what a show......Brazil will be intense!!!
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All to play for heading to the Brazilian Grand Prix
The Chinese Grand Prix will remain firmly in the mind of Lewis Hamilton for a long time to come. It was the event where on the brink of wrapping up his first world title, a small error ended his day and threw open the title contest heading to the final round of the championship in Brazil in two weeks time.
Kimi Raikkonen took control of the 56-lap Grand Prix at mid-distance when Hamilton slipped up and beached his McLaren Mercedes firmly in the gravel trap. From that point onwards the Finn never put a foot wrong, controlling his pace to take the chequered flag, and the 200th win for Ferrari, ten seconds clear of Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen’s fifth win of the season moves him back into championship contention while Alonso’s runner up position moves him to within four points of Hamilton. Felipe Massa put in a late race change to finish in third position, just three second behind Alonso.
Light rain made the Chinese Grand Prix a tricky affair with everyone opting to start the race on the intermediate tyres. Hamilton led away from his pole position, quickly establishing an eight second advantage over Raikkonen before pitting on lap 16. Raikkonen remained on track another four laps and when he emerged from the pits he was just four second behind Hamilton.
This was the critical phase of the race as the rain had stopped and the intermediate tyres were struggling on the fast-drying circuit.
Soon it became apparent that in not changing his tyres, Hamilton was in severe grip difficulty as Raikkonen swept by and into the lead.
Heading to the pits on lap 30, Hamilton lost rear-end grip in the slippery pit lane and as he corrected the wheel, he soon found himself beached in a small gravel trip on the right hand side of the pit lane. His rear wheels spinning, it was clear his race was run. The question for Hamilton and the McLaren team is not the driving error, but the decision to remain on track a crucial few laps too-long when it was clear he had massive grip problems.
It was a dream result for Raikkonen as he took his 14th career victory and with 100 points on the board, is now just seven behind Hamilton heading to Brazil. Alonso drove a solid race, getting the jump on Massa mid-race jus ahead of the second round of stops. His second place gives him 103 points, four down on the championship leader.
Felipe Massa set the fastest lap of the race as he closed down Alonso in the final laps but will have to be content with third position
xoxoxoo
some pitbabes too!
