The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit was one of the most exciting season finale in Formula 1 history.
Three drivers (Lewis Hamilton , Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen) came in with title chances, and the Briton was the favorite to win the crown in his rookie year. He had 107 points compared to 103 for the Spanish and 100 for the Finn, at a time when only the top eight were rewarded and the winner received 10 points, far from the 25 of the current F1.
Hamilton could have sentenced the championship races sooner had it not been for the points he dropped in his internal fight at McLaren with Fernando Alonso . The possibility of his first championship was aggravated when he retired in the penultimate race, in China, where he was stranded in the pozzolana at the entrance to the pitlane after a blunder.
Despite this, the bets were in favor of Hamilton and almost everyone saw Fernando Alonso as the true rival. The forecasts left out Raikkonen and Ferrari, who being seven points behind, needed the Woking team to have a double dose of bad luck (at a time when the winner took ‘only’ 10 points).
Qualifying gave Iceman little hope. Although his teammate Felipe Massa achieved pole position, the Scandinavian placed third, between Hamilton and Alonso.
But the start of the race in Sao Paulo was critical for the outcome. Massa, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso went on the attack and the South American pulled ahead of the rest of his rivals, while Kimi quickly moved into second place ahead of the Briton.
Hamilton was plunged into chaos just a few meters into the race. Alonso relegated him to fourth position and the rookie tried to regain the position, but lost control of the car and went off the circuit, falling to eighth place.
(Before reading on, take a look at the photos from that 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix)
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Foto de: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Lorenzo Bellanca / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Foto de: Sutton Motorsport Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: Charles Coates/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Photo by: XPB Images
Suddenly, Ferrari’s options had increased in mere seconds, but they still needed luck to be on their side. His pleas came on the eighth lap when the Englishman was stopped for a few seconds by a problem in the gearbox, an inconvenience that showed one of the most remembered images in F1: a Hamilton pressing all the buttons on the steering wheel trying to restart the system.
With Ferrari’s double thanks to Felipe Massa’s leadership and Raikkonen’s second place, together with Fernando Alonso’s third place, the title seemed to be in the hands of the Spaniard. But unlike McLaren, at Maranello they were clear that if team orders had to be executed to win the championship, they would do so.
For 38 laps, the Spaniard caressed his third world championship, but Jean Todt , who was the boss of the Cavallino team, left nothing to chance and during the second pit stop for his drivers he made the necessary adjustments so that Kimi could put himself at the front of the race.
From that moment Ferrari walked straight towards the drivers’ championship. Raikkonen crossed the finish line just 1.4 seconds ahead of Massa and the 10 points of the victory crowned him.
Alonso and his McLaren-Mercedes did not get the necessary power and finished third, 57 seconds behind, while Lewis Hamilton was only seventh.
There were those who remembered as a seal of the tragedy the phrase that Ron Dennis , boss of McLaren, had said a few days before the race. The manager mentioned to the media that they were facing “the easiest World Cup in the last 10 years.”
The reality is that the sentence contained no lies. Those from Woking had a 17-point advantage over Raikkonen with two rounds to go, and only rookie mistakes, internal fights in the team and the fracture created by the espionage case between McLaren and Ferrari, opened the door for those from Maranello.
Raikkonen secured the title with six wins that season and 12 podium finishes; all this in his first season with the Italians after leaving McLaren.
Until today, the Finn remains the last hero of Maranello. After him others like Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel have wanted to recover the scepter for the Italian team, but 15 years after that feat, the wait still continues.
