Tuesday, October 23, 2007 Champion’s race By Steve Slater Special Contributor
EVEN after all the dramas of an action-packed season, the Brazilian Grand Prix shaded all that came before it in terms of theatre. You really couldn’t have written a script for what happened on Sunday in Brazil and certainly no one seriously predicted that the outsider of the three contenders—Kimi Raikkonen—would become champion.
So saying, Kimi deserves to be champion, he drove a champion’s race.
Ferrari didn’t need to invoke team orders to force Massa to drop behind his team-mate.
Kimi did it all for himself. As Massa made his second pit stop, Raikkonen set a series of stunning fastest laps that ultimately allowed him to leave the pit lane after his stop, some two seconds ahead of his teammate.
Kimi’s been consistent too. After overcoming early reliability problem, he has been stunning in the last four rounds of the championship. His victories in Belgium and in China, along with a podium place in Japan, contributed just as much to the title as his victory in Brazil.
That performance was no accident. At the end of the day, in contrast to the dysfunctional McLaren camp, it was team work that made Kimi’s dream come true.
“I love this team” said Kimi, almost gushingly, at the post race press conference. “This has been a year for me during which I have enjoyed Formula One like never before. In Ferrari, I have found a great family. Even when we went through some difficult times and it looked as though there was no way to fight back, we never gave up and this work produced its reward today.”
So what of McLaren? It was their championship to win—and with both drivers, they lost the plot. In fairness to Fernando Alonso, for all his off-track histrionics, on the track as in China, he didn’t put a wheel out of place in Sunday’s race in Brazil. Quite simply though, after his accident in the rain in Japan, he’d left himself too much to do in the points race.
And what of Lewis Hamilton? Well, the immediate thought is to feel gutted for the guy. Lewis was in a tough position in Brazil, didn’t make the best start and then was squeezed out of the top four on the opening lap. Even then, he was still looking good for the title until the McLaren Mercedes, up till now the most reliable car on the grid, let him down.
The electronics problem that put the car’s gearbox into neutral, cost Hamilton thirty seconds. But equally I’m still not sure whether the McLaren team’s decision to switch Lewis to a three-pit stop strategy, possibly did even more damage to his championship hopes than his car’s gremlins.
It was a decision made under extreme pressure in the heat of the moment, to stop Lewis earlier than expected, putting his car on the extra soft tires to gain some track places.
That advantage though, was lost again when he had to make a third stop, while those he’d just passed made two. Just as with the too-tardy decision to change his tyres in the rain-soaked Japanese race, it seemed that a cool head was lacking on the McLaren pit wall.
Lewis, as always, was triumphant in adversity. His aggressive overtaking was a highlight of the race as he fought back from 18th place. His demeanour after the race too, was again exemplarary. He refused to say a word of criticism against his team.
Consolations
Certainly missing out on the title seemed to have its consolations. Hamilton was last seen being consoled by supermodel Naomi Campbell!
Kimi meanwhile was threatening to “party for a month”, but the dramas in Brazil are still not over and the Iceman, might yet have to put some of his champagne on ice.
A few hours after the race, the news broke that the Williams and BMW teams which finished in fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively, had been investigated by the stewards for alleged technical irregularities surrounding their fuel. If they had been excluded then Hamilton would have been promoted to fourth, scoring 112 championship points, putting him two ahead of Kimi.
The relevant regulations date back to the 1990s and govern the temperature of the fuel during the pit stop. It was designed to prevent teams from super-chilling the fuel to make it denser, meaning you could squeeze more into the tank. It was a risky business and any problems during a pitstop could result in a fireball.
Since then the rules have stated that the temperature of the fuel in the pits has to be within ten degrees of the ambient. In Brazil that was a scorching 63 degrees and briefly the temperature difference in the BMW and Williams fuel rigs was more than 10 degrees below that.
The FIA stewards accepted that neither team had tried to gain any advantage and were prepared to drop the matter, but McLaren have protested that decision, which could mean that Kimi’s title might still not be confirmed until the FIA Court of Appeal meets in December.
Given the way the FIA have treated McLaren over the past months, one can understand the team’s insistence on forcing every legality, but I’m sure Lewis wouldn’t want to win the title that way. And I doubt that it will affect Kimi. He’ll probably still be partying!
(Steve Slater is an F1 commentator for Star Sports)
