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