It's not over until it's over!

Three Drivers One Title. It has all come down to this, one race left to decide the title, The track in Interlagos, Brazil would host a nail biting conclusion.

The Drivers.

In Championship order are the three contenders.

1st: Lewis Hamilton 107 points, The Rookie had a disaster in the last race but comes to Brazil determined to win and become the first rookie to win the title, with a 4 point lead over Alonso and 7 over Raikkonen his chances are good, He just needs to keep Alonso in his sights and the title is his.

2nd: Fernando Alonso 103 points. The double world champion has had a turbulent season and had a small miracle with Lewis going off in the last race and closing the gap from 12 to 4 points, He needs to finish in the top 3 and have a car or two between him and Lewis.

3rd: Kimi Raikkonen 100 points. After a shaky start to the season the last half of the season has seen Kimi finally happy with his car and the results have come, He still has an outside chance of the title but will need Lewis to hit some bad luck and will need to win with his team mate Massa 2nd to beat Alonso.

The danger men.

Whilst the title is between the top 3 there are a few people that could play a pivotal role in the outcome of the title.

Felipe Massa. His title hope ended in Fuji but this weekend he has said he will help his team mate, He needs to finish 2nd behind Raikkonen to give Raikkonen a good shot of the title, this will help Raikkonen past Alonso in the standings but not Hamilton.

The BMW drivers. Both have said they are going to do there own race and do not care about the title, being the only team that have got near Ferrari or Mclaren they could be a unwanted problem for the top 3 drivers.

Other Changes for the final.

At the end of the Chinese race Williams driver Alex Wurz announced his immediate retirement from F1 stating he wanted spend more time with his family the reason. Kazuki Nakajima was announced as his replacement, the Williams test driver given his big shot to impress. Also of note was an FIA steward in the Mclaren garage who would be watching both cars to ensure there was equality between the Mclaren drivers. This move by the FIA was met with almost unanimous disgust in the F! World but Mclaren welcomed it and stated it would be no problem for them.

Friday and more drama!

Friday started off wet and also ended in another trip to the steward’s office for Lewis Hamilton. The driver was judged to of used 2 sets of wet weather tyres as apposed to the one set allowed for practice. Mclaren boss Ron Dennis held himself and the team responsible for the mistake saying it was a silly mistake. After a few hours deliberating the stewards said there would be no penalty for the driver but the team would have to pay a fine of 15,000 euros and give a set of wet tyres back. This was no problem as it was forecast to be dry for the rest of the weekend. For once it seemed the punishment fitted the crime.

Qualifying

Q1 Massa the fastest driver in the mornings practice session stayed top of the session in q1, 2nd was Alonso but not until being forced to go for a 2nd lap on soft tyres after falling down the order at first, 3rd was Raikkonen and Hamilton 4th. The driver struggled to set lap times quicker than in the morning due to the lower temperatures, this may be the reason for the first surprise of the day, Hekki Kovalainen was 17th and out of qualifying already. From 18th to 22nd was Sato, the rookie Nakajima, Davidson, Sutil, Yamamoto.

Q2 This time the 2 title contenders Raikkonen and Hamilton topped the two top spots Massa slipping to 3rd and Alonso in 4th, Both BMW’s got through to the top 10 shoot out as did both Red Bull’s out however from 11th to 16th was, Barrichello, completing a bad day for Renault was Fisichella in 12th, Vettel, Liuzzi, Schumacher and Button.

Q3 Massa set pole easily with a 1m11.931 lap time, It looked as if his car could be lighter than the other 3 title contenders, possibly Ferrari playing tactics, Right behind him however was Hamilton in 2nd Raikkonen was 3rd but felt he could of gone for pole if not held up a little by Hamilton, 4th was Alonso who seemed not to be slightly off colour for out and out pace, 5th was Webber, 6th and 7th the BMW’s of Heidfeld and Kubica, Trulli, Coulthard and Rosberg completed the top 10.

Title favourite so far: Hamilton.

The Race.

The tension was building up on the grid as was uncertainty as to would the tyres hold together during the race. Bridgestone had brought the super soft and soft compounds to the race but the new track surface and the hot temperatures meant the super soft tyres may not stand the heat, it was just another headache for what was to be an action packed race.

Most people felt that if Massa held the lead after the first lap once Raikkonen was in 2nd he would soon be let through all he had to do was pass Hamilton who if he finished where he started on the grid would be champion. Alonso was downcast saying he felt the title was already lost starting in 4th. All would be sorted out in the next hour and a half.

