Upset In China: Kimi Raikkonen Victorious; Mistake Proves Costly For Lewis Hamilton

[PressRoom-GFN]

By Mike Lane

SHANGHAI, China (Oct. 7, 2007) – With Lewis Hamilton 12 points clear at the top of the championship table and on the pole position in China, prospects looked good for him to clinch the World Championship. However, that wouldn't be the case.

A slippery track saw all the teams using the intermediate tires for the start, and never was it more important for Hamilton to get a good start.

The McLarens and Ferraris all got good starts and as they raced to the first corner Hamilton maintained his lead, followed by Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso went wide trying to pass Felipe Massa around the outside and they raced side-by-side through turns 1, 2 and 3 before Massa took third in the thrilling battle. Ralph Schumacher in a Toyota spun wide at turn 1 and lost places after his strong qualifying performance. This was not a good start for the German who has announced he will leave Toyota at the end of the season.

On lap 2, with everyone trying to establish grip in the slippery conditions, Rubens Barrichello, in a Honda, touched Anthony Davidson, in the Super Aguri, who spun. Rain was intermittent and the track was too slippery to contemplate going to dry tires. The early laps saw a number of winners and losers from their starting positions, which is often the case in wet races.

By lap 5, Hamilton was setting a fast pace at the front, leading Raikkonen by 2.8 seconds. Meanwhile, David Coultard, Sebastien Vettel and Jenson Button were producing strong performances.

Three laps later the track was starting to dry as Hamilton posted the fastest lap, so far -- 1:46.051.

By lap 11, Hamilton had constructed a 6.674-second lead over Raikkonen with Massa 11.347 seconds behind in third and Alonso, in fourth, trailing by 13.239 seconds. Meanwhile, Coultard was still on the pace in fifth.

The changeable conditions were producing good contests throughout the field with the drivers regularly changing positions, but at the front, the race seemed to have settled into a pattern with Hamilton increasing his lead bit by bit.

On lap 15, Button was clearly uncomfortable with his car's balance and Nico Rosberg slipped past him, having started seven places behind the English driver. Davidson eventually retired from the race with apparent technical failure, later confirming it was the result of his earlier collision with Barrichello.

The next lap Hamilton made his first pit stop, which was a little earlier than expected. He elected not to change tires, confirming the unpredictable grip on the track and the intermediate tires' fantastic durability. When he rejoined the race, after taking just fuel, he came out ahead of Coultard, which was crucial.

On lap 17, Rosberg continued his charge from 16th place with a pass on Heikki Kovalainen in the Renault to go into 12th. Kovalainen was clearly struggling with understeer at this point and coming under pressure.

Two laps after Hamilton, Massa came in for his pit stop and also elected not to change tires before rejoining the race behind the fifth place Vitantonio Liuzzi.

On lap 19, Alonso and Raikkonen made their pit stops and although Alonso was closer to Massa on rejoining the race, he was still behind the Brazilian. Meanwhile, Adrian Sutil in the Spyker spun at turn 1, but managed to continue without damage.

As lap 20 commenced, Hamilton re-took the lead, but with his advantage reduced to 4.015 seconds.

Over the next few laps, Hamilton appeared to be in control of the race and on lap 23 set the fastest lap time of 1:43.1. At this point, Rosberg seemed to be struggling as Schumacher passed him.

On lap 25, Webber pitted and elected to go to dry tires, as did Alex Wurz in the Williams. The other teams would no doubt be monitoring their progress closely.

Schumacher continued his lackluster season when he tried an ambitious move and touched Liuzzi in the Toro Rosso.

Confirmation of the drying track conditions came as Wurz set a new fastest lap on his dry tire setup. Now teams would have to decide whether and when to follow suit. There always comes a time when the dry tires are so much faster that one cannot afford not to change because more time is lost on the track than on a pit stop. At this point, the teams were in that marginal zone and the penalty could be a mistake and consequent elimination after a crash.

