Three Title Contenders Qualify On First 2 Rows; Felipe Massa Takes Pole

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Brazilian Grand Prix

Interlagos, Sao Paulo

Round 17

Oct. 20, 2007

By Mike Lane

Once again McLaren has been reprimanded, this time for Lewis Hamilton’s use of two sets of wet tires in practice on Friday, but it wasn't the only team with a violation. Also cited for the same violation were the Honda and Super Aguri teams. The FIA handed out a $10,000 fine to each team, but left the drivers alone.

This is the closest title race I can remember for the World Driver’s Championship and with three possible winners, Sunday's race promises fireworks.

Hamilton leads the championship battle with 107 points, Fernando Alonso possesses 103 and Kimi Raikkonen 100.

The challenge for each driver is as follows:

If Hamilton wins or finishes second, he wins the championship no matter how his challengers perform. If Alonso does not win, Hamilton can finish fifth or better and still be the champion.

If Alonso wins and Hamilton finishes third or lower, Alonso is the champion. If Alonso places second, Hamilton must finish sixth or lower for Alonso to be this year's champion.

If Raikkonen wins and Hamilton finishes third or lower, Raikkonen claims the title. Raikkonen can finish second and claim the championship if Hamilton places sixth or worse.

Hamilton is the only one of the three contenders who has never driven this circuit and would, therefore, be forgiven for being at a disadvantage. However, he arrived on Friday and within six laps was on the pace.

QUALIFYING

The circuit at Interlagos is an old track, which is renowned for its bumpy surface. However, it has been resurfaced and should provide more grip.

A 2.667-mile circuit, it goes in the opposite direction from most, i.e., counter-clockwise, thus putting strain on the left side of a driver's neck. That results in the competitors paying a great deal of attention to their necks when preparing for the event.

The weather in Sao Paulo can be unpredictable and has produced some memorable wet races through the years, but on Saturday, for qualifying, there were blue skies and the track temperature was hotter than during Friday’s practice conditions.

In Saturday's first qualifying session, it was quickly apparent that the hot track was causing some balance problems in the cars and lap times were slower than in Friday’s practices. During that session, Heikki Kovalainen in the Renault failed to go through, along with Takuma Sato, Kazuki Nakajima, Anthony Davidson, Adrian Sutil and Sakon Yamamoto.

In the second session, which is where the cars are likely to show their fastest times because they can run the lightest fuel loads, the four front-runners posted their times and then, with a couple of minutes left in the session, elected not to go out again. Robert Kubica, fifth in the BMW, also stayed in his garage, obviously content with his time.

Everyone else tried again and with 1 minute 30 seconds remaining, the drop zone surprisingly contained David Coultard in the Red Bull and Nico Rosberg in the Williams. This was against their performances in earlier sessions and they needed an extra effort to get into the third qualifying session.

With the time expired for the second session, there was some frantic changing of places as each driver finished his lap, but the final six cars to be eliminated were Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastien Vettel, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Ralph Schumacher and Jenson Button.

Once again, Jarno Trulli in the Toyota outperformed Schumacher by finishing eighth in the session and Barrichello managed to find more pace than Button in the Honda.

The third session started with the usual fuel-burning phase. In this session, the teams carry the fuel with which they will start Sunday’s race, but they get back the fuel they burn in the session.

With about 6 minutes remaining, the two Ferraris came in for tire changes and emerged to have a first attempt at the pole position. They were quickly followed by the two McLaren drivers, who took on fresh tires and then made their way back onto the track.

Felipe Massa went fastest with 1:12.128. He was followed by Hamilton, who was 0.282 second behind. Then came Raikkonen at 0.283 second. Mark Webber, in the Red Bull, went fourth fastest ahead of Alonso, who was 0.856 second behind Massa.

Entering the last tire changes for a final attempt at the pole position, it was clear Alonso would need to produce a special lap to get himself back in contention.

First to cross the line was Massa with a stunning 1:11.931, which seemed to confirm he had a lower fuel load. Raikkonen crossed the line in 1:12.161 and was immediately followed by Hamilton, who had produced a spectacular middle sector time, to take second. Alonso needed something special to keep out Webber and managed to take fourth with 1:12.356.

The scene is set for a fascinating end to this Formula 1 season. Whoever emerges as the champion, this will have been the closest contest in many years.

The grid for race day is:
1.Massa Ferrari
2.Hamilton McLaren
3.Raikkonen Ferrari
4.Alonso McLaren
5.Webber Red Bull
6.Heidfeld BMW
7.Kubica BMW
8.Trulli Toyota
9.Coultard Red Bull
10.Rosberg Williams
11.Barrichello Honda
12.Fisichella Renault
13.Vettel Torro Rosso
14.Liuzzi Torro Rosso
15.Schumacher Toyota
16.Button Honda
17.Kovalainen Renault
18.Sato Super Aguri
19.Nakajima Williams
20.Davidson
21.Sutil Spyker
22.Yamamoto Spyker

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