A short holding time on the lights and the cars were off! Massa got a good start and Hamilton was directly behind him unable to do anything about Raikkonen who was happily going round the outside of him and was ahead by the first corner the Senna “S”. Raikkonen’s rear stepped out a little but he controlled it easily this didn’t help Hamilton who now boxed in behind Raikkonen could do nothing about Alonso passing him. The two Mclaren drivers were side by side heading into turn 3 with Hamilton on the outside on the dirty line, This then turned into a small nightmare for Hamilton as he ran off the track and dropped to 8th suddenly Hamilton had made the race a lot harder for himself and the title was looking like it could be lost swinging Alonso’s way. After the First lap Massa lead Raikkonen, Alonso, Meanwhile Lewis down in 8th would have to pass Webber, Heidfeld, Kubica, And Trulli to get on the back of Alonso and win the title.

Title leader after 1st lap- Alonso

At the front Massa was still ahead of Raikkonen and Alonso falling away in 3rd. Hamilton quickly passed Trulli as behind him Fisichella trying to make up ground bumped across the grass at he Senna s and right in front of Yamamoto who rammed straight into the back of him, it was a big accident the Spykers front end wrecked and having a small airborne moment but both drivers races were over. Hamilton was all over the back of Heidfeld trying to pass him having to take avoiding action as Heidfeld seemed slow through Subita du Lago, but still unable to pass. On lap 7 Heidfeld went wide at the Senna S and Hamilton was into 6th whilst on the following lap Kubica passed Webber for 4th. Lap 8 would spell disaster for Lewis Hamilton, coming out of turn 3 he suddenly slowed with no gears. The team radioed him to switch to a different setting which worked for the rest of the race, only trouble being he was down in 18th. With Massa still leading Raikkonen at the front it looked like Alonso didn’t need to be so downcast at all!

Title leader by lap 10- Alonso

Hamilton went on the attack easily passing Barrichello, Sutil, Davidson, and Schumacher and on lap 15 Webber’s Red Bull slowed and pulled out the race with mechanical woes yet again moving Hamilton up 1 more place but not before slicing past Sato and Nakajima to get himself into 11th. On lap 19 Kubica pitted and came out ahead of Hamilton which was bad news because this was probably one of the cars he had to pass later in the race, meaning he was a pit stop behind. On lap 20 Massa pits and is quickly back out on track, the following lap Raikkonen is in, Meaning that Massa’s pole was a good lap not just low fuel. On lap 22 Alonso pitted which may help explain why Alonso was so downbeat before the race; Hamilton had out qualified him on a heavier fuel load. Button’s Honda meanwhile was in 10th and maybe ion with a chance of a point but that hope went bang with his engine making Hamilton 10th who had to pit himself on lap 23 and changed to the super soft tyres dropping him to 13th.

Title leader after 1st stops - Alonso.

The Ferrari’s were dominating at the front Alonso had no answer to the speed the two cars were showing and was being caught by Kubica’s BMW. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Ferrari as Massa had to avoid Sutil and Davidson in the middle of the Senna S whilst lapping them. Sutil out braked himself and speared into the side of Davidson putting both into a spin. Other problem for Ferrari was that Massa was still in front of Raikkonen and pulling away a little the gap just over 3 seconds. Meanwhile Hamilton pulled off a brave move on Barrichello at the Senna S, it was brave because he was a long way back and Barrichello gave him racing room luckily but Lewis was having to take risks the laps counting down and the title now slipping away. Lap 31 saw Nakajima make his first pit stop and frighteningly take out two of his pit crew as he drove into them, Professionals as ever they changed the front wheel before then hoping off in pain but luckily no serious injuries. On lap 32 however Kubica passed Alonso this then changed the title.

Title leader mid point of Race - Raikkonen.

Lap 36 and Hamilton pitted again and changed to the harder compound but only took about 5 seconds of fuel it was not sure if he had to stop again as he may have had more fuel already in the car and was just getting rid of the softer tyres that weren’t expected to hold together for much longer. Raikkonen began closing on Massa getting the gap down to 2.4 seconds Hamilton was 10th after passing Liuzzi, and then a big crash for Kovalainen his suspension failed at turn 3 pitching him into the barrier heavily, He got out the car and was fine sitting behind the barrier watching the rest of the race, there was no safety car either which would of helped Hamilton who was now a lap down, Kubica’s quick pace was soon explained as he pitted on lap 39 and took on the harder of the 2 compound tyre again meaning he was 3 stopping to Alonso’s 2.

Title Leader - Alonso

Raikkonen wasn’t going to waist his opportunity to win though, Massa had a scruffy lap after locking up and running wide and the gap dropped from 2.5 to 0.6 seconds. On lap 46 Hamilton passed Coulthard for 8th now in the points he still had to get 5th to be sure of the title and started to close down on trulli who was 7 second ahead. Lap 50 and Massa pitted it was another quick stop but he came out just behind Coulthard which wouldn’t help as he only had 1.5 seconds over Raikkonen, both however were well ahead of Alonso who was 40 seconds behind., Alonso pitted on lap 52 and Raikkonen on lap 53, the lap times and personal best sectors he set in three extra laps he had over Massa had got him out in front of his team mate and that was perfect for Ferrari.

