2008 GP2 Series

The 2008 FIA GP2 Series, otherwise known as the 2008 GP2 Season, was the fourth season of the FIA GP2 Series, staged between the 26 April and 14 September 2008, primarily in Europe. The season would see former Formula One driver Giorgio Pantano secure the Championship, after fending off challenges from Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi and Romain Grosjean.

2007 had seen Timo Glock beat di Grassi to the title, with the German duly leaving the series to take a seat in F1. iSport International, in contrast, would defend their Teams Championship crown, hiring Senna and promising Indian talent Karun Chandhok.

Álvaro Parente opened the season with victory in Barcelona, beating pole sitter Pastor Maldonado in his first race. Kamui Kobayashi subsequently claimed victory in Sprint, after Grosjean was given a drive-through for illegal blocking, while Pantano secured his first win of the season in the Istanbul Feature Race.

Indeed, Pantano would go on to dominate the early part of the season, claiming four wins in the opening six Feature Races of the season. However, his Sprint form kept the rest of the field in the hunt, with Bruno Senna and Grosjean able to keep pace.

di Grassi entered the Championship hunt late in the season, having missed the first part of the campaign due to his work developing the new Dallara GP2/08. Regardless, di Grassi would outscore many of his rivals in his second half charge, and was set to mount a title challenge ahead of the final two rounds.

Ultimately di Grassi and Grosjean were ruled out of the fight at the penultimate round, with di Grassi literally coming to blows with Giorgio Pantano in the Spa Sprint. That left just Pantano and Senna in the title fight, with their duel for the crown settled at the final race as Senna failed to score.

Calendar
The full calendar for the 2008 FIA GP2 Series Championship is shown below:

Entrants
The full 2008 FIA GP2 Series entry list is outlined below:
 * * Arden International competed under a Dutch license.

2008 GP2 Series Championship for Drivers
The full Championship standings from the 2008 FIA GP2 Series Championship for Drivers is outlined below:

2008 GP2 Series Championship for Teams
The full Championship standings from the 2008 FIA GP2 Series Championship for Teams is outlined below: