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
2007 Brazilian Grand Prix driver Kazuki Nakajima, son of former F1 driver Satoru. As a result, three Japanese drivers were entered into a Grand Prix for the first time since the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix. Prior to the race, championship leader Lewis Hamilton (107 pts.) was 4 points ahead of second placed driver, Fernando Alonso (103 pts.). Kimi Räikkönen (100 pts.) was 7 points behind the leader. This was the first three-way title fight in the final race of the F1 season since the 1986 Australian Grand Prix, which saw Alain Prost become champion, ahead of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet. In the Friday