2007 Chinese Grand Prix - Report

By Effwun - FOAS #65

Kimi Raikkonen thrust himself back into world championship contention with a fine win in Shanghai, ahead of fellow title protagonist Fernando Alonso. Incredibly, title leader Lewis Hamilton scored his first DNF of the season - a rare driving mistake brought on by a poor tactical choice by his McLaren team left him beached in a gravel trap at the entrance to the pit lane. His inglorious exit from the Chinese Grand Prix comes just one week after his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso scored his first DNF of the season at the aquatic Japanese Grand Prix. The effect of this is that the three drivers vying for title supremacy are separated by just seven points going into the final round in Brazil.

The hype in the buildup to the Chinese Grand Prix was that Lewis Hamilton could wrap up the drivers' championship if he were to finish ahead of both Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in the race. Given Hamilton's recent performances, this was certainly not out of the question, thus there was quite a lot of hope - indeed there was quite a bit of expectation - that Lewis would become the first rookie world champion, and also the youngest world champion in history. The weekend started reasonable well for the Brit - fourth fastest in P1, just under two tenths slower than the fastest man, Kimi Raikkonen. However, Alonso was less than a tenth slower in second place; Felipe Massa was almost exactly a tenth slower in third. In P2 the order was exactly the same, but now Alonso was but 6 thousandths slower than Raikkonen; Massa was 23 thousandths behind Raikkonen's pace; Lewis was two-and-a-half tenths adrift. The story was much the same in P3: Raikkonen quickest again with a time of 1:36.100 - almost a second quicker than on Friday morning. Alonso was again second fastest, but Hamilton was now third fastest, just over a tenth slower than Raikkonen. Massa brought up the rear of the leading quartet, three tenths slower than his Ferrari teammate.

Based on the practice times, it looked as though it was going to be a walk in the park for Raikkonen, and it would not have been unexpected - the Shanghai circuit, with its long straights and high speed turns, should favour the Ferraris with their long wheelbase and excellent aerodynamic package. In that respect, qualifying turned out to be a bit of an aberrance. Part of the reason was that rain from an impending typhoon was expected to hit the race on Sunday, and it seemed as though many drivers were taking this into account with their qualifying and race strategies.

Q1 was relatively normal, although the dismal time set by Giancarlo Fisichella saw his early dismissal - he was apparently on a wet setup in preparation for a wet race. Alex Wurz also had a tough time of it and wound up 19th on the grid. The Q1 eliminatees were Barrichello, Fisichella, Wurz, Sato, Sutil, and Yamamoto. Those eliminated from Q2 were Liuzzi, Vettel, Trulli, Kovalainen, Davidson, and Rosberg. The excellent performance from the STR cars were somewhat tempered by the fact that Vettel received a 5 grid slot penalty for impeding Kovalainen. The grid, and possibly the championship, was to be decided in Q1 then. The McLaren team seemed to be playing a tactical game by scrubbing sets of the harder tyres in readiness for the race. The expectation was that Raikkonen would take pole, but when Hamilton came in for his final stop, he took on the softer tyres and had a small front wing adjustment. It appeared to make all the difference, and his fast lap was then sensational - he looked to be on rails and he took an impressive pole position, just over a tenth faster than Raikkonen, who was a further two tenths ahead of Massa, who in turn was three tenths faster than Alonso. It would transpire, however, that Massa had a lighter fuel load with the aim of taking pole position, but that he made an error on his hot lap. So, was Lewis also on light fuel? And what of Alonso's performance? So frustrated was the Spaniard, that he apparently threw a world class temper tantrum in the motorhome, breaking doors off their hinges and smashing things. Had he any toys in his pram, I am sure he would have thrown them out as well; amidst the fury were ugly suggestions that the McLaren team were not pulling their weight.

So, the top ten on the grid were Hamilton, Raikkonen. Massa, Alonso, Coulthard, Schumacher, Webber, Heidfled, Kubica, and Button. As expected, the rains came overnight, and by the time of the race the track was a touch on the damp side. However, just before the start of the formation lap, race control happily informed the teams that rain was expected in three minutes - when the tyre warmers were peeled off, all the runners were on the intermediate tyres. Sure enough, not long after the lights went out, the rains came. It was not a heavy rain, but it was certainly enough to sodden the track. At the first corner, Alonso bravely stuck to the outside line and took third place from Massa, although he would soon yield the position back under braking for turn 6. Hamilton luxuriated in the conditions, as he had done in Japan one week prior, and cruised into the lead often at the rate of a second per lap from Kimi Raikkonen. Behind the leaders were some minor tangles - Ralf Schumacher got into a tangle at turn 2 on the first lap, and he dropped to last place; Barrichello and Davidson got together in a slightly more physical fashion than the Honda management would have liked, and spun their way to the back of the field also.

