Titch
30-09-2007, 09:42 AM
Lewis hamiliton today won the japaneese GP and now leads world champuionship from 12 points to ferando alonso who crashed out.
2 races to go. i think he has it in the bag, all he has to do is beat fernadno next week.
Lewis Hamilton moved a huge step closer to his Formula 1 world title dreams by winning a rain-drenched Japanese Grand Prix while team-mate and chief rival Fernando Alonso crashed out.
Hamilton opened up a 12-point championship lead with just 20 left up for grabs after a sensationally composed performance in the most testing of conditions at the Fuji Speedway.
Alonso's first race-ending mistake for over two years hands Hamilton a golden opportunity to wrap up the title next weekend in China, which he will do if he outscores the Spaniard.
So diabolical was the weather that the first 19 laps of the race were run behind the safety car.
Unfathomably, Ferrari put both its cars on intermediate tyres rather than full wets.
Presumably the Italian team figured that by the time the safety car pulled in and released the field, the track would be dry enough for the shallow-grooved ‘inters’.
But given the atrocious conditions it was an ill-advised gamble – especially since race director Charlie Whiting had warned the teams that they must not try to gain an advantage by starting on inters.
Thus it was hardly a surprise when Felipe Massa fell afoul of the standing water on the second lap and spun in turn four, briefly dropping behind Nick Heidfeld before – controversially – resuming his place in the order.
At the end of that lap Massa bowed to the inevitable and pitted for wets, with Kimi Raikkonen following suit the next time around, dropping the two red cars to 20th and 21st places respectively.
The silver lining, of course, was that Ferrari had the opportunity to fill both cars to the brim with fuel.
The cars circulated behind the safety car for lap after lap with little sign of the conditions improving.
In fact, around lap 14 the rain started to come down harder and there didn’t seem much prospect of the race getting underway in anger.
But just as quickly the precipitation abated again, and race officials decided to assess the conditions by allowing Tonio Liuzzi, who had fallen a lap down, to unlap himself and catch up to the back of the pack.
After the Toro Rosso went round in 1m36.4s, Whiting decided the time had come to bring the safety car in and unleash the field at the end of lap 19.
Unsurprisingly, there was some minor contact in turn one – but not the feared wholesale carnage.
Heidfeld was hit from behind by Jenson Button and fell from fifth to 10th, while Alex Wurz slid off under braking and collected Massa, tipping the Brazilian into another spin.
Button, remarkably, persevered for several laps without a nosecone, before giving up the unequal struggle and pitting on lap 24.
Meanwhile Hamilton had set off calmly in the lead, taking full advantage of the clear road ahead of him and relatively good visibility to establish an immediate cushion over team-mate Alonso.
From eighth on the grid Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel had dodged the turn one incidents and crossed the line at the end of the first flying lap in an improbable third place ahead of Red Bull Racing stable-mate Mark Webber.
Raikkonen, too, made swift progress up the lap chart, passing Ralf Schumacher for 11th on lap 26.
The first round of scheduled pit stops cemented Hamilton’s advantage at the front of the field.
Alonso was the first to take on service on lap 27, at which point he was lying 2.8s behind Hamilton – but he rejoined in the midst of a queue of cars headed by Giancarlo Fisichella.
Lewis, by contrast, emerged in clear road following his stop on the following lap.
Alonso then compounded his plight with a brief off-course excursion, and when the order had shaken out the Spaniard found himself down in eighth – five places and seven seconds behind his team-mate.
The McLaren drivers’ stops handed the lead to none other than Vettel, and the 20-year-old rookie looked every inch the part, keeping Webber comfortably behind him before relinquishing the top spot when he pitted on lap 33.
Alonso appeared to be struggling on his new set of tyres and lost another place (to Heidfeld) on lap 34.
But just when everything seemed to be playing into Hamilton’s hands, the Briton had a major scare when Robert Kubica understeered into him at turn 14 – an indiscretion that would earn the Pole a drive-through penalty.
