The 2008 Formula One world championship came down to the final corner of the final lap, in São Paulo’s gathering rain. Lewis Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the Junção turn to reclaim the fifth place he needed, winning the title by a single point and becoming the youngest world champion in the sport’s history at 23 years and 301 days.
A race shaped by rain from the start
Rain fell three minutes before the original start, forcing a delay as nearly every driver switched to wet tyres. Felipe Massa took pole position while Hamilton lined up fourth, needing only fifth place to seal the crown. Massa led the race throughout, and for much of the afternoon Hamilton held the positions he required.
Two laps that turned everything
With ten laps remaining, the rain returned. Almost everyone pitted for wet tyres, but Toyota left Glock out on dries, which promoted him to fourth. Then, with just two laps left, Sebastian Vettel slipped past Hamilton for sixth place, pushing the Briton temporarily out of a championship position. Entering the last lap, Hamilton was 0.754 seconds behind Vettel and more than 13 seconds adrift of Glock.
Massa crossed the finish line first and his Ferrari crew erupted — the timing screens showed him champion. But up the hill toward the pit straight, Glock’s dry tyres were helpless in the now ferocious downpour. Hamilton and Vettel both swept past at Junção, restoring Hamilton to fifth. That one pass delivered the title by a single point.
“When I crossed the line the positions meant I was going to be champion,” Massa told reporters afterwards, “but then I was told Lewis had passed Glock. That’s racing, though.”
A maiden championship secured in such dramatic fashion opened the door to a career of accumulating records: seven drivers’ titles, more than a century of wins and pole positions. None of them ever hung on a margin this thin, or a moment this late.
