2008 Australian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on 16 Mar 2008 for McLaren, from pole position; Nick Heidfeld was second and Nico Rosberg third. Pole position: Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton took the lead for good on lap 47 of 58, from Heikki Kovalainen; the lead changed hands 4 times in all. There were 3 safety-car periods (laps 1 to 3, laps 27 to 31, laps 45 to 49). Hamilton stopped 2 times, on laps 18 and 43; 6 of 8 finishers made 2 stops, and the median first stop was lap 21. The fastest lap was Heikki Kovalainen's, 1:27.418 on lap 43. 8 of 22 starters were classified; 14 retired or were not classified. After the race Lewis Hamilton led the championship with 10 points, 2 ahead of Nick Heidfeld, with 17 rounds left.

Date

16 Mar 2008

Circuit

Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia

Round

1 of 18

Winner

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

Pole position

Lewis Hamilton (1:26.714)

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Race classification

Grid differs from qualifying for 14 drivers: Timo Glock qualified 9th, started 18th; Sebastian Vettel qualified 10th, started 9th; Rubens Barrichello qualified 11th, started 10th; Fernando Alonso qualified 12th, started 11th; Jenson Button qualified 13th, started 12th; Kazuki Nakajima qualified 14th, started 13th; Mark Webber qualified 15th, started 14th; Kimi Räikkönen qualified 16th, started 15th; Giancarlo Fisichella qualified 17th, started 16th; Sébastien Bourdais qualified 18th, started 17th; Adrian Sutil qualified 19th, started 22nd; Takuma Sato qualified 20th, started 19th; Nelson Piquet Jr. qualified 21st, started 20th; Anthony Davidson qualified 22nd, started 21st. The data records the positions, not the reason; such gaps come from grid penalties, car or engine changes, or pit-lane starts. The small "q" number in the Grid column is the qualifying position.

Grid "PL" means started from the pit lane. FL marks the fastest lap of the race.

Lap chart

Explained: how to read a lap chart · safety car, virtual safety car and red flags.

Race history: gap to the leader

How the race was won

Winner

Lewis Hamilton: 2 stops (laps 18, 43), stints of 18, 25, 15 laps

2nd

Nick Heidfeld: 2 stops (laps 21, 44), stints of 21, 23, 14 laps

3rd

Nico Rosberg: 2 stops (laps 21, 43), stints of 21, 22, 15 laps

Finishers

1 stop: 1 · 2 stops: 6 · 3 or more: 1

First stops

median lap 21 of 58

Pit stops

Explained: tyres, compounds and pit stops · pit stops per race since 1994.

Pit-lane time: pit entry to pit exit. Tyre changes under a red flag are not counted.

Qualifying

Explained: how qualifying works · how often pole position wins.

Gap: the driver's best time in any session (session named), in seconds behind the fastest time of qualifying. That is usually the pole time; when a session gets slower (rain, for example), an earlier session's time can be faster. The bar is full at 3 seconds; larger gaps are cut off.

Standings after this race

Explained: how points and the two championships work.

Full 2008 standings