At the beginning of January the International Automobile Federation announced the teams and drivers confirmed for the 2008 Formula 1 championship. Absent were the names of one of the drivers at the new Force India team. The two McLaren drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, were listed at the bottom of the list with the lowest numbers. This is because, although Hamilton finished second in the championship in 2007, the McLaren Mercedes team was eliminated from the championship due to the so-called spy scandal.
See the complete list below:
F1 2008 Championship List
| Car No. | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari |
| 3 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber |
| 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Renault |
| 6 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams |
| 8 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams |
| 9 | David Coulthard | Red Bull |
| 10 | Mark Webber | Red Bull |
| 11 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota |
| 12 | Timo Glock | Toyota |
| 14 | Sébastien Bourdais | Toro Rosso |
| 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso |
| 16 | Jenson Button | Honda |
| 17 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda |
| 18 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri |
| 19 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri |
| 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India |
| 21 | TBA | Force India |
| 22 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes |
| 23 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren Mercedes |