In 2008 the title was fought out between Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren and Felipe Massa in the Ferrari. Singapore hosted the championship’s first night race: Fernando Alonso won it after a crash by his team-mate that, as it later emerged, had been staged. At Monza Sebastian Vettel took his first win, for Toro Rosso.
Massa won his home Brazilian Grand Prix and for a few seconds looked like the champion, but on the final lap Hamilton passed Timo Glock, finished fifth and took the title by one point — 98 to 97.