Fortunately the McLaren did not sustain serious damage, but the incident cost Lewis seven seconds and temporarily dropped him to sixth place.
Just one lap later it was Alonso’s turn to hit trouble again, as Vettel ran into him at the first corner, causing minor damage to his McLaren’s bodywork.
After a series of drivers who were fuelled for longer opening stints – Webber, Heikki Kovalainen and Fisichella – peeled off into the pits, Hamilton resumed the lead.
Then came the incident that may come to be regarded as the pivotal moment in the 2007 title race.
Alonso, who was lying fourth with his pace having stabilised, lost control at around 120mph coming out of turn five and crashed heavily.
Cue a second safety car period to clear up the debris that was littering the circuit.
The top eight at this stage comprised Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Kovalainen, Liuzzi, Massa, David Coulthard and Fisichella.
The next big upset came while the field was still circulating behind the safety car, amid the typical concertina effect as drivers tried to keep temperature in their tyres and brakes – with disastrous consequences for the two Red Bull outfits.
After an impressively fast and mature drive to that point, Vettel undid all his hard work by clobbering the back of Webber’s sister car.
Both cars sustained terminal damage, leaving Webber furious at the loss of what was set to be his highest ever finish, and Vettel virtually inconsolable after his self-confessed error.
With his main title rival Alonso now out of the equation, and no serious challenge from behind, all Hamilton now had to do was reel off the remaining laps without incident.
But with the rain still falling inexorably and the conditions still treacherous, that task was far from easy.
Lewis discharged it to perfection, easing away at the front of the field without taking any unnecessary risks, and ultimately winning by 8.3s.
A race that had served up non-stop drama from the outset still had plenty more entertainment to offer in its final phase.
The man on the move was Raikkonen.
Valiantly trying to salvage his fading title hopes, and undeterred by the huge rooster tails of spray that were still being thrown up in front of him, Kimi was putting on a magnificent display of bravado.
He snatched fourth place from Coulthard with a stunning outside pass in the fast right-hander of turns four and five, and then moved up to third when team-mate Massa had to pit for a late top-up of fuel.
That set the stage for an absorbing battle of the Finns in the closing laps, as Raikkonen tried everything – including going off the road onto the asphalt run-off areas – to get past Kovalainen.
Heikki soaked up the pressure beautifully to hold on to second place, his maiden F1 podium finish and Renault’s first of the season.
Coulthard came home a solid fourth after a sensible drive, but it was scant consolation for Red Bull after the Austrian concern had looked set for a points bonanza.
Fisichella was a rather low-key fifth, while Heidfeld lost sixth when his BMW began to misfire and finally came to a halt just two laps from home.
That place instead went to Massa, whose eventful afternoon had included four pit visits (including the drive-through penalty) and numerous wild moments.
The Brazilian got the better of a thrilling, wheel-banging scrap with Kubica on the final lap that brought to mind the epic Villeneuve/Arnoux duel in the 1979 French Grand Prix.
Liuzzi gave the dejected Toro Rosso team some solace by scoring its first point of the year for eighth place.
Japanese Grand Prix, Fuji Speedway - 67 laps
1. HAMILTON McLaren 2h00m34.759s
2. KOVALAINEN Renault +8.3s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +9.4s
4. COULTHARD Red Bull +20.2s
5. FISICHELLA Renault +38.8s
6. MASSA Ferrari +49.0s
7. KUBICA BMW +49.2s
8. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +55.6s
9. SUTIL Spyker +60.1s
10. BARRICHELLO Honda +88.3s
11. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
12. YAMAMOTO Spyker +1 lap
13. TRULLI Toyota +1 lap
14. HEIDFELD BMW +2 laps
15. SATO Super Aguri +2 laps
R. SCHUMACHER Toyota +12 laps
R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +13 laps
R. ROSBERG Williams +18 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +21 laps
R. WEBBER Red Bull +22 laps
R. ALONSO McLaren +25 laps
R. WURZ Williams +48 laps
Fastest lap: MASSA 1m28.193s (lap 27)
2 races to go. i think he has it in the bag, all he has to do is beat fernadno next week.
