Lewis' slip keeps title alive
October 8th 2007 02:16
The title is still up for grabs
Hamilton led away from pole, but the changeable conditions brought a great deal of uncertainty for the teams, who were forced to gamble on tyre selection.
Unfortunately for Lewis, his gamble to remain on dilapidated intermediate tyres for as long as possible proved costly, and allowed title rivals, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso to capitalise.
Lewis led early on, pulling away from the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, with Alonso trailing in fourth.
However, Lewis was running a few laps shorter than his competitors, which invigorated a spirited push from Raikkonen, who was becoming increasingly dangerous in the Ferrari.
The field were racing on intermediate tyres, and the decision for new rubber at the pit-stops was the undoing of many a strategy as intermittent showers fell from the heavens.
Lewis pitted on lap 16 and kept his worn intermediates, as did his counterparts who pitted some laps later.
But on a drying track, the Bridgestone inters were beginning to wilt, and Honda’s Jenson Button and Williams’ Alex Wurz were the first to make use of dry tyres, immediately posting fastest laps.
But, as Murray Walker famously said, anything in Formula One can happen, and it did.
More rain began to tumble down on lap 27, and the track greased up again.
However, the prediction was for a short shower, and quite a few drivers on one stop strategy’s such as BMW’s Nick Heidfeld and Red Bull’s Mark Webber lost out heavily after switching to intermediates, before having to pit again a few laps later as the rain subsided.
Hamilton meanwhile, was struggling to keep his McLaren in a straight line.
His right rear tyre was on the verge of delamination, but a ‘joint-decision’ by the Brit and his team had him attempting to push through until the track was dry enough for grooved rubber.
However, it was a costly decision, and the experience of Raikkonen and Alonso trumped the 22-year old, as their nursed tyres enabled them to carry on through the short burst of rain, while Hamilton struggled to hold them off.
Then on lap 30, McLaren made the call to pit, and Hamilton steamed into the pit entry, catching the slippery white line.
He careered uncontrollably towards the small sand bunker to the left of the entry, and slowly and painfully came to rest, a few agonising metres from his pit box.
The championship leader flailed his arms desperately to get a push from marshals, but there was no moving the McLaren, his race, and his hopes of securing the title were over.
From there, it was all Raikkonen. The Finn held an eight second advantage over Fernando Alonso, who maintained a similar gap to the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa.
After the drama up the front though, attention turned to the young man who had been vilified by the press for taking himself and Mark Webber out of podium places a week earlier.
Once again, Toro Rosso’s 20-year old star, Sebastian Vettel shone in tricky conditions, and utilised a well-timed one stop strategy to secure a brilliant fourth place.
Vettel’s teammate, Tonio Liuzzi capped off a perfect weekend for the team, taking a strong sixth place after holding a frustrated Nick Heidfeld at bay for 16 laps.
Fellow backmarkers, Honda were given cause to celebrate with Jenson Button providing the struggling Japanese outfit with a hard fought fifth place – their best result of the season.
BMW, meanwhile suffered their worst weekend of the year taking home only two points.
Heidfeld rued missing out on fourth position after the rain scuppered his strategy, and forced him into an extra stop.
The German then spent the remainder of the race trying to get past Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso, but the BMW just didn’t have the straight line speed, and Heidfeld finished seventh.
His teammate, Robert Kubica was leading the race before his pitstop when he was stuck by the same hydraulics issues that twice robbed Heidfeld of free practice running.
The final point was snapped up by David Coulthard in the Red Bull, who held a racy Renault in the hands of Heikki Kovalainen off right up to the chequered flag.
Coulthard’s teammate, Mark Webber came home tenth, in a relatively disappointing result for the Milton Keynes squad, who lost out to their junior team on the day.
Once again, changeable conditions tossed up an exciting grand prix, and more intriguingly, ensured the title will go down right to the wire.
Hamilton’s rookie error allowed Alonso to close to within four points, and Raikkonen seven of the driver’s championship.
Interlagos has been the scene of many a thrilling grand prix, and again, weather may be an important factor.
The pressure is on young Lewis Hamilton to shake of the disappointment of Sunday, and keep his head around a track he barely knows.
Alonso, although appearing pessimistic about his chances, will be pushing with all his might, while Raikkonen, with nothing to lose will have Felipe Massa in support.
Season 2007 is set for a thrilling showdown…it’s anyone’s race.
2007 Chinese GP
Results
1 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:37:58.395
2 F. Alonso McLaren 9.800
3 F. Massa Ferrari 45.800
4 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 53.500
5 J. Button Honda 1:08.600
6 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.600
7 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:14.200
8 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:20.700
9 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:21.100
10 M. Webber Red Bull 1:24.600
11 G. Fisichella Renault 1:26.600
12 A. Wurz Williams 1 laps
13 J. Trulli Toyota 1 laps
14 T. Sato Super Aguri 1 laps
15 R. Barrichello Honda 1 laps
16 N. Rosberg Williams 2 laps
17 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 3 laps
Did not finish
18 R. Kubica BMW 23 laps
19 L. Hamilton McLaren 26 laps
20 R. Schumacher Toyota 31 laps
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 32 laps
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 45 laps
Fastest Laps
1) Felipe Massa Ferrari - 1:37.454
2) Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes - 1:37.991
3) Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari - 1:38.285
4) Giancarlo Fisichella Renault - 1:38.900
5) Jenson Button Honda - 1:38.913
6) Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota - 1:39.233
7) Nick Heidfeld BMW - 1:39.325
8) Heikki Kovalainen Renault - 1:39.331
9) Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault - 1:39.371
10) David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault - 1:39.640
11) Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari - 1:39.654
12) Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota - 1:39.743
13) Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari - 1:39.890
14) Jarno Trulli Toyota - 1:39.911
15) Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda - 1:40.126
16) Rubens Barrichello Honda - 1:40.516
17) Sakon Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari - 1:40.764
18) Robert Kubica BMW - 1:40.926
19) Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes - 1:43.131
20) Ralf Schumacher Toyota - 1:44.062
21) Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari - 1:47.603
22) Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda - 1:51.765
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