2008 Australian Grand Prix
786th World Championship race, 24th World Championship Australian Grand Prix, 13th World Championship race at Melbourne
Fact File
| Date: | Sunday, 16 March 2008 |
|---|---|
| Winner: |  Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes |
| Pole position: | Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes |
| Fastest lap: |  Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes |
| Circuit: | Melbourne, 58 laps |
| Round: | 1 of 18 |
Race Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | 1hr 34m 50.616s | 10 | |
| 2 | +3 |  Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-BMW | 58 | +5.478s | 8 |
| 3 | +4 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 58 | +8.163s | 6 |
| 4 | +7 |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | 58 | +17.181s | 5 |
| 5 | -2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | +18.014s | 4 |
| DQ |  Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 58 | +52.453s | ||
| 6 | +7 |  Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 57 | +1 lap | 3 |
| 7 | +10 |  Sebastien Bourdais | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 55 | DNF | 2 |
| 8 | +7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 53 | DNF | 1 |
| R |  Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber-BMW | 47 | DNF | ||
| R | Timo Glock | Toyota | 43 | DNF | ||
| R | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 32 | DNF | ||
| R | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 30 | DNF | ||
| R | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 29 | DNF | ||
| R | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 25 | DNF | ||
| R |  Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 19 | DNF | ||
| R | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 8 | DNF | ||
| R | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 0 | DNF | ||
| R | Jenson Button | Honda | 0 | DNF | ||
| R |  Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 0 | DNF | ||
| R | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 0 | DNF | ||
| R | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 0 | DNF |
- Rubens Barrichello was disqualified post-race for ignoring a red light at the exit of the pit lane during the race.
Starting Grid
- Highlight: race winner
- Highlight: second place
- Highlight: third place
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.714 | |
| 2 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber-BMW | 1:26.869 | |
| 3 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:27.079 | |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.178 | |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-BMW | 1:27.236 | |
| 6 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:28.527 | |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:28.687 | |
| 8 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:29.041 | |
| 9 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | – | |
| 10 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:26.173 | |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:26.189 | |
| 12 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:26.259 | |
| 13 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:26.413 | |
| 14 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | – | |
| 15 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | – | |
| 16 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 1:27.207 | |
| 17 | Sebastien Bourdais | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:27.446 | |
| 18 | -10 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:29.593 |
| 19 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:28.208 | |
| 20 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:28.330 | |
| 21 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:29.059 | |
| Started from the pit lane | ||||
| -10 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 1:27.859 | |
- Timo Glock received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and a further five-place grid penalty for impeding Mark Webber during qualifying.
Qualifying Result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 | ||||
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.714 | |
| 2 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber-BMW | 1:26.869 | 0.155 |
| 3 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:27.079 | 0.365 |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.178 | 0.464 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-BMW | 1:27.236 | 0.522 |
| 6 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:28.527 | 1.813 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:28.687 | 1.973 |
| 8 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 1:29.041 | 2.327 |
| 9 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:29.593 | 2.879 |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | – | |
| Q2 | ||||
| 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 1:26.173 | |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:26.189 | |
| 13 | Jenson Button | Honda | 1:26.259 | |
| 14 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:26.413 | |
| 15 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | – | |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | – | |
| Q1 | ||||
| 17 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Ferrari | 1:27.207 | |
| 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:27.446 | |
| 19 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Ferrari | 1:27.859 | |
| 20 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:28.208 | |
| 21 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 1:28.330 | |
| 22 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 1:29.059 | |
Championship Standings
How the championship standings stood post-race.
Driver
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 10 |
| 2 | Nick Heidfeld | 8 |
| 3 | Nico Rosberg | 6 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | 5 |
| 5 | Heikki Kovalainen | 4 |
| 6 | Kazuki Nakajima | 3 |
| 7 | Sebastien Bourdais | 2 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | 1 |
Constructor
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren-Mercedes | 14 |
| 2 | Williams-Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | BMW
Sauber-BMW | 8 |
| 4 | Renault | 5 |
| 5 | Toro
Rosso-Ferrari | 2 |
| 6 | Ferrari | 1 |
Statistics & Milestones
- Race debut
- Driver: Sebastien Bourdais, Nelsinho Piquet
- Constructor: Force India
- Milestone race start
- Driver: 250th for Rubens Barrichello
- Wins
- Driver: 5th for Lewis Hamilton
- Constructor: 157th for McLaren
- Podiums
- Driver: 13th for Lewis Hamilton, 8th for Nick Heidfeld, 1st for Nico Rosberg (194th different podium finisher, 11th German driver)
- Constructor: 419th for McLaren, 295th for Williams, 11th for Sauber/BMW Sauber
- Poles
- Driver: 7th for Lewis Hamilton
- Constructor: 134th for McLaren
- Fastest laps
- Driver: 1st for Heikki Kovalainen (110th different fastest lap setter, 4th Finnish driver)
- Constructor: 135th for McLaren
- Front row starts
- Driver: 13th for Lewis Hamilton, 1st for Robert Kubica (137th different front row starter, 1st Polish driver)
- Points finishes
- Driver: 1st for Kazuki Nakajima (307th different point scorer, 6th Japanese driver), 1st for Sebastien Bourdais (308th different point scorer, 32nd French driver)
- Pole & win
- Driver: 5th for Lewis Hamilton