Brazilian Grand Prix

blogger's note: this is basically like my thoughts on the Brazilian GP. Basically i wrote it for my dad. But its really late! sorry dad!

The Brazilian Grand Prix was a thrilling end to an action-packed, controversial season of Formula 1 racing. The much awaited season finale was a dream ending to a riotous season. For the first time since the 1980s, three drivers entered the last race fighting for the championship. Lewis Hamilton – rookie driver, aiming to be the youngest champion has been the hot favorite throughout the year, apparently in the Mclaren Team too! Two time world champion, Fernando Alonso has had quite a stormy season, with troubles within his own team and, in the last couple of races, with his performance. But he had his die-hard supporters egging him on. Kimi Raikkonen in his first season for Ferrari, after five years with Mclaren, had all of Ferrari’s supporters rooting for him. Until the Chinese GP, he did not even appear to be a serious contender for the title as he was far behind Hamilton.
Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen entered this week's race with 107, 103 and 100 points respectively. the stage was set, apparently for Lewid who started from the first row of the starting grid. After and excellent Q3 session for Massa, he took the pole with some stunning lap times at his home circuit.

Kimi and Alonso shared the second row. Alonso had a fairly poor qualifying session without his usual confidence and brilliance being projected. As the five green lights went out to signify the beginning of the end (as in, last race!), the Ferraris surged ahead of the Mclaren drivers. Both Lewis and Fernando were at a disadvantage as they both started from the fairly unused, dusty side of the grid.
Raikkonen on passing Hamilton seemed dangerously close to Massa for an instant, but immediately settled behind him into 2nd place realizing the danger in pushing any harder. Although Alonso got the upper hand over Hamilton, Lewis was not in the mood to throw the championship away just like that. An overly eager, or rather, slightly desperate Hamilton got rather too close to his teammate and was forced to go off the track onto the gravel. This caused him to fall down to 8th place, just out of reach of that title. Displaying some amazing driving, better than we’ve seen all season, he moved into 6th place, the perfect position to be for him. Let me explain, at this point what the outcome would have been like had things continued this way. Massa in first place would have gone on to win at his home circuit, earning even more support and ofcourse boundless pleasure. Kimi, coming in second would have gotten 8 points giving him a total of 108 points. Alonso, in 3rd place would have earned 6 points giving him a total of 109. Hamilton would have won the championship by earning 3 points for placing 6th giving him a total of 110. But in F1, nothing stays constant, nothing is a guarantee.
I missed a major part of the race where Kimi took the lead from Massa, (thanks mom and krupa) so I don’t know how that happened! (Please enlighten me if you know!) But before this, there was a major turn of events. In what seemed to be an irreversible tragedy for Hamilton, he began to slow down suddenly. He was moving, but hardly so. For a lap, it looked as though he was out of the running and then his car suddenly began to gain speed. As we learned later, he had some trouble with his gearbox. He dropped to 18th place. What a blow for his overenthusiastic fans!

In the meanwhile, Kimi pulled away into the lead and even Massa seemed to be unable to keep up with his pace. He even set the fastest lap of the race!
Alonso, behind the two Ferraris seemed to be painfully trudging along, all hope of Championship lost unless something went horribly wrong for one of the two Ferraris ahead of him.
As the chase in front was in progress, Hamilton, from the back, was creeping up his way into the top 10. With 8 laps to go, he was in 7th position. He needed to finish 6th, to equal Raikkonen’s points. With 8 laps to go, the gap between him and Nick Heidfeld was about 17 seconds. Although he was lapping a second faster than Heidfeld, it looked like he was going to run out of laps.

With 3 laps remaining and Kimi going faster than ever, Ferrari fans sat with their fingers, toes and whatever else possible, crossed, praying for nothing to go wrong. 1 lap to go and Kimi was nearly there. Chequered Flag! He’s won the race. Ecstasy. Celebration time has… but wait! What was just on screen, 5th and 6th place Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were way too close for comfort. My heart stopped for a nanosecond until they separated to a comfortable distance.
Breath holding continued for a few more seconds until they both safely crossed the line. Quick math was done to ensure that our calculations were right. Pregnant silence prevails, listening to the commentator in anticipation of a confirmation of our hopes. Team Radio of Ferrari, “Lewis has safely crossed the line in 7th, it’s all over. By our calculations, you’ve won it!” Pure ecstasy. Unthinkable happiness. What seemed impossible three races ago has happened! Even before the start of the race today it was possible but not probable.

Thoughts during the race (at various points): [1] Before the race, “To win, Kimi would have had to finish first with Alonso 3rd or below and Hamilton 7th or less. No way! Like that’s gonna happen” [2] During the race - “NO! Kimi’s second. Massa’s too good here. Kimi’ll never pass him, Oh no!” [3] 1 lap to go - “What if the 5th or 6th crash out? Lewis’ll win by default. Oh my gosh! What tension!” [4] After the race - “Yay! Yay! Yay!”

The well deserving champion rises out of his vehicle and we see jubilation, though not jubilation like we expected – more like shocked, stunned, dampened jubilation. The true joy is seen on the podium, rather, when he leaps onto the podium. The unexpected has happened. The impossible really IS possible. But hey that’s F1!