spanish grand prix spanish grand prix formally formula motor race held april barcelona spain fourth race formula season lap race won ferrari team starting pole position finished second ferrari began race pole position alongside driver began alongside driver hamilton eventual began fifth passed corner passed maintained lead race leading ferrari finish safety car deployed times race including crash involving driver finn escaped minor concussion prior race weekend event probation sport governing body racist pre season testing circuit subsequently racism reported race weekend event final withdrawing financial pressures leaving sport teams race team drivers result promoted ferrari lead championship points ahead points ahead extended lead drivers championship points points ahead hamilton points ahead moved fourth place points races remaining season report background grand prix contested drivers teams teams known ferrari force india toyota williams tyre supplier brought different tyre compounds race softer marked single white stripe grooves prior race ferrari driver led drivers championship points driver second points driver driver hamilton teammate held positions points championship leading points point ahead ferrari ahead hamilton won season opener australia ferrari dominated races malaysia malaysian grand prix ferrari driver claimed pole position later spun retired teammate went win race ferrari form continued led finish despite promising start season ferrari team principal said team celebrating prematurely real ferrari seen australian team reacted immediately shown great potential package extremely competitive having said aware approaching spanish maximum effort keeping feet ground depressed race need absolute motivation aware fact competitors getting better team leading championship said expectations better expected winter time course better better opened season podium finishes races team principal said team ferrari poor race narrowly avoided grid lap later hamilton said return stronger spain approach way obviously won making mistake weekend feeling fresh good break racing making sure come fresh important feel good team said significant improvements car week break judgement race performance improved comparison rivals event took place shadow incidents taken place circuit pre season testing test sessions hamilton subjected racist spectators response launched racing racism programme placed spanish european prix probation event held spanish city course event incidents reported hamilton particularly unpopular country formula fans inter team rivalry previous year championship resulted leaving team returning team financial trouble proposed takeover deal backed equity firm banner failed effect team narrowly avoided folding mid april given confirmation compete team owners friday prior race team final withdrawing years formula prior turkish grand prix leaving sport teams time season practice qualifying practice sessions held sunday race friday saturday friday morning afternoon sessions lasted minutes session held saturday morning lasted hour fastest session quickest time ahead recovered spin track excursion laps second hamilton took positions ahead home driver sixth repeated morning effort second session time experimented higher fuel loads driver quickest ahead williams driver driver successful session struggled gearbox problems difficulty hamilton set meant managed 11th suffering excessive quickest final session use quicker soft compound tyre teammate quickest ahead toyota driver ferrari ran heavier cars team managed better ninth quickest mechanical problems meant failed set time car coming halt pit lane exit installation laps qualifying session saturday afternoon split parts ran minutes cars finished session 17th lower eliminated qualifying second qualifying lasted minutes eliminated cars finished positions final qualifying determined positions tenth decided pole position cars failed final session refuel race ran lighter sessions cars competed final session qualifying allowed refuel race carried fuel previous sessions clinched pole position season time start alongside grid amid suspicions light race hamilton qualified quickest seconds separated hamilton time line row grid teammate start fourth row disappointed ninth place suffering tyre problems final lap final session time career qualified ahead driver driver toyota occupy seventh row williams driver teammate time season start 15th ahead failed session failing sufficient heat tyres driver force took positions line row grid final race race conditions grid dry race air temperature track temperature weather forecasts indicated light wind calm conditions held lead corner passed second hamilton passed fourth incident field brought safety car car entered spin attempting pass resulting collision eliminated grand prix race restarted lap safety car quickly increased lead second gap increased continued lap quickest track hamilton began close pit lap promoting place field incidents reduced field cars running track lap collided laps later attempting pass turn retired race immediately struggled pit lane decided retire car resulting debris ended race retired lap sustaining damage lap left tyre suffered rapid car barriers estimated kilometres hour mph impact track extracted barriers safety car deployed forced pit immediately low fuel second stop penalty coming pit lane officially opened collided pit lane lap heavily damaging wing requiring drive lap car retiring team garage hamilton having pit stops trailed safety car lap increased lead seconds pulled track smoke engine retired engine suffered failure williams retired lap seventh place laps later set fastest lap race lap record stands pitted hamilton followed pit lane lap collided lap toyota driver attempted pass corner sustained wing damage suffered left rear tyre pitted soon repairs took second win season crossed line end lap seconds ahead second placed hamilton took ahead button scored points season finished seventh place ahead running sixth place team mistakenly called pit lane toyota mistaken damaged car dropping order stop recovering penalty finished ninth place ahead filled positions late collision ahead 13th post race finishers appeared podium subsequent press conference said pole position start important factor victory circuit difficult overtake start best place lot things going safety car lucky best place try win good yesterday helped today said result good team moved ahead championship brought ferrari second important championship ferrari performed said speed significantly better opponents need working like crazy factory improve car area hamilton agreed start important race obviously qualified fifth knew difficult beat key good start places possible fortunately able apart start race passing manoeuvres recorded lap pass lap pass despite accident suffered physical injuries minor concussion spending night observation nearby hospital driver cleared race grand prix weeks later said wheel failure faulty wheel clamp vulnerable rapid changes load pressure formula car eventually leading tyre accident praised formula safety procedures medical staff accident managed walk away bit lucky safety standards pushing worked chassis impact barriers took impact medical team plus team took job fantastic job quickly short period time able recovery injuries think working work paid day director said standards track better speaking regular bbc online column said run corner tight need look driver error going big crash accident happened seconds later fine controlled car probably happened worst section track win increased points tally drivers championship points ahead second placed hamilton points hamilton respectively fifth points failing score championship ferrari took lead points points ahead points ahead races remaining season classification qualifying race notes accident caused wheel rim failure marks race drivers decided withdraw formula financial troubles championship standings race note positions included sets standings
2008 Spanish Grand Prix