Lewis Hamilton moved a huge step closer to his Formula 1 world title dreams by winning a rain-drenched Japanese Grand Prix while team-mate and chief rival Fernando Alonso crashed out.
Hamilton opened up a 12-point championship lead with just 20 left up for grabs after a sensationally composed performance in the most testing of conditions at the Fuji Speedway.
Alonso's first race-ending mistake for over two years hands Hamilton a golden opportunity to wrap up the title next weekend in China, which he will do if he outscores the Spaniard.
So diabolical was the weather that the first 19 laps of the race were run behind the safety car.
Unfathomably, Ferrari put both its cars on intermediate tyres rather than full wets.
Presumably the Italian team figured that by the time the safety car pulled in and released the field, the track would be dry enough for the shallow-grooved ‘inters’.
But given the atrocious conditions it was an ill-advised gamble – especially since race director Charlie Whiting had warned the teams that they must not try to gain an advantage by starting on inters.
Thus it was hardly a surprise when Felipe Massa fell afoul of the standing water on the second lap and spun in turn four, briefly dropping behind Nick Heidfeld before – controversially – resuming his place in the order.
At the end of that lap Massa bowed to the inevitable and pitted for wets, with Kimi Raikkonen following suit the next time around, dropping the two red cars to 20th and 21st places respectively.
The silver lining, of course, was that Ferrari had the opportunity to fill both cars to the brim with fuel.
The cars circulated behind the safety car for lap after lap with little sign of the conditions improving.
In fact, around lap 14 the rain started to come down harder and there didn’t seem much prospect of the race getting underway in anger.
But just as quickly the precipitation abated again, and race officials decided to assess the conditions by allowing Tonio Liuzzi, who had fallen a lap down, to unlap himself and catch up to the back of the pack.
After the Toro Rosso went round in 1m36.4s, Whiting decided the time had come to bring the safety car in and unleash the field at the end of lap 19.
Unsurprisingly, there was some minor contact in turn one – but not the feared wholesale carnage.
Heidfeld was hit from behind by Jenson Button and fell from fifth to 10th, while Alex Wurz slid off under braking and collected Massa, tipping the Brazilian into another spin.
Button, remarkably, persevered for several laps without a nosecone, before giving up the unequal struggle and pitting on lap 24.
Meanwhile Hamilton had set off calmly in the lead, taking full advantage of the clear road ahead of him and relatively good visibility to establish an immediate cushion over team-mate Alonso.
From eighth on the grid Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel had dodged the turn one incidents and crossed the line at the end of the first flying lap in an improbable third place ahead of Red Bull Racing stable-mate Mark Webber.
Raikkonen, too, made swift progress up the lap chart, passing Ralf Schumacher for 11th on lap 26.
The first round of scheduled pit stops cemented Hamilton’s advantage at the front of the field.
Alonso was the first to take on service on lap 27, at which point he was lying 2.8s behind Hamilton – but he rejoined in the midst of a queue of cars headed by Giancarlo Fisichella.
Lewis, by contrast, emerged in clear road following his stop on the following lap.
Alonso then compounded his plight with a brief off-course excursion, and when the order had shaken out the Spaniard found himself down in eighth – five places and seven seconds behind his team-mate.
The McLaren drivers’ stops handed the lead to none other than Vettel, and the 20-year-old rookie looked every inch the part, keeping Webber comfortably behind him before relinquishing the top spot when he pitted on lap 33.
Alonso appeared to be struggling on his new set of tyres and lost another place (to Heidfeld) on lap 34.
But just when everything seemed to be playing into Hamilton’s hands, the Briton had a major scare when Robert Kubica understeered into him at turn 14 – an indiscretion that would earn the Pole a drive-through penalty.
Fortunately the McLaren did not sustain serious damage, but the incident cost Lewis seven seconds and temporarily dropped him to sixth place.
