F1 Brazil GP - Race - 21/10/2007 Interlagos

It has been a real roller coaster of a season and the finale in Brazil was a fitting climax to a year that has enthralled fans both on and off the circuit. Kimi Raikkonen has achieved what seemed all but impossible and he overcame a seven point deficit by winning the this afternoon at Interlagos while Lewis Hamilton suffered his own problems.

The start of the 71 lap Grand Prix saw pole-sitter Felipe Massa sprint in the lead with Kimi Raikkonen making a good getaway and slotting into second. One man not making a good start was Lewis Hamilton who dropped from second to fourth and then compounded his problems by running off track and losing another four positions.

At that point Hamilton will have been frustrated but he was still in the race and the championship race was very much still on. Lap seven however saw the McLaren Mercedes slow dramatically with a gearshift issue. Hamilton dropped from sixth position to 18th and while he was able to reset the electronic systems and get back under power, his title hope were in tatters.

Out front Raikkonen shadowed Massa and seemed content to bide his time behind his Ferrari team-mate. The turning points for Raikkonen came in his second round of stops as he was able to stay out a few more laps and once he had made his final pit stop, emerged in the lead of the race. Fernando Alonso at this point ran in a lonely third and was not able to mount a serious challenge.

It has been a real roller coaster of a season and the finale in Brazil was a fitting climax to a year that has enthralled fans both on and off the circuit. Kimi Raikkonen has achieved what seemed all but impossible and he overcame a seven point deficit by winning the this afternoon at Interlagos while Lewis Hamilton suffered his own problems.

The start of the 71 lap Grand Prix saw pole-sitter Felipe Massa sprint in the lead with Kimi Raikkonen making a good getaway and slotting into second. One man not making a good start was Lewis Hamilton who dropped from second to fourth and then compounded his problems by running off track and losing another four positions.

At that point Hamilton will have been frustrated but he was still in the race and the championship race was very much still on. Lap seven however saw the McLaren Mercedes slow dramatically with a gearshift issue. Hamilton dropped from sixth position to 18th and while he was able to reset the electronic systems and get back under power, his title hope were in tatters.

Out front Raikkonen shadowed Massa and seemed content to bide his time behind his Ferrari team-mate. The turning points for Raikkonen came in his second round of stops as he was able to stay out a few more laps and once he had made his final pit stop, emerged in the lead of the race. Fernando Alonso at this point ran in a lonely third and was not able to mount a serious challenge.

Raikkonen took the chequered flag by just over a second from 2006 race winner Massa and with 110 championship points on the board, takes the title by one point from Hamilton who battled back to seventh position on track and Alonso who finished third.

"I always believed we could recover from our poor results and do a better job than our rivals," Raikkonen said. "So I never gave up and it was a great result for me and the team.

"I wasn't really 100 per cent sure of what was happening at the end as we were still waiting for still to finish - I had to wait a long time to hear that I had finally won it. I waited and waited. It was amazing for me that after all the last races we have had such a good finish to the season and I am very happy now."

Nico Rosberg put in a great drive in his Williams Toyota and finished in fourth position after a rather hectic battle with the BMW Sauber’s of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld who finished fifth and sixth. With Hamilton seventh, the final point went to Jarno Trulli who put in a strong performance for Toyota to claim a much needed championship point.

David Coulthard found himself spinning late in the race after contact with Kazuki Nakajima. The Red Bull racer would finish in ninth position while Mark Webber ran fifth early in the race only to retire with a drive train issue. Nakajima had an eventful debut in his Williams, arriving too fast into his pit box and knocking down several members of his team. Still, the Japanese rookie finished the event in tenth position.

Ralf Schumacher was 11th in the second Toyota in what is his final drive with the team while Takuma Sato finished 12th for Super Aguri Honda ahead of Tonio Liuzzi and Anthony Davidson.

There was plenty of incident and accident with eight drivers failing to go the distance. Giancarlo Fisichella cut across the grass at turn one and rejoined the circuit right in front of Sakon Yamamoto. The Spyker racer had no where to go, making heavy contact and eliminating both cars from the race.

Heikki Kovalainen suffered a failure on his Renault and crashed heavily at turn three, ending a nightmare weekend for himself and the team. Jenson Button’s Honda failed early in the race while Rubens Barrichello’s car lasted a little longer before suffering a massive engine failure. Adrian Sutil was up to his old tricks again in his Spyker as he hit Anthony Davidson’s Super Aguri Honda while battling for position and would retire a few laps later as a result.

