And the F1 Fanatic Pass of 2008 is…

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Felipe Massa leaves Heikki Kovalainen behind in the Canadian Grand Prix

…Felipe Massa’s double pass on Heikki Kovalainen and Rubens Barrichello.

Massa’s move came out on top, narrowly beating efforts from Nick Heidfeld and Lewis Hamilton. Here’s the video of the pass from the Canadian Grand Prix.

What was so great about Massa’s pass?

With key title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen out of the running Massa was looking at an open goal in terms of scoring points. The problem was he was stuck in the midfield after a problem at his first pit stop.

He needed to make up places quickly and pass not just the slower cars like Rubens Barrichello’s Honda, but also the likes of Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren.

Massa got a rare chance to do both and once, and he seized it. Kovalainen passed Barrichello but ran wide and both were held up. Massa had the briefest of opportunities but he slotted his F2008 past neatly to take them both.

It wasn’t enormously different to Heidfeld’s pass on Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen, which took second place in the voting, but Heidfeld had the advantage of being on better tyres for the conditions.

Lewis Hamilton’s pass on Raikkonen at Belgium ranked third, a reminder that not only did many people consider it a legitimate pass, but a very good one at that.

Here’s the results in full:

F1 Fanatic Best Pass of 2008 Voting (click to enlarge)

See video of the other passes which were nominated

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “And the F1 Fanatic Pass of 2008 is…”

  1. no votes for massa from p3 to p1 in Hungary?

  2. Todd – There was a debate over whether that was a good pass or a good start – see here.

  3. Keith, while you’re here I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for a fantastic blog, and for keeping us very entertained throughout the off season.

    I wish both you and yours a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

  4. Thanks Dougie :-)

  5. Truly epic pass. Merry Christmas from me too. :)

  6. Keith, this has definitely been one of the best debates of the season, thank you. I’d like to know who is the driver with the highest ratio between the number of times he did a successful overtaking monoeuvers last season and the times he was overtaken by another driver. Could be Hamilton? I estimate that Hamilton did more than 20 overtakes, but only Raikkonen (2nd lap at Spa, after Lewis spun) and Vettel (Brazil) overtoke him.

  7. Also worth mentioning that the track surface was breaking up at the hairpin which makes the pass even more daring, IMO.

  8. was a great pass, yes! although I’m no Massa fan I must admit he has some sparks once in a while!

  9. It was a great move, I can remember Jacques Villeneuve trying a move there and failing, taking another car with him. That move really summed up Felipe Massa’s year, a really impressive improvement and by far his best yet.
    Merry Christmas to all you fanatics worldwide. x.

  10. That was a legitimate overtake for the win. The fact Hamilton’s alleged “overtake” on raikkonen at spa was on the short list is laughable.

    And the fact it got 24% of the votes is ridiculous, the amount of hamilton nuthuggers is just ridiculous. Nothing against lewis, its just the fact that cutting part of the track doesn’t constitute as an overtake.

    Anyway its a shame he didn’t win sports personality of the year, at least Addlington didn’t win. I Personally think Hamilton should have won because not only did he achieve a feat recorded in the history books, but the crap and pressure he has been under the whole season was off the scale.

    Anyway enjoy your christmas guys and bring on the new year and the next season!

  11. AJ – I think it’s the bit after when Hamilton lets Raikkonen past that people were voting for.

  12. Hi keith I realise that, it’s just the illegal bit of chicane cutting that lead up to it, I think the best way to put across what I’m saying is that the overtake is tainted. That’s all.

  13. AJ – I understand completely, but a lot of people don’t think it is ‘tainted’. He gave the position back. But we’re done with that argument, I’m sure everyone has made their minds up about it now.

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