Meanwhile, Vettel progressed through the field nicely, and by lap 8 was engaging in a tussle with Kovalainen for tenth place. The young German would ultimately come out on top, but not before being re-passed by the hard driving Finn, who was complaining of severe understeer.

The rain eased off, and left the track wet but drying quite rapidly. On lap 15, one of the big strategy questions was answered - race leader Lewis Hamilton came in for his first pit stop. He had been fuelled light in order to take pole position. At his stop he took on fuel only - he stayed on the the same set of intermediate tyres, which by this point were starting to look bald from having been driven hard on a track that was dry in places. He rejoined the race in 4th place, ahead of David Coulthard. Raikkonen assumed the lead, and immediately - as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he knew what Hamilton's strategy was - set fasteset lap of the race. On lap 17, Massa pitted, confirming that he too was relatively light on fuel. The Brazilian also took on only fuel and elected to stay with the same set of intermediate tyres, which looked to be in better shape than Hamilton's. Further down the field, Heikki Kovalainen was really struggling for grip, and was losing places fast. At the front, his compatriot Raikkonen was again setting fastest laps.

On lap 19, Alonso pitted. The Spaniard also took on fuel only, and his tyres looked quite bald also. Finally on lap 19, Raikkonen pitted - fuel only, and his tyres, although quite worn, seemed to be in reasonably good shape. Lewis Hamilton resumed the lead, but his lead over Raikkonen had been cut from nearly nine seconds before the pit-stops to just four. Furthermore, it appeared as though Raikkonen was now equalling Hamilton's pace.

Within a few laps, race control indicated that more rain was on the way within ten minutes. The rain could be crucial - how heavy would it be and how long would it last? The answers to these questions could determine the optimum time for the lead drivers' final pit stops. The track was almost bone dry by now though, and staying out for much longer on very worn intermediate tyres clearly was not an ideal situation. On lap 25 Alex Wurz showed the way - he set fastest lap of the race by virtue of the fact that he had switched to dry weather tyres (the option compound). Seeing this, on lap 26 cars poured into the pit lane to take on dry weather rubber, but the leaders did not - they waited to see what the weather would bring.

On lap 27, after hunting down Felipe Massa, Alonso overtook the Brazilian for third place. Massa may have been strugling for grip with the intermediate tyres, and that very lap he came in for option compound tyres, and took on fuel also. Meanwhile, Raikkonen was scything into Hamilton's lead - the young Brit was clearly struggling for grip, but looked determined to make it to his pit window on his fading intermediate tyres. Then, on lap 28, the rain started to fall again. It was not heavy, but it was enough to moisten the track. Ralf Schumacher spun off at the final corner, and exited the race, so too did Adrian Sutil, who somehow managed to clobber the inside guard rail. The rain slowed the leaders' pace dramatically, and Raikkonen swarmed all over the back of Hamilton for two laps before eventually Hamilton very wide on the exit of turn 8 and yielded the position.

Hamilton looked painful to watch - he was severely low on grip and gave up seven seconds to his teammate in one lap. A white band had developed on his right rear tyre - he was down to the cords, but stayed out an extra lap to make it to the pit window. By this time a white band had appeared on his left rear tyre also, and under braking for turn 11 a loud thudding noise could be heard from Hamilton's car - were his tyres coming apart? With Alonso now just metres behind, Hamilton elected to pit. But disaster struck - with absolutely defunct tyres and a wet pit lane, Hamilton overcooked his entry and lost the back end of the car. He corrected, but nothing could stop the inevitable - his car simply would not turn and he slowly and surreally drifted wide into a tiny gravel trap on the outside of the pit lane. His car was beached. The marshals tried valiantly to extricate it but to no avail. Even Ron Dennis, who gestured at the TV screens as though he were trying to use the Force to move the car was powerless to help. Hamilton was out of the Chinese Grand Prix - his first DNF of the year. He disconsolately removed the steering wheel, stood up in the seat, and exited the car. Seconds later, the marshals mustered a crane, but there was to be no good fortune or miraculous escape like at the Nurburgring this time. Hamilton would not be crowned champion on this day.