A fitting end to a dramatic season as Kimi Raikkonen has won the championship with his sixth win of the season. Lewis Hamilton will be most disappointed having been the firm favourite heading into the race while Fernando Alonso will be looking to the 2008 season. There can only be one winner, so congratulations to Raikkonen and his team, commiserations to Hamilton, Alonso and their respective crew members and team.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

1. K.Raikkonen
2. F.Massa
3. F.Alonso

MotoGP - Malaysia - Sepang - 21/10/2007

The Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix concluded with Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) winning for the tenth time in a fantastic World Championship season, the 22 year-old Australian securing a 1.701s win ahead of Honda Gresini's Marco Melandri, after starting second on the grid.

Stoner now has a remarkable 106 point lead at the head of the premier class standings after dominating yet another MotoGP race, whilst Melandri moves up to fourth in the championship.

Following Stoner's 125cc victory in Malaysia in 2004 and his 250cc success in 2005, he becomes the first rider to win in all three classes at the Sepang circuit.

Behind the leading pair today Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa earned his seventh podium of the year, though he may be forced to settle for third in the World Championship with 24 points separating him from the man currently in second position, Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha), with one round remaining. The Doctor finished the Sepang race fifth, behind Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet in fourth.

A solid performance from Honda Gresini's Toni Elias saw him take sixth, while Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen got the better of team-mate John Hopkins in the battle for seventh.

Nicky Hayden did well to come home ninth in the end after an off track excursion mid-race, while his compatriot Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha) completed the top ten.

DORNA / CAPSIS International

1. C.STONER
2. M.MELANDRI
3. D.PEDROSA

MotoGP - Australia - Phillip Island - 14/10/2007

Ducati Marlboro's newly crowned World Champion Casey Stoner delighted the home crowd at Phillip Island today with a superb ride to victory by seven seconds at the GMC Australian Grand Prix.

Stoner joined MotoGP Legends Mick Doohan and Wayne Gardner on an exclusive list of World Champions to have won on home soil in Australia as he came from third on the grid to take the hole shot and control the race from start to finish.

As Ducati confirmed the constructors' World Championship, and Ducati Marlboro the teams' title, Loris Capirossi made it a great day for his team as he in the runners-up spot, for a second podium in successive races following his Japanese hat-trick win.

Apparent tyre deterioration meant Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) could only finish third, when he had wanted to fight for victory from second on the grid, while Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa looked similarly disappointed to finish fourth having started on pole.

The top five was rounded off by Pramac d'Antin's Alex Barros, who finished just ahead of Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet and Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins.

The second Australian across the line was Hopkins' Suzuki colleague Chris Vermeulen in eighth, while Yamaha's Colin Edwards and Honda Gresini's Marco Melandri completed the top ten.

It is fair to say that 2007 has not been Nicky Hayden's year and last season's champion was unfortunately forced to retire in third place on lap 13, having made a great start from fourth on the grid to run with Stoner in the early stages.

DORNA / CAPSIS International


1. C.STONER
2. L.CAPIROSSI
3. V.ROSSI

F1 China GP - Race - 07/10/2007 Shanghai

Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso ensured the world championship battle will go down to the wire in Brazil after they took full advantage of Lewis Hamilton's dramatic retirement to finish first and second in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Title leader Hamilton had looked set to clinch his place in history as Formula 1's first rookie world champion after commandingly leading the first half of the wet-dry race, but agonisingly slid off into the gravel on the pit lane entry while grappling with clapped-out tyres.

The Briton's first major mistake of the year means he will now have to go through the wringer of what is set to be a nail-biting finale in Interlagos and the sport's first three-way title decider since 1986.

He heads there with just a four-point cushion over team-mate Alonso, and a further three in hand over Raikkonen, who took his fifth win of the season and Ferrari's 200th overall after an action-packed 98 minutes in Shanghai.

Morning rain showers meant the drivers faced damp and greasy conditions at the start, with further showers predicted to arrive just minutes into the event.

Yet none of this uncertainty seemed to affect Hamilton, who knew a win would wrap up the world crown with a round to spare.

The 22-year-old made the perfect getaway from pole, comfortably leading Raikkonen into turn one.

Alonso, meanwhile, knowing he had to make an impact from the second row early on if he was to put pressure on his team-mate, set about trying to pass the Ferraris around the outside of the first turn.