Title Leader - Raikkonen.

Rosberg was having a good scrap with the two BMW’s this was the battle for 4th 5th and 6th if any of these were to clash and take each other out this would hand the title to Hamilton, there were a few hairy moments too as Rosberg locked up trying to pass Heidfeld in the Senna S this pushed both he and Heidfeld wide and Kubica took advantage. Also good news for Hamilton was Trulli had to pit this would move him up the field into 7th, but on lap 57 Hamilton had to pit again dropping him to 9th, He soon passed Coulthard again and Trulli once the Toyota driver pitted, but 7th would be where Hamilton finished. On lap 66 Raikkonen set the fastest lap of the race. There was no need to but it seemed he was sending out a message to the rest of the field, or he was bored! Rosberg passed Kubica to take 4th for Williams with 2 laps to go but that mattered little to Raikkonen who won from Massa and Alonso and with Hamilton 7th that meant the World Champion was Raikkonen!

Race Bits

• Did that really happen?
  It had seemed the title would go to ether Alonso or Hamilton, Raikkonen was relying on something to happen to Hamilton and happen it did. His gearbox decide it didn’t want to work and in the time it took Hamilton to select a different setting for it to get going again, by then he had dropped to 18th and a come back drive would be tough, add a strange call from the pits to do a 3 stop strategy and this helped to end Hamilton’s title bid despite a hard drive back up to 7th. It was simpler for Raikkonen to jump Alonso however, with 3 points behind all Raikkonen needed was Massa to be in 2nd which was exactly what happened. Also was the unexpected form of Ferrari it was thought that the tight mid field part of the track and the super soft tyres would suite the Mclaren better after the same tyres were used in Monaco and Canada both races that Mclaren drivers won easily. Ferrari had done there home work and come to Brazil with a dominant package.



• Burn them, Burn them all!
  So much unloved is this years Honda that mechanics taped a lighter to the cockpit of Button’s car so that he could set fire to the thing at the end of the race. Sadly he never got the chance to do this as both Honda’s engines didn’t last the distance, Barrichello whose car went bang just before the start finish straight which meant he was able to pull it into the pit lane to record his first time since he joined F1 in 1993 that he has not scored a point.



• It isn’t over until it’s over. And even then it’s not over...
  The flag fell Kimi celebrated an unexpected championship win; he had driven as only he knows how, maximum attack. It was almost ironic that after losing the title in 03 on 05 to a lot of Mclaren engine and car failures that he would win the title thanks to Hamilton’s mad gearbox doing what it wanted to. But as the sun set all was and still is not well, The two BMW’s and Williams failed post race scrutinising checks , apparently there oil was too cool and this broke Article 6.5.5 which states.
  
  "No fuel on board the car may be more than ten degrees centigrade below ambient temperature."
  
  FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer said all fuel samples from the four cars showed temperature of 12 to 14 degrees centigrade lower than the ambient temperature at the time. But no penalty was given as the steward had sufficient doubt about the fuel temperatures so they said,
  
  “As to render it inappropriate to impose a penalty”.
  
  What this means I’m not sure at this moment of time. From what is known it maybe that the data the stewards collected themselves was not accurate. But Mclaren have appealed the decision meaning that horribly the title maybe decided in court. If the cars are thrown out it will move Hamilton to 4th in the standing making him champion. But after a long hard season it would be a disaster for Formula1 if the Title was sorted this way. And even if the cars are thrown out it does not mean that Hamilton will get the points that come with the 4th place as Article 168 of the International Sporting Code makes it clear that it is at the stewards' discretion whether or not cars are moved up the order in the event of a disqualification,
  
  “The stewards of the meeting shall declare the resulting amendment in the placing and awards, and they shall decide whether the next competitor should be moved up in the classification."

So maybe the title isn’t sorted out maybe it is, Hamilton has said he does not want to win the title this way and strangely Mclaren said they had to appeal “we would surely have been criticised by fans and Formula One insiders alike for not supporting our drivers' best interest." With no appeal date set keep coming to Azines.com for all the reaction to with what ever happens.

Champ of the race: Raikkonen simply because he drove a brilliant race and maximised everything around him so the final words of the 2007 season come from him!

Chump of the race: Nakajima for playing ten pin bowling with his pit crew, though to be fair he did finish in 10th and apart from that handled being thrown in the deep end well.

Move of the race: Plenty of overtaking in this race but Hamilton gets this one for his brave move on Barrichello. Though if it had been a rookie at the wheel and not the Honda driver who knows what would have happened!


"For sure we were not in the strongest position as some point of the season, (but) we always believed we can recover, we always believed we can do a better job than the others," said Raikkonen.

"Even in hard times we stick together and never give up. We saw at the end that although we were a long way behind, we knew we could win the championship......"

"After the last few races we scored some good points, it has been a good finish to the season, great work for everybody. I am very happy: it was an amazing day."