), Hamilton abandoneaza, si campionatul este relansat, cu 3 piloti avind sanse la titlu !!!Raikkonen wins in China to take title down to the wire
source: formula1.com
http://www.formula1....07/10/6950.html
Lewis Hamilton began the day with a 12-point lead - and ended it with a trip into the gravel, a premature exit and only four points in hand over Fernando Alonso and seven over Kimi Raikkonen. The Chinese Grand Prix was an unmitigated disaster for the Englishman - and, perhaps, for his championship hopes.
The only thing that could have been worse for Hamilton was if McLaren team mate Alonso had won. He didn�t. That honour went to Raikkonen after a superb drive for Ferrari in changing conditions.
Alonso was a strong second, and Ferrari�s Felipe Massa a charging third, which sets up a three-way fight for the title in Brazil in a fortnight. Hamilton has 107 points, but Alonso is now up to 103 and Raikkonen 100. Not since 1986, when outsider Alain Prost beat favourites Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, have three drivers fought it out to the last round.
The race began well for Hamilton. Rain before the start obliged everyone to opt for Bridgestone�s standard wet-weather tyres, and with aplomb the polesitter opened up a 10-second lead by the time he made his first scheduled pit stop on lap 15. That handed Raikkonen the lead, which he maintained until his own stop on lap 19. Hamilton, however, was pushing hard and retook the lead as the Finn rejoined. Further back, Massa and Alonso were locked in battle, but not in a position to challenge. At this stage, all four front runners kept their original tyres through their stops.
The expected rain held off, but eventually some fell around the 26-lap mark, and suddenly Raikkonen was taking chunks out of Hamilton�s 4.6s lead. Through lap 28 they were side-by-side more often than not, and when the McLaren finally slid wide in one corner the Ferrari driver pounced and immediately opened up a big lead. Hamilton had spoken the previous day of the Ferrari�s characteristic of being kinder to its tyres, and that proved crucial. He struggled on, fighting for grip everywhere, hanging on for his scheduled second stop on lap 31. When it came, it was the prelude to disaster. As he came into the pits, Hamilton slid wide on the entry left-hander and, agonisingly slowly, went into the gravel bed. There was no escape. His race was over, and suddenly Raikkonen and Alonso were thrown their crucial lifeline.
Now it was a fight between Alonso and the two Ferraris, but it was a stalemate situation that saw the Raikkonen-Alonso-Massa order maintained to the end.
Fourth place fell to Sebastian Vettel, who made up for his Fuji gaffe. He got a little bit lucky as his single-stop strategy worked well as far as the timing of the change in weather conditions was concerned, but this was a fine performance nonetheless. Thus Toro Rosso got their first official points of the season, and a strong drive from Vettel�s team mate Tonio Liuzzi, who early on ran fourth on merit, saw the two-stopping Italian finish sixth. Unfortunately for him, his strategy didn�t work so well when the conditions changed, and he struggled with tyre graining all through the race.
Between them, Jenson Button had his best race of the season with a strong run for Honda that at one stage saw him setting fastest laps after switching to the softer-compound-dry weather tyres at the crucial stage.
Behind Liuzzi, Nick Heidfeld took seventh place after losing out when conditions changed, and he was less than a second behind the Toro Rosso. Team mate Robert Kubica was actually leading the race, and a contender for victory after Raikkonen and Alonso made their final stops, when his BMW Sauber rolled to a halt with its fourth hydraulic failure of the weekend.
Thus the final point fell to Red Bull�s David Coulthard, who fended off Heikki Kovalainen�s Renault all the way to the flag. Behind them, Mark Webber did likewise with Renault�s Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Red Bull.
Alexander Wurz was 12th for Williams, a lap down, in a race that saw him see-saw up and down the order as the first man to switch to soft dries. At one stage he set fastest lap. He headed home Toyota�s Jarno Trulli, Super Aguri�s Takuma Sato, and Honda�s Rubens Barrichello, all a lap down, then Nico Rosberg two laps down in the Williams and Spyker�s Sakon Yamamoto three laps in arrears.
Besides Kubica and Hamilton, the retirements included Toyota�s Ralf Schumacher, who clashed with Liuzzi after two separate spins, Adrian Sutil who crashed his Spyker in the final corner, and Anthony Davidson who a suffered mechanical problem on his Super Aguri.
If this was a Hollywood script, there could be no better scenario for the world championship finale, as Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen have it all to play for in Interlagos in two weeks� time.
Asa au plecat:
Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
1 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.798 1:35.898 1:35.908 16
2 6 Kimi R�ikk�nen Ferrari 1:35.692 1:35.381 1:36.044 17
3 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:35.792 1:35.796 1:36.221 16
4 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.809 1:35.845 1:36.576 16
5 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:36.930 1:36.252 1:37.619 22
6 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:37.135 1:36.709 1:38.013 23
7 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.199 1:36.602 1:38.153 22
8 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:36.737 1:36.217 1:38.455 21
9 10 Robert Kubica BMW 1:36.309 1:36.116 1:38.472 20
10 7 Jenson Button Honda 1:37.092 1:36.771 1:39.285 22
11 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 1:37.047 1:36.862 12
12 19 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 1:37.006 1:36.891 12
13 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:37.209 1:36.959 13
14 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1:37.225 1:36.991 12
15 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:37.203 1:37.247 12
16 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:37.144 1:37.483 13
17 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:37.251 6
18 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:37.290 7
19 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:37.456 6
20 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:38.218 6
21 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:38.668 8
22 21 Sakon Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari 1:39.336 7
Si asa au sosit:
os No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 6 Kimi R�ikk�nen Ferrari 56 1:37:58.395 2 10
2 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 56 +9.8 secs 4 8
3 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 56 +12.8 secs 3 6
4 19 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 56 +53.5 secs 17 5
5 7 Jenson Button Honda 56 +68.6 secs 10 4
6 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 56 +73.6 secs 11 3
7 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 56 +74.2 secs 8 2
8 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 56 +80.7 secs 5 1
9 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 56 +81.1 secs 13
10 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 56 +84.6 secs 7
11 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 56 +86.6 secs 18
12 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 55 +1 Lap 19
13 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 55 +1 Lap 12
14 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 55 +1 Lap 20
15 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 55 +1 Lap 16
16 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 54 +2 Laps 15
17 21 Sakon Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari 53 +3 Laps 22
Ret 10 Robert Kubica BMW 33 Hydraulics 9
Ret 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 30 Spin 1
Ret 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 25 Spin 6
Ret 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 24 Accident 21
Ret 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 11 Brakes 14
Go, Kimi, Go !
