The 2008 Formula One World Championship is set to go down to the wire following a drama-filled Japanese Grand Prix for title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.
For the second consecutive race, it was Renault’s Fernando Alonso who greeted the chequered flag first, with BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica second and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen third.
But with Hamilton just seven points ahead of rival Massa prior to the race, all eyes were on the duo racing for McLaren and Ferrari, respectively.
Hamilton took pole position on Saturday October 11 at the Fuji circuit after the trials, but the next day, Sunday, his chances of victory were dashed after out-braking himself at the first corner and then tangling with Massa on lap two.
Hamilton’s ambitious move on Raikkonen at the start seemed to trigger more chaos behind. David Coulthard was particularly unlucky, with rear suspension damage leaving him a passenger in his Red Bull-Renault while the car sailed into the tyre barriers. The Scotsman was uninjured.
Hamilton received a drive-through penalty, while Massa’s clumsy attempted overtaking move on Hamilton also earned him the same result.
The 23-year-old Britton, Hamilton, only managed 12th at the end, but Massa was able to muster 7th and a valuable two points.
Massa was aided by a penalty post-race to Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais after an incident at turn one. It seemed a harsh punishment for Bourdais, who held the inside line after exiting the pitlane. The Frenchman’s 25-second penalty relegated him to 10th after initially finishing 6th.
Not just three-way traffic in 2008
Three races ago, the 27-year-old Brazilian Massa also inherited a controversial victory at September 7’s Belgian Grand Prix after Hamilton was penalised 25 seconds after cutting a chicane. McLaren then lost an appeal to overturn the decision.
There has been a perception in F1 circles for some time that the sport’s authorities favour Ferrari. Even if this is not the case, it is the mere perception that can be damaging to the sport’s credibility.
Just two races remain and the gap between Hamilton and Massa is now five points, with Kubica only seven points behind the Ferrari driver. The constructor’s championship is just as close, with Ferrari on 142 points, McLaren on 135 and BMW Sauber on 128.
But success in 2008 has not been exclusive to just these three teams. Five different teams and seven different drivers have won a race this season and, remarkably, 9 of the 11 teams have tasted champagne on the podium.
One of the teams who have not shared the spoils on the podium is Super Aguri, who withdrew after four rounds, due to financial problems.
The story of the European summer has been Scuderia Toro Rosso, formerly known as Minardi. The team’s use of a Red Bull chassis, a potent Ferrari engine and the sensationally quick Sebastian Vettel, culminated in a stunning pole position and victory at their home race at Monza last month.
The 21-year-old German became the youngest-ever winner in the sport’s history and will fill the spot at Red Bull’s main team next year as a replacement for the retiring David Coulthard.
The notorious silly-season (driver contract negotiations) never really descended into silliness, with much of the spotlight surrounding Alonso’s destination in 2009. But with two victories in a row, the former two-time champion is likely to stay at Renault. The Spaniard initially hoped that there would be a vacancy at Ferrari, but Renault’s late-season speed and Raikkonen’s re-signing with Ferrari put a rest to that idea.
Raikkonen’s year has been riddled with inconsistency and an inability to out-qualify Massa, but despite this, the Finn has accumulated an amazing 10 fastest laps. The 28-year-old, though, has only won 2 races this season and none of the last 12. Raikkonen’s laconic nature may have fuelled the idea that he has lost motivation, but Ferrari has signed him until the end of 2010 along with Massa.
In 2008 F1 introduced two new races to the calendar, both of them street courses. The first of them was held in Valencia, Spain, on August 24, where the cars raced around a harbour and fans witnessed a Felipe Massa victory. The other new race was in Singapore on September 28, won by Fernando Alonso. This was the sport’s first ever night Grand Prix and its success has provided the possibility of future night races in other countries.
The more immediate focus though is on race 17 of a gruelling 18 round season – the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai this weekend, where four different drivers have won in its four year history, with Raikkonen the defending winner.
FACT BOXES
Formula 1 Driver’s Championship
| POS | DRIVER | NATIONALITY | ENTRANT | POINTS |
| 1. | LEWIS HAMILTON | Britain | McLaren-Mercedes | 84 |
| 2. | FELIPE MASSA | Brazil | Ferrari | 79 |
| 3. | ROBERT KUBICA | Poland | BMW Sauber | 72 |
| 4. | KIMI RAIKKONEN | Finland | Ferrari | 63 |
| 5. | NICK HEIDFELD | Germany | BMW Sauber | 56 |
| 6. | HEIKKI KOVALAINEN | Finland | McLaren-Mercedes | 51 |
| 7. | FERNANDO ALONSO | Spain | Renault | 48 |
| 8. | SEBASTIAN VETTEL | France | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 30 |
| 9 | JARNO TRULLI | Italy | Toyota | 30 |
| 10. | MARK WEBBER | Australia | Red Bull-Renault | 21 |
Formula 1 Constructor’s Championship
| POS | CONSTRUCTOR | POINTS |
| 1. | FERRARI | 142 |
| 2. | MCLAREN-MERCEDES | 135 |
| 3. | BMW SAUBER | 128 |
| 4. | RENAULT | 66 |
| 5. | TOYOTA | 50 |
| 6. | TORO ROSSO-FERRARI | 34 |
| 7. | RED BULL-RENAULT | 29 |
| 8. | WILLIAMS-TOYOTA | 26 |
| 9. | HONDA | 14 |
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