2008 Brazilian Grand Prix began from third next to McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton. Rain fell minutes before the race, delaying the start, and as the track dried Massa established a lead of several seconds. More rain late in the race made the last few laps treacherous for the drivers, but could not prevent Massa from winning the Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel of Toro Rosso finished in fourth place behind Alonso and Räikkönen. Hamilton passed Toyota's Timo Glock in the final corners of the race to finish fifth, securing him the points needed to take the Drivers' Championship. Hamilton received praise from many in the
1975 Brazilian Grand Prix before another Brazilian would win the Grand Prix. Fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi finished second in his McLaren M23 with his German teammate Jochen Mass finishing third. Jean-Pierre Jarier took pole position, after beating the 1973 pole record. He lined up ahead of local driver Emerson Fittipaldi. The race was delayed whilst the track was washed down to remove debris – punctures had played a critical part in the 1974 race and race organisers wanted to avoid a repeat of these problems. This was the last championship race of Graham Hill's Formula 1 career. Brazilian drivers finished 1–2 in the race,