Formula 1 season 2008

Constructor	Chassis	Presentation Date	Presentation Location
Ferrari	F2008	January 6 [1]	Fiorano Modenese , Italy
McLaren - Mercedes	MP4-23	January 7 [2]	Stuttgart , Germany
Toyota	TF108	January 10 [3]	Cologne , Germany
BMW Sauber	F1.08	January 14 [4]	Munich , Germany
Red Bull - Renault	RB4	January 16 [5]	Jerez , Spain
Honda	RA108	January 29 [6]	Brackley , UK
Renault	R28	January 31 [7]	Paris , France
Force India - Ferrari *	VJM-01	February 7 [8]	Mumbai , India
Williams - Toyota	Fw30	No presentation [9]
Toro Rosso - Ferrari *	STR3	No presentation
Super Aguri - Honda	SA08	No presentation

* The team began the season with an updated version of the old car.

Notes

• Super Aguri originally planned to present their SA08 car in Barcelona on February 19 , but due to financial problems, they were forced to abandon the presentation and replace it with an interview session.
• Renault and Honda began testing cars of the 2008 season a week before the presentation. ^{[10] [11]}
• Although there was no presentation, Williams - Toyota debuted with the FW30 on January 21 on the Valencia highway.
• Toro Rosso - Ferrari began the 2008 season with an updated version of its 2007 car STR2 ^[12]

According to the information on the official website of the championship ^[13]

Pilot Transitions

Team change

• Fernando Alonso : McLaren → Renault
• Heikki Kovalainen : Renault → McLaren
• Giancarlo Fisichella : Renault → Force India
• Nelson Piquet Jr .: Renault (test pilot) → Renault
• Timo Glock : GP2 / BMW Sauber (test pilot) → Toyota
• Vitantonio Luzzi : Scuderia Toro Rosso → Force India (test pilot)
• Kazuki Nakajima : GP2 / Williams (test pilot) → Williams
• Alexander Wurz : Williams → Honda (test pilot)
• Christian Wedge : Honda (test pilot) → BMW Sauber (test pilot)
• Sacon Yamamoto : Spyker F1 → Renault (development test pilot)

Appearance in F1

• Sebastien Burde : Champ Car World Series → Scuderia Toro Rosso
• Marco Asmer : British Formula 3 → BMW Sauber (test pilot) ^†

Leaving F1

• Ralph Schumacher : Toyota F1 → DTM Touring Cars series

Note

• Marco Asmer also participated in GP2 for the FMS International team in 2008 .

More

• Sebastian Vettel replaced Scott Speed after the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix at Scuderia Toro Rosso and was confirmed as the main pilot for 2008. Team-mate Vitantonio Luzzi was replaced by four-time Champ Car Champ Sebastien Burde .
• On October 1, 2007, Ralph Schumacher announced his departure from Toyota at the end of the 2007 season. He switched to DTM .
• On October 7, 2007, it was reported that Alexander Wurz decided to quit racing ^[26] .
• On November 2, 2007, Fernando Alonso and McLaren announced that they would "go their separate ways." ^[27] .
• On November 7, 2007, Williams announced that Kazuki Nakajima would be Nico Rosberg's partner for the 2008 season.
• November 19, 2007 Timo Glock was confirmed as the pilot who will replace Ralph Schumacher in Toyota .
• On December 7, 2007, after tests at Force India, Ralph Schumacher announced that he did not want to return to Formula 1 ^[28] .
• December 10, 2007 Renault confirmed that Fernando Alonso will play for the team in the 2008 season. His partner will be Nelson Piquet Jr. ^[29] .
• December 14, 2007 McLaren confirms that Heikki Kovalainen will partner with Lewis Hamilton
• On January 10, 2008, Force India confirmed Giancarlo Fisichella as the first pilot and Vitantonio Luzzi as the test pilot. Adrian Sutil has already been confirmed as the second pilot of the Indian team.
• On January 10, 2008, Alexander Wurz was declared Honda's reserve pilot after leaving Williams on the eve of the Brazilian Grand Prix .
• On February 2, 2008, BMW Sauber announced that Christian Wedge had received a test contract and a reserve team pilot for the 2008 season. He worked with Marco Asmer , who was a young test pilot.
• February 4, 2008 Renault signed the Japanese racer Sakon Yamamoto as a development test pilot for the 2008 season.

Changes to the rules

• In the 2008 season, riders are required to use one gearbox for a series of four Grand Prix, if the box is replaced, the rider loses five places from the qualification result at the start of the next race. A rider who could not finish in the first, second or third race of this cycle for reasons beyond his or her team’s control can use the new box without any sanction. In case of replacement of the rider after the first, second or third race of the cycle, the substitute rider must use the box used by the replaced rider.
• All engine and gearbox components, including the clutch, differential and associated actuators must be controlled by a unified electronic control unit (ECU), the vendor of which is determined by the FIA. The ECU may only be used with software approved by the FIA ​​and must be associated with a control system in the manner specified by the FIA.
• No machine can be equipped with a system or device that prevents wheel slip or compensates for excessive depressions of the gas pedal ( Traction Control System ). Also, the use of systems informing the rider about the start of wheel rotation is not permitted.
• The final third session is reduced to ten minutes, refueling before the start is prohibited. Qualification is carried out on the day before the race from 14:00 to 15:00 local time. In the first session (20 minutes) all cars can qualify, after the end of the session five of the slowest cars are eliminated. Their results fall into the protocol, the results of the remaining riders are canceled. In the second session (15 minutes), the fifteen remaining cars can qualify, after the end of the session five of the slowest cars are eliminated.

Additional change starting from Turkish Grand Prix.

After the Super Aguri team left the championship, the FIA urgently changed the qualification rules. In the first and second parts of the qualification, not 6, but 5 machines began to be eliminated, so that in the last third part the 10 strongest remained. ^[thirty]

Grand Prix

World Championship position

Designer's Cup Position

Individual Grand Prix Results

* Racers who did not finish the Grand Prix, but classified because they completed 90% of the race distance.

Pilots

Constructors

• In the 2008 season, for the first time, all teams finished the season precisely in the squads in which they started (meaning pilots)
• In the off-season 2008/2009 FOM and FOA President Bernie Ecclestone proposed abandoning the points system for summing up the championship results in favor of the medal (Olympic). This step would strengthen the fight for the championship title and the Cup of designers. For example, at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, to become a world champion, would have to fight not for 5th place, but for the victory with Felipe Massa.

Interestingly, if the medal system was introduced in 2008 , then Felipe Massa would become the world champion. ^[32]

Pilots

Note : 10th place is determined taking into account additional indicators.

Constructors

Note : places from 6th to 9th are determined taking into account additional indicators.

• Season Overview at FOA Formula1.com