Over the next two laps Robert Kubica in the BMW, Massa in the Ferrari and Coultard in the Red Bull all pitted for dry tires. Meanwhile, Schumacher spun and then Sutil in the Spyker crashed near the pit lane. Raikkonen had closed up on Hamilton and now challenged for the lead, but the “rookie” was not going to concede easily. He obviously wanted to win this race and the championship in style, but one did wonder why he was taking risks, as he didn’t need to beat Raikkonen in China. As long as he was ahead of Alonso, Hamilton would be the champion.

On lap 29, as Rosberg went off into the gravel while racing side-by-side with the two Renaults down the straight, Raikkonen forged ahead of Hamilton for the lead. Alonso was closing on Hamilton at 2 seconds per lap and clearly Hamilton was in trouble. His tires were shot and surely he would be called into the pits for new tires

On lap 31, Button was one of the fastest competitors on the track and he overtook Wurz, He was clearly happy with the balance of his Honda.

Still, Hamilton didn’t come into the pits, even though it appeared one of his rear tires was starting to split into thin layers. It was difficult to understand why he had not yet pitted. Then, on the next lap, he finally entered pit lane. However, he didn't escape disaster. Hamilton was unable to hold his line through the entrance and he ran wide onto gravel, which beached the car and ended his race. Mechanics are unable to interfere and despite some marshals attempting to push the stricken McLaren, his race was over.

This hasn’t been the first time this season when a poor call on tires has been made by Hamilton or his team, and this may have cost him the championship. On lap 33, both Raikkonen and Alonso made their final pit stops and the McLaren emerged in front of Massa. The following lap Kubica retired with technical problems and Raikkonen now led the race with Alonso second and Massa third. Button was continuing his rapid progress and was now in an impressive fourth position.

Over the next seven laps, Raikkonen established a comfortable 8-second lead over Alonso and a similar margin between Alonso and Massa.

On lap 44, Button made his final pit stop and Vettel moved into fourth, confirming his early promise and answering all the criticism he received following his crash into Webber in Japan.

In the race's closing stages, Kovalainen overtook Webber for ninth and was chasing hard after Coultard for the last points scoring position. Raikkonen underlined his position with the fastest lap of the race on lap 52.

As Raikkonen crossed the line to take the win and Alonso was in second, how McLaren must have regretted the decision on when to call Hamilton to pit road for his tire change.

Raikkonen won in 1:37:58.395 with an average speed of 186.826 km/h [114.99mph].
2nd Alonso +9.8 seconds
3rd Massa +12.8
4th Vettel +53.5
5th Button +1minute 08.6 seconds
6th Liuzzi +1:13.6
7th Heidfeld +1:14.2
8th Coultard +1:20.7
9th Kovalainen +1:21.1
10th Webber +1:24.6
11th Fisichella +1:26.6
12th Wurz +1 lap
13th Trulli +1 lap
14th Sato +1 lap
15th Barrichello +1 lap
16th Rosberg +2 laps
17th Yamamoto +3 laps
Kubica unclassified
Hamilton unclassified
Schumacher unclassified
Sutil unclassified
Davidson unclassified


The Championship points are as follows:
Drivers
Hamilton 107
Alonso 103
Raikkonen 100
Massa 86
Heidfeld 58
Kubica 35
Kovaleinen 30
Fisichella 21
Wurz 13
Rosberg 12
Coultard 9
Webber 8
Trulli 7
Button 6
Vettel 6
Schumacher 5
Vettel 5
Sato 4
Liuzzi 3


Constructors
Ferrari 186
BMW 94
Renault 51
Williams 28
Red Bull 24
Toyota 12
Toro Rosso 8
Honda 6
Super Aguri 4
Spyker 1
McLaren 0

Sunday's race saw outstanding results for Coultard, Button and Vettel, with the Toro Rosso driver exceeding everyone’s expectations to put a “B” team car in fourth place.

Against everyone’s expectations, the World Championship now goes down to the wire at the last race in Brazil in two weeks. Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen now have a chance to take the title and after Sunday's race, no one can predict the outcome.

The odd thing this year is the disappointment people feel when Hamilton doesn’t do well. It is so easy to forget this is his first year in Formula One since his rookie season has eclipsed those of so many famous names.

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