By this time, the rain had ceased - it was only a light shower. Hamilton could have pitted earlier and would have been spared the indignity of having to walk back to the McLaren garage. It was a supreme tactical blunder by the McLaren team, and a small driving error from Hamilton compounded the mistake. The very next lap, both Raikkonen and Alonso - who was now in second place - pitted for dry weather tyres. Raikkonen took on the option compound whereas Alonso took on the prime compound rubber. This handed the lead to Robert Kubica, but only transiently. Under braking for the turn 14 hairpin, his BMW lot motive power and he coasted to a stop at the side of the track with a hydraulics failure.

Alonso exited the pits just ahead of Massa, but the Brazilian struggled with graining of his tyres, and Alonso was able to advance easily. Raikkonen upped his tempo to stay clear of Alonso. Further back, Jenson Button was showing great pace in the now dry conditions, and overtook Sebastian Vettel for fourth place. Button would ultimately have to pit again, and would come home fifth, behind Vettel whose excellent one-stop strategy paid dividends. Out front, Raikkonen set several fastest laps, but in the dying laps it was Massa who had the pace - his tyre graining had cured itself and on the last lap of the race, set the fastest lap. But it was Kimi Raikkonen who cruised home to a victory ahead of Fernando Alonso. After having been the fastest man all weekend, save for qualifying, it was a richly deserved victory. Moreover, the championship hopes of both he and Alonso - which looked to be all but over - were very much rekindled. Although it is still a tall order for the Finn to be crowned champion, Alonso's prospects look much better - his post race smirk said it all.

Another gesture that told a greater story was Sebastian Vettel's frantic fist pumping as he crossed the line in fourth place. After the embarrassment of Japan and the indignity of a grid penalty (later revoked, but replaced by a different one), his fourth place was as good as a win, especially considering the equipment in which this feat was achieved. Jenson Button put in a fine performance to come home fifth, ahead of Liuzzi in the second STR, Heidfeld in the BMW, with David Coulthard taking the last points paying position in 8th place, just four tenths ahead of Heikki Kovalainen.

So Kimi Raikkonen took his fifth win of the season to close to within seven points of the championship leader Hamilton; Alonso is just four points back. The story going into the weekend was that Hamilton could wrap up the championship, but it all came apart for the Brit. Some have commented that his luck finally ran out, but this was not about luck - it was a costly tactical blunder by the McLaren team, akin to their tactical blunder at the Nurburgring. As the championship leader, Hamilton is still in the best position to win, but his task is just that much more difficult than it could have been. With everything to play for, it will be an epic race in Brazil.

Effwun

 

Full Results

Position   Driver Time    Position   Driver Time
1 Raikkonen 1:37:58.395     12 Wurz + 1 lap
2 Alonso + 9.806   13 Trulli + 1 lap
3 Massa + 12.891   14 Sato + 1 lap
4 Vettel + 53.509   15 Barrichello + 1 lap
5 Button + 68.666   16 Rosberg + 2 laps
6 Liuzzi + 73.673   17 Yamamoto + 3 laps
7 Heidfeld + 74.224   18 Kubica Lap 33
8 Coulthard + 80.750   19 Hamilton Lap 30
9 Kovalainen   + 81.186   20 Schumacher   Lap 25
10 Webber + 84.685   21 Sutil Lap 24
11 Fisichella + 86.683   22 Davidson Lap 11

Fastest Lap - Felipe Massa 1:37.454 (lap 56)

 

The Alternative Podium Ceremony

The John Watson Award for most places gained in the race - Sebastien Vettel (13)

The Olivier Grouillard Award for best roadblock - Heikki Kovalainen (he seemed to be a bit of a mobile chicane for half the race)

The Phillipe Alliot Award for most pointless crash - Adrian Sutil (although Hamilton was a close second)

The David Coulthard Award for outstanding achievement in the field of complaining - Mark Webber (the hand gestures suggesting that Kovalainen was weaving were priceless).  Note - the award may have to be renamed the Mark Webber award.