He got the first – Felipe Massa – despite a joust into the left-handed turn three, and had a look up the inside of Raikkonen on the exit.

But he soon slipped down back to fourth, as Massa dived down the inside of him under braking for turn six.

And that appeared to be that for the Spaniard’s title chances.

The forecast rain shower materialised on lap two, but this made little difference to Hamilton who, finding more grip and traction from his MP4-22, serenely pulled away at the front.

Indeed he continued to pull away from Raikkonen comfortably with his margin of superiority per lap varying from 0.5s to 0.8s.

By the time he initiated the first round of pit stops at the end of lap 15, his advantage stood at 8.6s.

While he took on more fuel, he decided not to change his intermediate tyres despite the track now drying and the right-front beginning to look particularly bald.

Massa and Alonso made their respective stops over the next two laps, with Raikkonen the last of the top four to dive in at the end of lap 19.

The Finn, who had been sure that Hamilton had been lighter on fuel after qualifying, made the most of his extra laps on track to halve the title leader’s advantage when he exited the pits.

Nevertheless, Hamilton still seemed to have the race under control, as he immediately responded to the increased threat with a new fastest lap.

However the complexion of the race, and indeed the world championship battle, was turned on its head at the half-distance mark.

Although another rain shower was forecast imminently, the track had moved into a dry tyre zone and Williams’ Alex Wurz was the first to take the calculated gamble.

Others, including fifth-placed David Coulthard and Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, followed suit.

Massa switched to 'slicks' on lap 27, but only after Alonso had passed him at the end of the back straight to move up to third.

Little did the Spaniard know that this would be the start of his championship recovery, as up ahead his race-leading team-mate began to struggle badly with his increasingly worn inters.

From a position of relative comfort, Hamilton fell into the clutches of Raikkonen and the Finn was soon all over his MP4-22’s gearbox.

As when Michael Schumacher hounded of a similarly grip-less Alonso last year, there was only one likely outcome and, after Lewis went in too deep at turn eight, his Ferrari rival swept past into nine to steal the lead.

This was still far from a disaster for Hamilton, but what unfolded in the next three laps most certainly was, as his weekend's destiny took a different course.

Despite his struggles only getting worse by the corner, and with his right-rear Bridgestone now down to the canvas, McLaren failed to call him in for fresh rubber and ultimately paid a heavy price.

With Alonso now bearing down on him, and a dry-tyred Jarno Trulli managing to unlap himself, Hamilton finally peeled into the pit lane at the end of lap 31 – but that is where his race would finish.

As he rounded the 90-degree left-hand corner in the entry lane, the Briton unbelievably slid off the road and came to a heartbreaking stop in the gravel.

Although he kept the engine running, his rear wheels dug into the gravel and – unlike at the Nurburgring in July – there was no push from the marshals or helpful crane to lift him out of trouble.

The first retirement of his astounding debut season gave both Raikkonen and a charging Alonso the stroke of luck they needed to keep their title hopes alive.

And there were no mistakes from either, as they both soon switched to the dry tyres and duly went on to finish in first and second respectively.

Raikkonen eventually crossed the line 9.8s ahead of Alonso, with Massa three seconds further back in third after setting the race’s fastest lap on his final tour.

Behind the top three, the race’s inclement weather had produced a fierce battle between a string of drivers and teams.

The big winner was Sebastian Vettel, who wiped out memories of his Fuji nightmare to claim a miraculous fourth place for Toro Rosso.

The young German used a one-stop strategy to perfection to move up from 17th on the grid and hand STR by far its best-ever F1 finish, paying the team back for the support it showed him following his mistake behind the safety car last weekend.

Team-mate Tonio Liuzzi ran strongly in sixth place for most of the race and kept his composure throughout to hand the little Italian outfit a further three points to complete a result that exceeded its wildest expectations.

Jenson Button sandwiched the two STR drivers in a season-high fifth place, banishing his own memories of his disappointing Japanese race.

After a poor start, the Briton made his big move in the race’s unpredictable second phase, not for the first time in his career making light work of the tricky conditions.

Nick Heidfeld salvaged seventh from a difficult weekend for BMW, after it had already seen Robert Kubica retire from the race lead before his second pit stop.

Coulthard took the final point to cap his strong weekend, although it had promised much more than that if the rain hadn't returned just after he had switched to dry tyres at his second pit stop.

Nevertheless, the Scot did well to fend off the marauding Renault of Heikki Kovalainen for eighth.

