Lewis Hamilton held an almost insurmountable 12-point edge in the standings leading up to the race. He beat Raikkonen for pole Saturday while rival Alonso could only manage fourth. The Chinese GP was shaping up to be the venue where Lewis Hamilton would make history. He was on the cusp of becoming the first man (since Farina in 1950) to win the Formula 1 title in his first attempt as well as becoming the youngest ever World Champion.
Instead, unpredictable weather ruined the party for the young Briton. There was light rain at the start of the race that forced everyone to use intermediate tires. Hamilton pitted first among the top four runners in lap 16 and opted to remain on the same set of tires. The light rain stopped by then and the track was drying fast. It was on that second stint where Hamilton started to have tire issues.
Despite struggling for grip, it seemed like Hamilton and his crew decided to stay on track for as long as possible to determine whether or not more showers will arrive and hence determine whether to put on dry or intermediate tires for the final stint.
It turned out that Hamilton stayed out on track for too long. He lost the lead to Raikkonen while Alonso was closing in fast. By the time Hamilton decided to pit, his car didn’t have enough grip to slow down enough for the pit-lane entrance. As a result, Hamilton ended up stuck in the gravel trap and was forced to retire.
Kimi Raikkonen took full advantage of Hamilton’s mishap by recording his 14th career win, and Ferrari’s 200th team victory. Fernando Alonso on the other hand finished a strong second place. Both drivers were the only drivers with a mathematical possibility of beating Hamilton for the championship. With Hamilton’s retirement, the title chase is once again wide open. Hamilton is still ahead in the standings with 107 points; Alonso trailing with 103 points with Raikkonen a little further back with 100 points.
Felipe Massa took the final podium spot in third. The Brazilian too had tire problems at one point in the race. However, he was able to up his pace during the final stint as he recorded the fastest lap of the race.
Sebastian Vettel redeemed himself from the unfortunate events in Fuji by finishing a stunning fourth position despite starting 17th in his Toro Rosso.
Another strong performance under changing conditions came from Jenson Button who finished fifth. Button has continually proven himself as a major force to be reckoned with under changing conditions.
Vitantonio Liuzzi finished sixth in the other Toro Rosso wrapping up one of the best race weekends of the team. Liuzzi had to fight off a late charge from Nick Heidfeld to finish seventh for BMW-Sauber.
David Coulthard claimed the last point scoring position in eight fending off Heikki Kovalainen who finished ninth. Mark Webber rounded up the top-ten finishers.
