Raikkonen clinches championship in Brazilian thriller

F1 Grand Prix, GP Brazil, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos

Kimi Raikkonen has secured the fastest lap, the win and the Championship in a major coup on McLaren at Brazil. Hamilton's chances were basically ruined by a bad start and a temporal mechanical problem while his teammate Alonso didn't have enough with a third place behind the Ferraris. Felipe Massa was able to complete the party for the Scuderia while Rosberg is a beautiful 4th.

Under a sunny Brazilian sky, the final and decisive race of the 2007 season kicked-off. With Massa on pole and Alonso only 4th the championship is likely to be a hard nut to crack for both Raikkonen and Alonso.

The start however quickly stirred things up as Raikkonen immediately charged up to second place. Hamilton made a difficult start and was passed in the second corner by Alonso. One corner further down, Alonso defends his position on the inside of the corner. Hamilton attempts a pass on the outside but overcooks it slightly and goes off the track, fortunately this time not into a gravel trap. Lewis rejoins the track in 8th place but regains one place a lap further.

Mark Webber meanwhile made a good start and is 4th after the first lap. The disappointed Heikki Kovalainen is then pushed off by Ralf Schumacher but able to rejoin. The other Renault of Fisichella is also suffering bad luck as Giancarlo goes wide and upon reentering the track he is hit from behind by Yamamoto. Both cars are heavily damaged and abandon in the pitlane.

In lap 8 even more surprises as Kubica passes Webber to take P4. More importantly, Hamilton suffers a problem with his gearbox while cars are passing by rapidly. The youngster's car pulls it together again half a lap later but by that time Hamilton is 18th and 40 seconds behind the leader.

After 17 laps, Massa and Raikkonen have jointly been pulling away from the field. Both Ferraris are then 10 seconds ahead of Alonso. Mark Webber meanwhile has abandoned with another technical problem and Hamilton moved up to 11th place after passing Nakajima.

In lap 19 Kubica is the first to enter the pitlane and is followed by Massa just one lap later who rejoins in third place ahead of Heidfeld. Raikkonen follows the example a lap further ith Alonso also doing so in lap 22. Hamilton is in the same lap fitted with the option tyre in an attempt to quickly improve his position in the field. Lewis is 14th after his pitstop while positions at the front remain unchanged. Heidfeld is however still in 3rd and looks set to complete a longer first stint.

In lap 33, Kubica gets past Alonso and puts the virtual championship in the hands of Raikkonen. Alonso is visibly suffering and is quickly losing ground to Kubica. A pitstop of the Pole 4 laps later explains the difference in speed. Hamilton is also improving his chances again as he has moved up to 9th place. He is however also pitting to have hard tyres refitted but will most likely still have to make another stop to make it to the finish line.

Halfway through the race 7 cars have already retired, including both Heikki Kovalainen who crashed out and Barrichello who blew up his engine on the main straight. The season for Renault and Honda has therefore ended. 2 Williams mechanics are also out of work as both are off to the medical centre for a checkup. The guys suffered some injuries as Nakajima hit them when coming in for his pitstop.

In lap 50 Massa pits to fit the super-soft option tyre. 2 laps later Alonso is in for his option tyres and Raikkonen is also fitted with the option tyre. After these stops, Raikkonen is ahead of Massa and perfectly in the run for his first ever World Championship title.

If not for a problem with any of the Ferraris, Alonso's title hopes are over as he cannot ever get to the red cars in those last laps. Hamilton still has a chance as he continues to put in fastest laps in order to get to the 3 cars ahead of him. Although they are still 18 seconds ahead they are very close to each other and battling it out for the points.

At the time Raikkonen crosses the finish line he masterfully secures his Championship after being second 3 times, everytime in a McLaren. Lewis Hamilton is second in the final standings with equal points on his teammate Alonso. Nico Rosberg is a brilliant 4th after a close battle with Kubica.