2008 French Grand Prix

The 2008 French Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix de France 2008) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 June 2008 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France. This race would be the last French Grand Prix for a decade, before returning in 2018 at Circuit Paul Ricard. The 70-lap race event, the eighth of the 2008 Formula One World Championship, was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team starting from second position. Kimi Räikkönen, who started from pole position, finished second in the other Ferrari car; Jarno Trulli was third in a Toyota.

Räikkönen and Massa both made a clean start. Renault's Fernando Alonso, who started third, was overtaken by Trulli and BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica. The front three of Räikkönen, Massa and Trulli maintained their positions through the first round of pit stops. On lap 30, Räikkönen led Massa by six and a half seconds, and Trulli by 30 seconds. Just before half distance, Räikkönen's right exhaust pipe broke, which caused the engine to lose power. Massa, in second place, began lapping quicker than Räikkönen, and he caught and passed him on lap 39. Massa maintained his lead through the second round of pit stops, and won the race; Räikkönen finished almost 18 seconds behind. Trulli fended off McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who challenged him in the latter stages, to take third.

Massa's win promoted him into the lead of the World Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career, overtaking Kubica. Kubica was second, two points behind Massa, while Räikkönen was third. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari increased their lead to 17 points ahead of BMW Sauber, McLaren a further 16 points behind in third.

The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two. The teams, also known as "constructors", were Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, Honda, Force India-Ferrari, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Red Bull-Renault, Williams-Toyota and Toro Rosso-Ferrari. Tyre supplier Bridgestone brought two different tyre compounds to the race; the softer of the two marked by a single white stripe down one of the grooves.

Before the race, Robert Kubica of BMW led the Drivers' Championship, with 42 points, ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who each had 38 points. Massa's teammate Kimi Räikkönen was fourth, ahead of Kubica's teammate Nick Heidfeld in fifth. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading with 73 points; three points ahead of BMW Sauber with 70 points; McLaren were a further 17 points behind them in third.

Ferrari came into the race with a long series of success at the track, having won seven of the last ten races held at Magny-Cours. In 2007, Ferrari had taken a one-two, Räikkönen ahead of Massa. Massa said that it was important not to discount McLaren and BMW:

In recent years, people would say that Canada and Monaco suited McLaren better than Ferrari, while it was the other way round in France and Britain, but I don't think that is really the case this year, as apart from any other factors, we have to consider the BMW team in this equation. This year in Monaco, Ferrari had the whole front row of the grid, even though I think we had more fuel than McLaren and in Canada our race pace was very good too. In other races we have all been very close.

In March 2007, the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA) stated their intention to rest the Magny-Cours circuit from the Formula One world championship for the 2008 season. Despite this, the race was held in 2008, but the race was dropped from the Formula One calendar for 2009. The French Grand Prix would not return to the Formula One World Championship calendar until 2018.