2008 European F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: European Grand Prix
Track: Valencia Street Circuit

Weather: dry, hot, sunny

Felipe MASSA won his 9th F1 World Championship race at the 2008 European F1 GP, F1s first race at the new Valencia Street Circuit. The Ferrari driver started from pole and won by 5.611 seconds from Lewis Hamilton. It was the 210th win for the Ferrari F1 team and Massas 4th win of the season, cutting Hamiltons championship lead to 6 points.

Valencia street circuit debut, Massa pole

Valencia on 24 August 2008 hosted its first F1 race, a Hermann Tilke-designed street circuit through the port district. Felipe Massa took pole with a 1:38.989 lap for Ferrari, Hamilton second for McLaren, Kubica third for BMW Sauber, Raikkonen fourth for Ferrari.

Race day: Massa dominates, Hamilton second

Massa led 50 of the 57 laps at Valencia and won by 5.611 seconds from Hamilton. Kubica took third for BMW Sauber, Kovalainen fourth for McLaren, Trulli fifth for Toyota, Vettel sixth for Toro Rosso, Glock seventh for Toyota, Rosberg eighth for Williams-Toyota. Massa also set the fastest lap on lap 36 with a 1:38.708.

Championship: Hamilton 70, Massa 64, Kubica 58, Raikkonen 57

Hamiltons lead over Massa narrowed to 6 points. Belgium in two weeks would be next.

Classification 2008 European F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	2	FelipeMassa	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	1	57	50	1:35:32.339	10
2	22	LewisHamilton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	2	57	4	1:35:37.950+5.611s	8
3	4	RobertKubica	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	3	57	1	1:36:09.692+37.353s	6
4	23	HeikkiKovalainen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/23Mercedes FO 108	5	57	2	1:36:12.042+39.703s	5
5	11	JarnoTrulli	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	7	57		1:36:23.023+50.684s	4
6	15	SebastianVettel	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	6	57		1:36:24.964+52.625s	3
7	12	TimoGlock	Toyota	Toyota TF108Toyota RVX-08	13	57		1:36:40.329+1:07.990	2
8	7	NicoRosberg	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	9	57		1:36:43.796+1:11.457	1
9	3	NickHeidfeld	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.08BMW P86	8	57		1:36:54.516+1:22.177
10	14	SébastienBourdais	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR3Ferrari 056	10	57		1:37:02.133+1:29.794
11	6	NelsonPiquet Jr.	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	15	57		1:37:05.056+1:32.717
12	10	MarkWebber	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	14	56		+1 lap
13	16	JensonButton	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	16	56		+1 lap
14	21	GiancarloFisichella	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	18	56		+1 lap
15	8	KazukiNakajima	Williams	Williams FW30Toyota RVX-08	11	56		+1 lap
16	17	RubensBarrichello	Honda	Honda RA108Honda RA808E	19	56		+1 lap
17	9	DavidCoulthard	Red Bull	Red Bull RB4Renault RS27	17	56		+1 lap
DNF	1	KimiRäikkönen	Ferrari	Ferrari F2008Ferrari 056	4	45		Engine
DNF	20	AdrianSutil	Force India	Force India VJM01Ferrari 056	20	41		Accident
DNF	5	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R28Renault RS27	12	0		Collision damage

Fastest lap: 1:38.708 min. by Felipe Massa

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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