1. K.Raikkonen
2. F.Alonso
3. F.Massa

F1 Japan GP - Race - 30/09/2007 Fuji speedway

The Japanese Grand Prix proved to be a real thriller with Lewis Hamilton coming though to take the victory after a flawless drive from pole position. The 67-lap race had a bit of everything, but the most significant result was Hamilton’s fourth win of the season on a day when team-mate and championship rival Fernando Alonso crashed out of the event.

Hamilton extends his championship lead to 12 points over Alonso with two races remaining, while Kimi Raikkonen closes to within five points of the defending champion with his third position behind Heikki Kovalainen.

In treacherous conditions, the first 19 laps were completed behind the safety car and even at that point there had been plenty of drama. For many at Fuji Speedway it certainly was a case of ‘what if’ with a number of drivers rightly claiming that a podium position was a possibility before it all slipped away.

The start saw Hamilton pull a three second advantage over Alonso. Heading to the pits for the one and only stop for fuel and fresh tyres, this would prove vital as Hamilton was able to exit third on track with Alonso eighth. Hamilton would soon regain the lead, despite being tipped into a spin by Robert Kubica, while Alonso crashed heavily exiting turn five as he tried to make up ground.

Hamilton went on to pull out a comfortable advantage to take the win from Kovalainen by just over eight seconds. For the Renault rookie, it was a tremendous result as like Hamilton, it was an error free run in awful conditions - and his first Formula One podium.

For Ferrari, third position was perhaps a little fortunate as they made an incredible decision to start the race on intermediate tyres rather than the full wets as instructed by race control. Behind the safety car Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were soon pulled in for the correct tyres having both run off track. From the back of the field Raikkonen charged through the field and picked up the final podium position as Massa pitted in the final minutes of the race.

Massa would finish in sixth position after a great battle with Kubica on the final lap, but is now out of championship contention.

David Coulthard finished fourth but there will be few smiles in the Red Bull Renault pit. Mark Webber ran second just two seconds behind Hamilton when Alonso went off and brought out the safety car on lap 41. With Sebastian Vettel running a stunning third in his Toro Rosso, it looked to be a dream result for the Red Bull organisation. The dream soon turned into a nightmare as Vettel made solid contact with the back of Webber while still behind the safety car and both were out of the race. It was an unfortunate situation and while Webber will be furious, Vettel will be simply mortified about his costly rookie error.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished in fifth position in the second Renault, while Massa and Kubica traded positions on the final lap in a stunning bit of all-out racing rarely seen in modern day Formula One. Kubica, who served a drive through penalty for his contact with Hamilton earlier in the race, took the chequered flag 0.2 seconds behind Massa who had an eventful race himself, including a drive through penalty for overtaking behind the safety car.

onio Liuzzi started the race from the pit lane in his Toro Rosso and put in a great drive to secure the final point with eighth position* ahead of Adrian Sutil who also put in a solid performance in his Spyker Ferrari.

Honda certainly could have had a handful of points today with Jenson Button running fifth before an incident with Nick Heidfeld early in the race saw him pit for a new front wing. Rubens Barrichello ran seventh in the closing stages but had to pit for fuel and dropped to tenth, just ahead of the recovering Button.

Sakon Yamamoto finished 12th in the second Spyker ahead of Jarno Trulli who was off the pace in his Toyota. It was a poor weekend again from the Japanese-owned team with Ralf Schumacher also running towards the tail of the pack before mechanical problems intervened.

Nick Heidfeld looked solid all afternoon and was on for a sixth place finish until his engine started to misfire on the penultimate lap. The German pulled the BMW Sauber to a halt and he was classified 14th ahead of Takuma Sato. Anthony Davidson retired his SA07 late in the race making it a dismal weekend for the Super Aguri Honda squad.

Nico Rosberg ran outside of the top ten after his engine change penalty and retired with an electrical problem while Alex Wurz spun his Williams Toyota following contact from behind - possibly from Takuma Sato - at the start of the race, making contact with Massa and retiring on the spot.

A race with a bit of everything, but for Hamilton, it was a dream result as the F1 circus packs up and head to Shanghai for next weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.

* Stewards decided after that race that Tonio Liuzzi was guilty of passing Adrian Sutil under caution. The Toro Rosso racer was handed a 25 second penalty dropping him from eighth to ninth and promoting Sutil and Spyker Ferrari into the points.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

1. L.Hamilton
2. H.Kovalainen
3. K.Raikkonen