...
foam cleaned off his helmet visor. Rosberg was the final scheduled driver to make a pit stop, on lap 58. The majority of the drivers ran with Soft tyres for the first two stints of the race, then switched to the Super Soft compound for the final stint. At the conclusion of lap 59, with the scheduled pit stops completed, the running order was Massa leading from Kovalainen, Glock, Räikkönen, Alonso, Hamilton, Piquet, Trulli, Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Button, Nakajima, Rosberg, Fisichella, Sutil, Barrichello and Bourdais. Running in
clean air Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
without a car immediately in front of him for the first time, Räikkönen set the fastest lap of the race at 1:21.195, on lap 61, as he closed the nine-second gap to Glock at a rate of one second per lap. Hamilton caught Alonso at a similar rate, but his rear Super Soft tyres began to overheat and he was unable to make any further impression after closing the gap to 1.5 seconds. On lap 62, Sutil suffered a puncture caused by a brake failure and became the second retirement of the race. In the closing laps, Kovalainen reduced his deficit to Massa to 15 seconds, but the Ferrari driver appeared to be in command of the race. However, as Massa started lap 68, his engine failed without warning, forcing him to retire from the lead with three laps remaining. Kovalainen was thus promoted into the lead, which he held to take the first victory of his Formula One career in a time of 1'37:27.067, at an average speed of . Kovalainen was the 100th driver to win a Formula One World Championship race. Glock likewise claimed the best result of his career, and first podium finish, with second position. Räikkönen took the final place on the podium despite a failure in his car's rear suspension during the final few laps. Alonso and Piquet finished on either side of Hamilton, who was in fifth position, leading Symonds to describe the race as his team's best of the year so far. Trulli finished seventh, ahead of Kubica, who was extremely disappointed with the uncompetitive performance of his car at the Grand Prix closest to his home country of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. His teammate, Heidfeld, finished in tenth place between the two Red Bull drivers, both of whom were also disappointed by their team's performance. Button, Nakajima, Rosberg and Fisichella filled the next places, a lap behind the leader, while Barrichello was two laps down in 16th position after the delay at his first pit stop. Massa was classified in 17th place, ahead of Bourdais, who was the final finisher.


Post-race

Although Kovalainen was delighted with his first Formula One victory, he attributed much of the credit for his win to luck. After the race he said, "I feel a bit sorry for Felipe and Lewis. They both drove great races, but I know how it feels when things go wrong—I've had a few similar moments this year. I tried to put pressure on Felipe, especially during the last stint. I felt something might happen if I did that, you never know, but I still found it hard to believe when I saw his Ferrari on fire." The victory proved to be Kovalainen's only Formula One win. Glock was pleased with second position and spoke of how he had dedicated extra training to improve his race starts. He said he had focussed on not making any mistakes in the closing laps as Räikkönen closed, instead of maintaining the gap. Räikkönen described his race as "frustrating and boring" due to the amount of time he spent stuck behind slower cars. The podium finishers were overshadowed in the media by coverage of the ill fortune of both the weekend's pace-setters, Hamilton and Massa. Massa in particular was praised for his performance. The Ferrari team principal, Stefano Domenicali, said it was, "the best race of his career. It was fantastic the way he managed the race." Journalist
Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...
described it as "almost certainly his best race to date", and colleague Simon Arron termed it as "one of the finest afternoons of his F1 career". Both drew attention to his controlled aggression at the first corner of the race, followed by his relentless, mistake-free pace. Arron, in particular, noted that Massa's first-corner passing move was more typical of Hamilton's attacking style than his own, and was a "defining moment" in Massa's championship campaign. Hamilton himself later expressed surprise that Massa had been able to overtake him in such a manner, and warned his rival that "it won't happen again". Hughes described the Grand Prix as "a throwback race", in that the leaders had suffered from unreliability, and the winner had not been in contention on speed alone; It was a situation reminiscent of earlier times in the sport, when the cars were generally less reliable. Bridgestone director of motorsport
Hirohide Hamashima , also known as Hammy, is the former director of the Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team Tyre Development. He previously worked for Bridgestone as the director of its Motorsport Tyre Development until 2011. Career Bridgestone After graduating from Tokyo ...
said Hamilton's puncture was probably caused by debris, although as a result of the damage the tyre had sustained, the precise nature of the failure was impossible to determine. He also stated that Hamilton's tyre was more vulnerable to debris damage because he had flat-spotted it earlier in the race. Massa said he had no prior indication of his engine failure. The problem was later traced to a
connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a reciprocating engine, piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank (mechanism), crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the p ...
failure caused by an impurity in the component material. An identical problem caused Räikkönen to retire from the following race, the . As a consequence of the race, Hamilton extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to five points ahead of Räikkönen, who moved ahead of Massa in the standings. Kubica maintained fourth place; Kovalainen's win moved him to within three points of Heidfeld in fifth. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari continued to lead, but McLaren jumped ahead of BMW Sauber for second position. Behind Toyota, Renault moved ahead of Red Bull. Despite his increased lead, Hamilton acknowledged that he expected the Ferrari drivers to be formidable opponents in the season's seven remaining races. After the eventual conclusion of the championship in Hamilton's favour by one point, the Hungarian Grand Prix was highlighted as one of Massa's most obvious lost opportunities in his bid to win the title.


Race classification


Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.


See also

* 2008 Hungaroring GP2 Series round


References


External links

* * {{featured article
Hungarian Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix (, ) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród at the Hungaroring. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. History Origins The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on ...
Grand Prix Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungarian Grand Prix The Hungarian Grand Prix (, ) is a motor racing event held annually in Mogyoród at the Hungaroring. Since 1986, the race has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. History Origins The first Hungarian Grand Prix was held on ...