Autocar’s Favorite Races: 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix Car News

You know you’re working in a nice (admittedly remote) office when an email for writers’ favorite errands is sent and all responses arrive in under five minutes.

Spanning the world and a lot of different eras, it’s amazing to see what memories stand out, whether it’s the individual performances of the pilots or the little details like how a pilot cocked his head in a corner. . There’s even a near-riot in NASCAR on our list.

Let us know which was your favorite in the comments below.

Brazilian Grand Prix 2008

While my colleague Piers Ward’s favorite race of all time was a Formula 1 Grand Prix that his dad had taken him to as a young fan, mine is a Formula 1 Grand Prix that my dad suggested to me. casually looking like a bored child on a Sunday without motorsport knowledge.

“A British driver could win the F1 title for the first time in years this afternoon,” he said. “Why don’t you give him a watch?” This driver was a young Lewis Hamilton who was in his second season for McLaren and “in years” referred to Damon Hill’s triumph two months before I was born.

Understandably, I didn’t understand the technical details of F1 yet, but the sight of 20 stealth hunters on wheels scurrying off in unison, over the screaming V8 soundtrack and barely measured excitement of the commentary, rekindled my latent interest in cars instantly.

A coming together at turn two, while tragic for David Coulthard in his final race, added to the drama and therefore to the appeal for me. The concept was easy for me to grasp: Hamilton, lined up in fourth position, simply had to beat Felipe Massa’s Ferrari at the top of the grid if the big trophy was to be his, or even that of our country.

Truth be told, the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix was for the most part not a classic, especially if you ignore its championship ramifications and focus solely on the action on the track. There were not a lot of overtaking, especially because it was still the era of refueling and therefore “phantom overtaking” through the pit lane.

The excitement came on the 63rd lap, when the rain started to fall again, the drivers dived into the pits and an upstart called Sebastian Vettel (who I remember being accurately described as “certain to become a champion sooner possible “) was running high in the late Toro Rosso.