UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Hamilton weathers the storm

Weather plays havoc

We predicted a few days ago that the weather would be a decisive factor in the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji, and we were, of course, absolutely correct.

It is difficult to find a driver throughout the field that did not make a mistake today – though the winner is an obvious candidate. It was a race of mixed fortunes – delight for some, heartbreak for others – but it was very nearly not a race at all.

Those of us who follow horse racing will remember the legendary Race That Never Was at Aintree a few years back, the Grand National that descended into high farce following a false start, and as the twenty two runners took to the Fuji Speedway in driving rain behind the safety car for the start of this race, it was touch and go whether it would be abandoned or not.

An indicator of just how bad the conditions were came with the sight of Ferraris spinning in the early laps. What transpired, however, was that the red cars had started on the intermediate Bridgestone wet, rather than the extreme wet tyre. Not only was this an incredible tactical blunder by the most canny and aware team in the sport, but it was also against the regulations.

The rules state that, should the conditions be deemed extreme enough to merit a safety car start, all runners must start on the extreme wet tyre. Ferrari claimed not to be aware of this, but being asked to believe that is an insult to our intelligence. Nevertheless, a few laps in and both Ferraris visited their pit for tyres and fuel, rejoining at the back of the field as required.

During one of his off track moments Felipe Massa had been passed by Nick Heidfeld in the BMW. The Brazilian proceeded to overtake the German, and naturally incurred a drive through penalty that would later hinder his chances.

Lap after lap the sliver Mercedes driver by Mr Maylander circulated at crawling pace, and a few other cars – among them Alex Wurz in the Williams, Tonio Liuzzi who had started from the pit lane in the Toro Rosso, and Jarno Trulli in the Toyota – made stops for fuel, the gamble being that should the race be run in its entirety behind the safety car, those in front would have to pit later and yield a place. The significant runner among these was Liuzzi who, being a lap down, was instructed to overtake all cars and the safety car and set free to catch up the pack.

The Toro Rosso immediately went around at a respectable pace without any trouble at all, and Charlie Whiting used this to measure the suitability of the circuit; the word went out that the safety car would be coming in, and in it came at the end of 18 laps of running.

The start went well for the two Mclarens, Lewis Hamilton leading Fernando Alonso line astern, but behind we witnessed the first of several accidents that are so prevalent when savage weather mixes with momentary lapses of concentration. Jenson Button had been jumped by Nick Heidfeld at the rolling start, and duly drove his Honda into the back of the BMW in the melee that ensued. Button lost his nose, Heidfeld several places as he came to a standstill in the middle of the circuit. Heidfeld would recover to a points scoring position only to have a mechanical failure curtail his race with one lap to go. Button would rejoin, but any hopes of a decent finish were gone.
Behind the Mclaren pair the big winners in all of this were Sebastian Vettel, the German in the Toro Rosso, and Mark Webber in the Red Bull, these two running third and fourth. Meanwhile, Alex Wurz lost his Williams under braking into a turn and side swiped Felipe Massa, the Williams wrecked and the Ferrari losing time.

Takuma Sato also lost the front end of his Super Aguri somewhere in the mist, and the rear end of the car erupted in a spectacular fire as he left his pit box; thankfully, the rain was enough to extinguish the flames and the local hero continued unabated.

Further back those making progress included Kimi Raikkonen, the Ferrari scything through the pack as if it were a fine, dry day, and Adrian Sutil who was utilising his already avowed wet-weather skills to take the Spyker into the top ten.

Buttons accident, and the subsequent slow lap in which the pack failed to get around him, had helped to string out the field somewhat so that when Alonso pitted at the end of lap 26 for fuel and tyres – enough to complete the race – he emerged behind a train of cars, in eighth position. It had not helped that his out lap included a rally cross moment, but it was particularly galling that Hamilton’s stop, a lap later, brought him out ahead of the same bunch.

In the lead now was Vettel, with Webber in second – a Red Bull dream if ever there was one – and a great scrap was in progress behind Hamilton where the two Renaults, Robert Kubica in the BMW and David Coulthard in the second Red Bull were at it hammer and tongs, Alonso cautiously holding a watching brief behind them.

Vettel pitted on lap 31 for his only stop, leaving Webber ahead until he stopped a couple of laps later.

At this point in the race the Mclarens were somewhat tip-toeing around the track, and Nick Heidfeld took the opportunity to overtake Alonso on the main straight, and ahead of these Hamilton had a flying Kubica right behind him and challenging.

It was a challenge too far for the Pole, however, as he came in far too deep, lost it, and nudged Hamilton into a spin. The Englishman recovered, while Kubica was handed a drive through for his efforts.

A similar incident saw Alonso and Vettel tangle, this time the Mclaren taking the brunt of the damage and both continued without concern.

Hamilton was taking things very carefully at this point, with three cars ahead than needed to stop, and as first Webber, then Heikki Kovalainen and Fisichella made their stops the Mclaren regained a lead that it not lose.

