The absence of an official title was due to a transition in licensing:
Since there is no official installer, fans of the 2008 grid (including the legendary Ferrari F2008 and McLaren MP4-23) use the following methods: The Formula 1 Game That Never Happened... (F1 2008) F1 2008 Pc Game Download
Codemasters won the bid for the license in May 2008. The absence of an official title was due
Because the license was secured mid-season, there wasn't enough time to develop a full AAA title for that year. Instead, they focused on building a new engine for the 2009/2010 seasons. Best Ways to "Download" F1 2008 Experience on PC Instead, they focused on building a new engine
The 2008 season—famous for Lewis Hamilton’s dramatic last-lap title win—fell into a "licensing gap" between major developers. Sony's exclusive license expired after 2006, and while Codemasters acquired the rights in May 2008, their first official release was F1 2009 for handhelds and Wii, followed by the first modern PC entry, F1 2010 .
Finding a download for on PC is a unique challenge because an official standalone " F1 2008 " game was never actually released for any platform.