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Massa wins, Lewis fifth

The Brazilian Grand Prix promised much, with the man on pole – Felipe Massa – needing to win with the man in fourth on the grid – Lewis Hamilton – needing to finish fifth, or better, to take the title in that scenario.

Few had any doubt that Massa would lead from start to finish and, barring pit stops, that proved to be the case, but from fourth on the grid Hamilton, and Mclaren, had it all to do.

The first signs that this was not to be an ordinary event came a few minutes before the start when, following a long period without rain, a positively torrential shower fell on Interlagos, forcing race control to move the start back ten minutes, and thus doing away with the need for teams to use the unfavoured softer tyre as all chose to start on intermediates.

All bar Robert Kubica, that is, for the BMW driver set off on the warm up lap on dry tyres, but went to the pits at the end of it and changed back to intermediates.

The start was not dramatic – Massa dragged away into the clear air, leaving a cloud of spray behind him in which Hamilton lost a place and fell to fifth, while at the back a contretemps found Nelson Piquet and David Coulthard out of the race. For the latter, of course, this was not the way he had wanted to end his lengthy career, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Kovalainen had also got into a scrap with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the latter having had a poor start, and as is often – worryingly – the case, the Finn was the one who lost out.

The safety car came out to play, then, on lap one, and the field lined up behind it to wait for the restart.

Significant at this point was the decision of Force India to bring Giancarlo Fisichella in and change him to dry tyres, and the Italian thus became the guinea pig for the whole field.

When the main players opted to come in for dry tyres, it was Alonso and Vettel who made the first move, the rest following one, or in Hamilton’s case two, laps later.

With the race settled down, Massa led Vettel and Alonso, with Raikkonen next and Hamilton trailing him, but not out of danger from cars behind by any means.

Jarno Trulli had got away well, too, and ran second for Toyota, but following his first stop he had a spin, and fell back to take a solitary point after a very gutsy drive indeed.

Vettel, at this point, was taking chunks out of Massa, and it was with some surprise that the STR made a second stop a long way before we had expected, dropping him back to fifth where he set about his job again.

The pit stops evened everything out again, and Massa now led Vettel and Alonso, with a similar line up behind, and Hamilton – crucially – still in fifth position.

Ordinary things were, then, to now, for Massa was doing a great job out front – everything he could do, in fact – but his rival was still in position to take the title if he finished where he was. And for most of the last third of the race, it was that ‘if’’ that held sway.

With thirteen laps to go, however, teams started telling their drivers to expect rain in around ten minutes. A couple of laps later, and the puddles in the paddock showed rain falling. Dilemma time it was, then – bring them in to change, or leave them out?

Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa all opted to stop for wets – Nick Heidfeld, out of the points in ninth, had opted to do so a lap earlier – and emerged very much in the same order.

Except, that is, for Timo Glock, the young German and Toyota deciding to take the gamble and see out the final few laps on dry tyres. This, although we did not know it, would be crucial for Hamilton, following Vettel’s second stop, had been running fourth, and keeping the STR just behind with little trouble.

The Mclaren was now fifth, Glock fourth, and Vettel sixth, and looking very, very aggressive indeed.

This was not what Hamilton wanted for, curiously, it appeared that the STR had the legs of the McLaren. With the two, although a lap down, was Robert Kubica and, while the BMW set about unlapping itself, Vettel took the bit between his teeth and passed the slightly wide Hamilton on the inside. Two laps to go, and Hamilton now sat sixth – the title was gone, unless he could get to grips with Vettel.

Well, more than get to grips with him – he had to pass him, and for those of us watching, this was clearly not possible as Vettel edged out a safe if very small cushion.

Going into the final lap and Timo Glock was fifteen seconds ahead of Hamilton. Almost half a minute up the road was Felipe Massa, and as the Brazilian crossed the line after a perfect drive, the Ferrari pit erupted in scenes of joy – there boy had done it, for Hamilton was sixth! The title was Massa’s, and the elation was plain to see.

But wait, what was this? Was that Glock, tiptoeing around the last two corners like he was on ice, and Vettel and Hamilton passing him? Yes, it was! Suddenly, the whole complexion of the championship was changed – Massa may have been in the right place when he crossed the line, but Hamilton – likewise – was in the right place when he followed, in the crucial fifth place, half a lap later on.

The Ferrari pit fell quiet, and the McLaren boys erupted – it was their time for jubilation, their time for joy. Lewis Hamilton had lucked in today, and his was the world title.

One has to feel sorry for Massa who drove a quite sublime race, controlling it from the front as he has proved adept at this year, but if he can keep this momentum going, he can challenge again. Ferrari, however, should remember not to count their chickens, so to speak, before they are hatched.

A more dramatic finish to a world title I have never seen – the race itself echoed Monaco in 1982 – but this was Hamilton, and McLarens – day. Congratulations to them, and commiserations to Massa and Ferrari.

Quite what the FIA, who landed McLaren with a fine designed to blunt their competitive edged one year ago – will make of it, but at least Ferrari took a comprehensive constructors title.

The top eight, as it happens, read Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Hamilton, Glock, Kovalainen and Trulli.

Written: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:31:05