F1 2007 Chinese Grand Prix

[Centurion]

Has Hamilton blown his chance?
Lewis Hamilton's hopes of clinching the Formula One world title at the Chinese Grand Prix were dashed when drove off the track because of worn tyres.

The Englishman is now only four points ahead of his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard finished second to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Shanghai.

Raikkonen, the form man in the second half of the season, is also in with a shout - the Finn is seven points behind Hamilton following his fifth win of the year.

Four British F1 legends assess the events in China and what might happen in Brazil on 22 October.

"What happened was inexperience and a lack of maturity. Experience is something you cannot buy. It comes through years and years."

BBC Sport

 

[Matt530i]

The weirdest scenario for the WDC will be if Alonso finishes 2nd and Hamilton in 4th. Alonso and Hamilton will be exactly tied in points, wins, seconds and thirds and Hamilton will win by virtue of having more 4th places...

 

[Monster]

McLaren ignored Bridgestone advice

From 'McLaren ignored Bridgestone advice' - Planet-F1 News - from planet-f1.com

The McLaren team reportedly ignored the pleas of tyre manufacturers Bridgestone to call in Lewis Hamilton earlier during the Chinese GP.


With his tyres losing grip, the team belatedly called in the World Championship leader on lap 31. However, by that stage, Hamilton's tyres were so bare that he was unable to negotiate the pitlane entry and crashed out of the race.


'Although nobody at the tyre company would comment on the matter, it is understood that the Bridgestone engineers told McLaren to abandon their gamble of keeping Hamilton going with wearing tyres to avoid having to make an extra pit stop for fuel later in the race,' reports The Guardian. 'At the time Raikkonen, in second place, was slicing several seconds a lap off Hamilton's lead.'

 

[450SEL6.9]

The tyre advice sounds like an excuse to me.

Hamilton was on the same tyres as Raikkonen and Alonso. None of the top cars changed tyres during the first pit stop. Raikkonen was eating into his lead on the same tyres and he came into the pits just as Hamy was beached in the gravel. The Kimster was not struggling nearly as much. I think Alonso, again on those inters, came in even later, I think lap 35 or 36.

 

[Bartek S.]

FIA probes McLaren for Alonso sabotage - report

F1’s governing body has opened a new investigation into McLaren, amid claims that the Woking based team may have sabotaged Fernando Alonso’s car in China, reports on Tuesday said. At the conclusion of the espionage saga last month, FIA president Max Mosley warned that the Paris body would closely monitor McLaren for signs of retribution against the Spaniard’s involvement in providing evidence that ultimately cost the team $100 million and exclusion from the constructors’ world championship.The Spanish newspaper La Nueva Espana claims that Alonso’s tyres were extremely over-inflated due to being heated too much prior to the ‘Q3′ section of qualifying in Shanghai.

“I think they are still investigating,” the 26-year-old had told reporters on Sunday, 24 hours after the incident that left him baffled and six tenths slower than his teammate, championship rival and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso added: “I think the tyre pressures were quite high, more than normal, but I don’t know if it was that or another explanation.”
La Nueva Espana said the FIA is now investigating the claim.
Meanwhile, it was reported by Italian media that Fernando Alonso on Tuesday travelled to the Modena magistrates office near Ferrari’s headquarters to be interviewed as part of the criminal probe into McLaren for allegedly spying.
Ron Dennis and fellow team chiefs were at the Italian grand prix last month served with ‘avviso di garanzias’ — formal warnings that they may be charged for sporting fraud, espionage and embezzlement. (GMM)

 

[bum-man]

Bahahaa! Anything to give Ferrari both championships eh?

 

[PanterroR]

Bahahaa! Anything to give Ferrari both championships eh?

Indeed!

 

[Sunny]

What bout probing Ferrari for Massa 's extra pit stop in Japan? Didn't that sabotage his race? or the countless time they pulled Barrichelo over.

 

[Centurion]

What bout probing Ferrari for Massa 's extra pit stop in Japan?

Exactly. This investigate is bullocks. I'm glad that there's only one GP left because this season has been f*cked up. New drama coming up every week.

 

[Matt530i]

What bout probing Ferrari for Massa 's extra pit stop in Japan? Didn't that sabotage his race? or the countless time they pulled Barrichelo over.

