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
2009 Italian Grand Prix Briton's "never-give-up attitude, his unquenchable desire to fight until the very last metre of the very last lap." The focus of the F1 paddock after the race, however, was on the looming Crashgate hearing at the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris the following week. This was to determine whether Renault had asked former driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, to aid teammate Fernando Alonso ultimately win the race. Lewis Hamilton mathematically conceded the defence of his World Championship following the result of this race as only Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel