One of the most iconic Formula 1 calls of all time, the 2008 Formula 1 Championship finale is a story that every Formula 1 fan needs to know. This was the year that Lewis Hamilton won his first Drivers’ Championship, beating Felipe Massa on the final drive of the season at the Brazil Grand Prix. Here’s what happened.

Welcome to Lore Tuesdays, a weekly series through the off-season, telling you stories about the greatest moments in Formula 1 history. Each week, we will retell one of the greatest F1 moments in history and why it is so ingrained in Formula 1 history. Strap in, here we go!

The 2008 Formula 1 season

A 23-year-old Lewis Hamilton entered his second season in Formula 1, having lost out on the title by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari the previous year. That season was highly contentious, with multiple errors and poor strategy leading to Hamilton losing his advantage and then losing the title in the final race weekend.

Back with McLaren on a new contract, Hamilton was determined to show that he deserved to be a title winner. He won the first race weekend at Albert Park in Australia, but would finish off the podium in two of the next four races.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, was determined to show he was more than just a one-time champion and was driving alongside Brazilian Felipe Massa. The two would win four of the first six races that season, with Massa taking three of the four poles.

However, Raikkonen’s form dipped midway through the year, and it became a two-horse race between Hamilton and Massa.

Crashgate 2008

This was the year of the infamous Crashgate at Singapore, in which Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed his car to give Fernando Alonso the win. A story for another day, but at the time, Massa was leading the race, and because of the safety car reset at the time, Alonso ended up taking the win, with Hamilton finishing third and Massa finishing outside of the points. Massa also ran into an issue in the pit lane when he was prematurely released with a fuel hose still in the car. This slowed him down significantly, and was one of the reasons he fell out of the points.

Through the first 17 of 18 races, Hamilton won five races, and Massa won five races. Going into the final race, the points standings stood Hamilton: 94 points and Massa: 87 points. No matter where Massa started, Hamilton just needed to finish fifth to win the 2008 Formula 1 Championship.

2008 Brazil Grand Prix

We go to Brazil for the final race weekend. This is Massa’s home race, and the crowd is behind him. At qualifying, Hamilton does poorly, with nerves seemingly getting to the 23-year-old. He starts the race in fourth. Massa starts on pole.

The noise at Interlagos on race day is deafening. They’re standing behind their hometown hero, Massa. Hamilton is behind Massa, Raikkonen, and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli in fourth.

The 71-lap race starts, and Hamilton settles comfortably into fourth, with Massa right out in front. Midway through the race, Raikkonen starts to deal with issues and falls back. Hamilton is now up to fifth. All he needs to do is finish the race, and the Championship is his.

Hamilton makes his first pit stop on lap 40. By lap 63, the rain was falling at Interlagos. Hamilton and Vettel were battling it out for fifth at that time, but both came into pit to change their tyres on lap 66. Coming out of the pits, Hamilton is sixth behind Timo Glock, and with Massa in first comfortably, Hamilton would finish in second in the Drivers’ Championship if this held.

“Is that Hamilton?”

Both Glock in fifth and Sebastian Vettel in fourth elected not to change their tyres, running on dry tyres through to the end of the race. On lap 70, the rain picks up significantly, and the track is slick with rain. Both drivers begin to struggle to maintain their grip on the track.

Hamilton is gaining time on both drivers and is inches behind Glock. Going into lap 71, Hamilton is flying down the track, doing everything he can to gain that one position on Glock.

Massa crosses the line and wins the Brazil Grand Prix. The grandstands are screaming, the Ferrari engineers are in tears, Massa’s family cannot believe it. Jubilation for the Ferrari driver. The championship appears to be his.

Going into the final few turns, Hamilton catches up to Glock. He’s doing everything he can to take the position. In the final turn, Hamilton takes the inside line and passes Glock.

In the commentary, Martin Brundle of ITV calls out, “Is that Glock? Is that Glock going slowly?”. In that moment, Hamilton crosses the checkered flag in fifth position.

The McLaren garages go crazy. Lewis Hamilton has won his first-ever Drivers’ Championship. Hamilton asks if he has won, and the engineer tells him, “You’re the World Champion, mate”. Hamilton just sobs into the microphone, completely overcome with emotion.

On the Ferrari pit wall, things go from excitement to defeat in seconds. The energy completely drains from the room as they realize Massa has finished second. They get on the radio to tell Massa, and he’s completely distraught. He cannot speak.

After the race, he cannot put into words how he feels. Just tears. The home fans are distraught, with some comparing the environment to a funeral.

For Hamilton he keeps repeating, “I can’t believe it”.

Glock, meanwhile, had nothing to say. With his tyres completely ineffective in the heavy rain, there was nothing he could do to defend from Hamilton. Following his performance, the German racer received death threats from Brazilian fans, furious at him for seemingly letting Hamilton through.

The legacy of the 2008 season

This would be the first of Hamilton’s seven Formula 1 titles, and was one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the sport.

For Massa, this is the closest he would come to a World Championship in his career. He won 15 races over his career, but would never win the biggest title in the sport.

Massa would go on to sue Formula 1 and the FIA over the Singapore “Crashgate” in 2025, following an interview from former Formula 1 president Bernie Ecclestone in which he said more could have been done to protect the sport from cheating in that race. This lawsuit is currently ongoing.

However, the story of the 2008 Formula 1 Championship lives on in infamy as one of the greatest finishes of all time. Sure, this year’s title went down to the wire as well, but it’s hard to imagine another championship being as close as 2008.