The difference is that Massa didn't turn over evidence that cost his employer $100M. The FIA said that if McLaren attempted to get back at Alonso for being a whistle blower they would deal harshly with them.

That being said, the FIA will have major difficulty proving that the tires were intentionally overheated/inflated. Unless there's an email out there from Ron Denis with specfic orders, or something else along those lines, anything else is pure conjecture.

 

[Sunny]

The difference is that Massa didn't turn over evidence that cost his employer $100M. The FIA said that if McLaren attempted to get back at Alonso for being a whistle blower they would deal harshly with them.

That being said, the FIA will have major difficulty proving that the tires were intentionally overheated/inflated. Unless there's an email out there from Ron Denis with specfic orders, or something else along those lines, anything else is pure conjecture.

But it is team orders - which I thought is also against the rules. When you selectively enforce rules like that to favor a certain team overmultiple seasons it kinda becomes obvious.

I seriously have nothing against Ferrari and I am a fan of Kimi, but the more the FIA favours them, the more I hate them.

 

[Gene]

But it is team orders - which I thought is also against the rules. When you selectively enforce rules like that to favor a certain team overmultiple seasons it kinda becomes obvious.

I seriously have nothing against Ferrari and I am a fan of Kimi, but the more the FIA favours them, the more I hate them.

In the end it might be Alonso that could have the last laugh this season at McLaren's disloyalty to him, particularly because everyone in the team blames him for the spygate saga.

There's the very possible scenario on the final laps that Kimi is leading, Massa is second, Alonso is third and Hamilton is fourth. In which case would Alonso let Hamilton pass him so McLaren can win the WDC? If he doesn't, then Kimi will win.

That would be an absolute kick in the nuts for McLaren if he doesn't let Hamilton pass, but put simply, McLaren haven't backed Alonso at all during the last half of the season, so why should he? It could all come down to Karma in the end.

Granted, this one in many scenario's, but hey, its definitely a possibility.

 

[Sunny]

In the end it might be Alonso that could have the last laugh this season at McLaren's disloyalty to him, particularly because everyone in the team blames him for the spygate saga.

There's the very possible scenario on the final laps that Kimi is leading, Massa is second, Alonso is third and Hamilton is fourth. In which case would Alonso let Hamilton pass him so McLaren can win the WDC? If he doesn't, then Kimi will win.

That would be an absolute kick in the nuts for McLaren if he doesn't let Hamilton pass, but put simply, McLaren haven't backed Alonso at all during the last half of the season, so why should he? It could all come down to Karma in the end.

Granted, this one in many scenario's, but hey, its definitely a possibility.

In the scenario you described (Kimi leading, Masa and then Alonso), I believe Lewis only needs to finish 5th (may be even 6th, I am not sure who has more wins) to grab the championship. So yeah, sort of Alonso taking lewis out, he can't help Ferrari.

 

[450SEL6.9]

What bout probing Ferrari for Massa 's extra pit stop in Japan? Didn't that sabotage his race? or the countless time they pulled Barrichelo over.

They could probe Ferrari for the extra pitstop, but the data will probably show he was running out of fuel or had a tyre issue. What do mean Barrichello pulled over countless times on team orders? He hardly ever had to do it. Schu won 72 races for Ferrari and how many times did Barrichello pull over for him to help him win? It's not countless times.

Besides, team orders weren't illegal when Barrichello used to be told to pull off.

 

[450SEL6.9]

There's the very possible scenario on the final laps that Kimi is leading, Massa is second, Alonso is third and Hamilton is fourth. In which case would Alonso let Hamilton pass him so McLaren can win the WDC? If he doesn't, then Kimi will win.

Kimi would still lose to Hamy in that scenario. Hamilton needs to come in 5th. If he comes in 6th, he would be tied on points with Kimi, but lose the tiebreaker (wins).

The scenario you outlined is my dream scenario. Alonso and Hamilton are fighting for position and there is a collision. If Alonso can't win the title, I'd think he'd prefer Raikkonen to win it. The question is what will he do?

The nightmare would be Hamilton and Alonso crash into each other, leaving Raikkonen to coast home. Then Raikkonen has an engine failure on the last lap to give the title to Hamilton!