The 2008 Belgian Grand Prix is a race that perfectly illustrates the beauty of Spa Francorchamps. A contest that pivoted on two crucial rain showers, featured an epic duel between the reigning World Champion and the man poised to steal the crown, and strategic calls which elevated their beneficiaries from zero to hero.
It also depicted the ugly side of the sport, with a race result ultimately decided in the stewards office. Lewis Hamilton – winner on the circuit – was stripped of what would have been his fifth victory of the campaign, for what was deemed to be an illegal overtake on Kimi Raikkonen at La Source. A stewards decision that is still debated today.
The race was book-ended by showers. Rain is so often a factor at Spa and in 2008, the heavens opened an hour before the start, leaving the track damp in places for the opening laps.
Hamilton, who had converted his Pole Position into the race lead, ceded the position to Kimi Raikkonen – a master of the Spa rollercoaster – on lap two, after sliding wide on a damp patch of tarmac.
In truth, the race was largely a static affair, with drivers almost universally carrying out a two stop strategy. Timo Glock was the only man to attempt a contra-strategy, as he moved to the hardest dry compound at his first stop, while his rivals all took a softer compound.
However, Spa’s famous weather was soon to intervene. On the penultimate lap, the rain returned, allowing Hamilton an opportunity to regain the lead that he lost a full 41 laps previous. An epic duel commenced.
Hamilton passed Raikkonen’s Ferrari at the newly re-profiled Bus Stop chicane, only to cut the second part of the corner. He conceded the place to Raikkonen on the pit-straight, before cutting back to the inside to re-pass the Finn on the brakes into La Source.
The rain began to fall harder, causing both Hamilton and Raikkonen to shuffle off track at Pouhon. The Englishman was then wrong footed by a struggling Williams, having to take to the grass and allowing Raikkonen to re-take the lead. The latter was then humbled at Blanchimont, as the weather proved the victor, with Raikkonen sent spinning off into the concrete barriers just before the start of the final lap. The master of Spa had been dethroned.
Hamilton prevailed, with Felipe Massa looking to seal second place and the eight points that came with it, rather than risk a similar accident to that endured by his teammate.
Meanwhile, Nick Heidfeld, Fernando Alonso and Robert Kubica all took advantage of the conditions, pitting for intermediate tyres ahead of the final lap. Sebastian Bourdais, who had found himself sitting third for Toro Rosso on dry tyres at the start of the final lap, eventually fell to seventh, as the aforementioned intermediate runners lapped as much as 19 seconds faster on the final tour.
However, the chequered flag did not signal the end of the drama. During his battle against Raikkonen and the elements, the stewards judged that Hamilton’s concession of first place – having passed the Ferrari illegally at the chicane – was directly related to the re-pass made into La Source.
Two hours after the podium celebrations, a drive-through penalty was converted into a 25-second post-race penalty, demoting the Brit from first to third.
The verdict caused shockwaves in the paddock. McLaren announced soon after that they would appeal what they deemed to be an injustice, yet the challenge was soon quelled. Many judged that in cutting the chicane, Hamilton emerged much closer to his rival then he would have been, assuming he made the corner, and that advantage afforded him the opportunity to steal the position at the next turn.
The result left Massa a mere two points adrift of Hamilton in the World Championship. With the Englishman having lost out on the 2007 title by the slenderest of margins, Hamilton fans hoped that the Belgian Grand Prix controversy would pale into insignificance by season’s end.
Had Hamilton not passed Glock on the final lap at Interlagos in November 2008, the events at Spa would sit on an even higher pedestal in F1 folk law.