Raikkonen had been motoring somewhat in the middle stint of the race, and made a second stop for fuel and tyres on lap 40. Hamilton led from Webber and Vettel, the Australian having jumped the German during the stops.

With the weather now notably worse than it had been earlier it was somewhat inevitable that a car would leave the track in some style – that it would be Alonso no-one would have bet upon.
The Spaniard simply found himself a passenger exiting turn five, slammed the barrier in mighty fashion and came to a stop in the middle of the track with a shower of debris surrounding his wrecked Mclaren. Cue the safety car again, and concerns that the race may be abandoned.

Tonio Liuzzi, up to fourth place by this point, took the opportunity to pit and fuel to the finish, as did both the Super Aguri runners.

On lap 45, with the safety car still leading the pack, another of those momentary lapses removed both Webber and Vettel from the race. The youngster had been caught unawares when he noticed Hamilton appear to slow, his concentration elsewhere he immediately hit the rear of Webber’s Red Bull – the Australian minding his own business – and that was that for the pair of them. A great pity as both men had been driving exceptional races, and podium finished would most certainly have been on the cards. Webber was, naturally, livid, and Vettel must chalk this one up as inexperience.

Now, then, Hamilton had Kovalainen behind him – the young Finn one of the few to drive an error free race – with Massa, incredibly, up to third. Coulthard ran fourth, Fisichella fifth and the unfortunate Heidfeld sixth.

With 20 laps left to run the safety car released the pack, and Hamilton again made a perfect get away. Behind the leader Massa tried to tow past Kovalainen on the straight, the Finn standing his ground firmly, and Rosberg had an off track moment further down the field. The Williams would later retire with hydraulic problems making this a pointless exercise for the team. Rosberg would later offer the opinion that the race should not have been run in these conditions; this is a fine driver with a great future, but surely an error of judgement on his part.

Hamilton began to pull cleanly away from the rest with ease, clearly at one with car and circuit, but behind him the action began to hot up.

Raikkonen was behind Coulthard now and in fifth place, and taking some unusual lines in a bid to find some grip. DC fought well, holding his line perfectly and driving beautifully, but there was nothing he could do when the Ferrari stormed around the outside at turn five in a typically bold and decisive move, putting him third behind team mate Massa.

As we were wondering just how Ferrari would get him past Massa without incurring the wrath of the stewards, into the pits came the Brazilian, taking on new tyres and a dash of fuel. Perfect for Raikkonen, duty for Massa.

Kimi would attack his countryman Kovalainen with verve and supreme aggression for the last few laps, refusing to give in until the two passed the line with the Renault ahead. This had been a great race by both men, with Kovalainen coming on stringer with every race and driving absolutely beautifully all afternoon, and Raikkonen showing the style and aggression which had been his trademark.

Coulthard proved there is life in the old dog yet with a faultless run to fourth place, and Fisichella came home a deserved fifth after a well judged afternoons work.

Behind these, though, a battle royal was underway for sixth position, with Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica engaged in a frantic and spectacular wheel-to-wheel fight in which they passed, re-passed and passed each other at every available opportunity on the last lap, each leaving the other just enough room, touching wheels, the odd excursion onto the grass. It was brilliant stuff, evoking memories of the legendary Villeneuve/Arnoux scrap at Dijon in 1979, and Massa triumphed – just – despite taking to the grass at the final corner!

Eighth went to Tonio Liuzzi who drove the race of his F1 career and scored the first point for Toro Rosso. Of course, the team should have had a bag more today, but that’s racing.

Ninth, and worthy of mention, came Adrian Sutil with a fine performance for Spyker – this is a young man who is making waves in F1 right now – and tenth and 11th went to Barrichello and Button on a disastrous day for Honda.

Sakon Yamamoto kept out of trouble and brought the second Spyker home in 12th in front of his home crowd, whilst Toyota – whose circuit this is – will want to forget the whole weekend, their only finisher being Jarno Trulli in 13th.

Heidfeld was classified 14th on an afternoon on which he did nothing wrong, drove beautifully as usual, but fell to a rare malfunction just a few miles from the end, and the final finisher was local boy Sato, two laps down in the Aguri.

If there were any doubts at all about Lewis Hamilton’s ability, there can be none now for this was a master class in, as Ron Dennis commented after the race, discipline. He did everything he had to do, did it perfectly, and deserved his fourth win of the season.

Hamilton now stands 12 points ahead of Alonso in the race for the drivers’ title, with the Spaniard admitting – quite honestly – that he now needs a miracle. Raikkonen can – mathematically – still take the crown, but a 17 point deficit means he would have to win both remaining races (quite possible) with Hamilton scoring less than four points (very unlikely). Massa is now out of the running.

We move to China in one week’s time, and UpdateSport will be there to bring you full coverage of practice, qualifying, and the Chinese Grand Prix.

Written: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:50:55