The Brazilian Grand Prix was often an early, if not the first, race on an F1 calendar. After 2004, it established a reputation as an exciting end-of-season race, hosting title-clinching showdowns in the previous two seasons, from which Fernando Alonso claimed the World Championship on both occasions.
The 2007 Grand Prix promised another thrilling title-decider, this time between three main contenders. The bitter, season-long battle between Alonso and McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton promised a tantalising finish, with Hamilton seeking to be the first rookie World Champion in Formula 1 history and Alonso looking clinch title number three. Kimi Raikkonen, who left McLaren to join Ferrari to replace the retiring Michael Schumacher, was close behind in and determined to take the Championship for himself.
The scene was set at the previous race in China, when Hamilton retired after a nonsensical decision by his team to keep him out on wearing wet tyres on a drying track. Victory there would have given him the title, but going in to the Sao Paolo showdown he still led the championship by four points from Alonso and seven points from Chinese GP winner Raikkonen.
In qualifying, Hamilton finished up on the front row, just over a tenth of a second behind the home driver of Felipe Massa, who put his Ferrari on pole position. Raikkonen was third, with Alonso fourth.
At the start, Massa led the field, and Raikkonen moved ahead of Hamilton into second place. Hamilton was then overtaken by Alonso coming into the Reta Oposta. Hamilton, desperate to regain the positions that he knew would make him champion, locked his brakes at turn 5 and went wide, falling to eighth place. Six laps later he had moved ahead the Toyota of Jarno Trulli and the BMW-Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, before suffering from a gearbox problem at the same section of the circuit where he had run off. After being overtaken by the entire field, he reset his car and was soon moving again.
By this time, the Ferraris had comfortably moved ahead of Alonso, but Hamilton was on a charge, moving up to eleventh place by only lap 15. Further down the pack, Heikki Kovalinen retired on lap 37 after a spin at turn three, denying him the record of being the first driver in Formula 1 to finish every race in his debut season. The most exciting duel in the race was between both BMWs of Heidfeld and rookie team-mate Robert Kubica, and the Williams of Nico Rosberg.
On lap 70, the penultimate lap of the race, Rosberg overtook Heidfeld, causing both drivers to run wide, leaving Kubica to overtake both of them for fourth place. The Ferraris were able to cruise to the finish, Raikkonen leading home Massa, with Alonso finishing in third, nearly a whole minute behind Raikkonen, who, in the remaining two races, cut away Hamilton’s 17-point advantage over him and became the new World Champion by a single point. Due to the “Spygate” scandal earlier in the season and the subsequent punishment of McLaren losing all constructor’s points, Ferrari took that title as well, finishing 103 points ahead of nearest rival BMW-Sauber.
A few hours after the race, race stewards investigated possible irregularities with the fuel of the BMW and Williams cars, but no further action was taken after a lack of conclusive evidence. Any irregularities would have resulted in disqualification for both teams, which would have promoted Hamilton to fourth place, giving him the title.
The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix again showed the power of this track to deliver gripping racing. While the 2014 World Drivers’ Championship will not be decided in Sao Paulo and the new track surface remains an unknown element, if history is any guide this weekend should deliver an excellent race.
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