The Iceman steals the crown
October 22nd 2007 08:34
Every underdog has his day: Kimi takes the crown
The Finn’s Ferrari was dominant on the newly surfaced Interlagos circuit in Brazil, with teammate Felipe Massa also immensely quick in front of his home crowd, securing a famous one-two for the Scuderia.
Defending champion, Fernando Alonso could only manage third, miles behind the Prancing Horses, but it was British rookie, Lewis Hamilton who had the hardest afternoon.
With a four point buffer to Alonso, and another three to Raikkonen, Hamilton’s task for the Brazilian Grand Prix was simple: finish somewhere near his rivals.
But, his mission for glory was compromised right from the start. Strting second, Lewis was ambushed by Kimi Raikkonen, in a well choreographed Ferrari start line manoeuvre. Pole sitter, Felipe Massa planted his car in front of the McLaren, and allowed both Kimi and Alonso to get past.
In a moment of hot-headed retaliation, Hamilton fought back at his teammate into turn four, but with cold tyres and brakes, ran wide and rejoined in eighth.
Massa was blazing away up front, spurred on by the raging local supporters, while Kimi lurked in tow, comfortably dropping Alonso.
Lewis was instantly back on the pace and attacking Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld for sixth and fifth, but on lap 8, the championship leader’s title aspirations copped a fatal blow.
Gearbox issues left the McLaren Mp4 22 crawling around the back end of the circuit, costing Hamilton 40-odd seconds, ten positions and almost all hope of his dream coming true.
Some electronic fiddling saved Hamilton from retirement, but the job of clinching the title was nigh on impossible.
Hamilton was left to scythe through the field from eighteenth, and was clinically going about the business of dispatching backmarkers, but all the while Felipe, Kimi and Fernando were marching away up front.
Hamilton’s final nail in the coffin came through a curious pit strategy, taking three stops including a very brief middle stint on the difficult super-soft Bridgestone option.
The other front-runners, bar BMW’s Robert Kubica, who had diced with Alonso, were out on two-stop strategies, which effectively left Hamilton a further 30 seconds in arrears.
The second round of stops saw Ferrari finally swap the race lead, with Massa allowing Kimi through via pitstops.
The Finn came out of the pits on lap 53, with new tyres, a full tank of fuel and the unlikely championship a couple of dozen laps away.
Alonso was unable to make any inroads on the Ferraris. The Spaniard needed to finish second to Raikkonen to take the crown, but Massa was being the ultimate team player and denied Alonso those two vital points.
Hamilton had fought his way back to seventh in the dying moments of the race, but was two places short, needing either of the BMW’s and/or Nico Rosberg’s Williams to expire.
Hamilton’s wishes were almost answered on lap 59, when Nico Rosberg attacked fourth placed man, Nick Heidfeld into turn one, only to force the German into evasive action to avoid a race-ending collision.
But, the day belonged to the Iceman. The man who suffered so many setbacks in previous title bids, the man who on the day was the rank outsider.
In front of his jubilant, but slightly shocked Ferrari crew, Kimi Raikkonen soared across the line with fists pumping.
The title was his, finally…or was it?
Word emerged that the BMWs and Williams entrants were being investigated for running fuel at illegally low temperatures.
A tense wait ensued, for would the teams in question be disqualified for digression, then Lewis Hamilton’s finishing position would be elevated to fourth, giving him the title.
However, no penalty was given, and pending an appeal from McLaren, the official word is Kimi Raikkonen, from Finland is the 2007 Formula One World Champio
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Comment by Mountain Fog
well, he deserved to win, but, it does seem a trifle odd, all those events conspiring against Hamilton and ultimately his team. Firstly it was keeping him out way over time on those tyres in China. Now, why wasn't BMW and Williams disqualified? If their fuel was low temp...Hamilton should have won.
I wondered whether all the kerfuffle that had gone on with the Ferrari info, made McLaren decide to not win...or the governing body discretely ordered them not to...
cheers
fog
Comment by ChrisB
Formula 1
The Social Centre
Well i doubt McLaren were trying not to win - I think its a case of poor decisions and crumbling under pressure.
As for BMW and Williams, an appeal is underway and Lewis could well be crowned champ via the courts....but several years ago a precedent was set, wherby a team was found running with low-temp fuel and it copped a monetary penalty - not disqualification.