Just one lap later it was Alonso’s turn to hit trouble again, as Vettel ran into him at the first corner, causing minor damage to his McLaren’s bodywork.
After a series of drivers who were fuelled for longer opening stints – Webber, Heikki Kovalainen and Fisichella – peeled off into the pits, Hamilton resumed the lead.
Then came the incident that may come to be regarded as the pivotal moment in the 2007 title race.
Alonso, who was lying fourth with his pace having stabilised, lost control at around 120mph coming out of turn five and crashed heavily.
Cue a second safety car period to clear up the debris that was littering the circuit.
The top eight at this stage comprised Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Kovalainen, Liuzzi, Massa, David Coulthard and Fisichella.
The next big upset came while the field was still circulating behind the safety car, amid the typical concertina effect as drivers tried to keep temperature in their tyres and brakes – with disastrous consequences for the two Red Bull outfits.
After an impressively fast and mature drive to that point, Vettel undid all his hard work by clobbering the back of Webber’s sister car.
Both cars sustained terminal damage, leaving Webber furious at the loss of what was set to be his highest ever finish, and Vettel virtually inconsolable after his self-confessed error.
With his main title rival Alonso now out of the equation, and no serious challenge from behind, all Hamilton now had to do was reel off the remaining laps without incident.
But with the rain still falling inexorably and the conditions still treacherous, that task was far from easy.
Lewis discharged it to perfection, easing away at the front of the field without taking any unnecessary risks, and ultimately winning by 8.3s.
A race that had served up non-stop drama from the outset still had plenty more entertainment to offer in its final phase.
The man on the move was Raikkonen.
Valiantly trying to salvage his fading title hopes, and undeterred by the huge rooster tails of spray that were still being thrown up in front of him, Kimi was putting on a magnificent display of bravado.
He snatched fourth place from Coulthard with a stunning outside pass in the fast right-hander of turns four and five, and then moved up to third when team-mate Massa had to pit for a late top-up of fuel.
That set the stage for an absorbing battle of the Finns in the closing laps, as Raikkonen tried everything – including going off the road onto the asphalt run-off areas – to get past Kovalainen.
Heikki soaked up the pressure beautifully to hold on to second place, his maiden F1 podium finish and Renault’s first of the season.
Coulthard came home a solid fourth after a sensible drive, but it was scant consolation for Red Bull after the Austrian concern had looked set for a points bonanza.
Fisichella was a rather low-key fifth, while Heidfeld lost sixth when his BMW began to misfire and finally came to a halt just two laps from home.
That place instead went to Massa, whose eventful afternoon had included four pit visits (including the drive-through penalty) and numerous wild moments.
The Brazilian got the better of a thrilling, wheel-banging scrap with Kubica on the final lap that brought to mind the epic Villeneuve/Arnoux duel in the 1979 French Grand Prix.
Liuzzi gave the dejected Toro Rosso team some solace by scoring its first point of the year for eighth place.
Japanese Grand Prix, Fuji Speedway - 67 laps
1. HAMILTON McLaren 2h00m34.759s
2. KOVALAINEN Renault +8.3s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +9.4s
4. COULTHARD Red Bull +20.2s
5. FISICHELLA Renault +38.8s
6. MASSA Ferrari +49.0s
7. KUBICA BMW +49.2s
8. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +55.6s
9. SUTIL Spyker +60.1s
10. BARRICHELLO Honda +88.3s
11. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
12. YAMAMOTO Spyker +1 lap
13. TRULLI Toyota +1 lap
14. HEIDFELD BMW +2 laps
15. SATO Super Aguri +2 laps
R. SCHUMACHER Toyota +12 laps
R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +13 laps
R. ROSBERG Williams +18 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +21 laps
R. WEBBER Red Bull +22 laps
R. ALONSO McLaren +25 laps
R. WURZ Williams +48 laps
Fastest lap: MASSA 1m28.193s (lap 27)