 Felipe
Massa won his home Grand Prix and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has won the
2008 Formula 1 Constructors' World Championship. And the other big
winner on the day was the sport of motor racing, as this final round of
the season was thrilling from start to finish, thanks to a sudden shower
at the start and another one in the closing laps. In fact for a few
moments on the very last lap, Felipe Massa looked to have secured the
Drivers' crown as Sebastian Vettel and Timo Glock relegated Lewis
Hamilton to sixth. However, in the very last metres, the Englishman got
past the Toyota to retake fifth place, enough to give the
McLaren-Mercedes man the Drivers' crown, by one single point. For the
record, Felipe won six races this year to Lewis' five. Kimi Raikkonen
came home in third place.
The atmosphere on the grid at Interlagos was electric with seemingly
every single spectator chanting "Felipe, Felipe!" as the Brazilian sat
on pole position, with the fans on the startline nearer to the track
than at any other venue. Jarno Trulli's Toyota lined up alongside, while
Kimi was behind his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate. In fourth spot,
with the comfort of a seven point lead was Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren
Mercedes. The threat of rain had gradually reduced during the day, even
if it had not disappeared completely. Incredibly, with just a couple of
minutes to go to the start of the formation lap, a five minute deluge
hit the track and the organisers aborted the start, delaying it by ten
minutes. The rain had stopped but the track was wet enough for the cars
to switch to intermediate rain tyres.
As the two Ferrari got away in grid position order with Trulli between
them, an accident further down the field brought out the safety car
immediately on lap 1. The question now was would drivers profit from
this to dive into pit lane to fit dry tyres, or would they stay out. One
of the cars involved in the tangle was the Red Bull Renault of David
Coulthard who therefore had a very rapid end to his long F1 career.
Piquet was also out in the Renault. The order behind the SC was Massa,
Trulli, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel, (up from seventh,) Alonso fighting
off Kovalainen, with Bourdais in the last of the points positions.
On lap 7, Kimi made his first but unsuccessful attempt to get past
Trulli, as Rosberg was the first to pit for dry tyres. Button and
Bourdais followed, then Glock and Sutil. Vettel was the first of the
front runners to switch tyres and he was followed in by Alonso.
 Massa
came in next time round, as did Kovalainen and Heidfeld, the McLaren man
having a slow stop. The order was now Trulli, Raikkonen, Hamilton, but
this trio all came in next, with Kimi getting ahead of the Toyota at the
stop. The order was now Massa, Vettel, Alonso, as Trulli had a big
sideways moment coming down the hill. Fourth was Kimi followed by
Fisichella, yet to stop, Hamilton, Glock, Bourdais, Trulli with Heidfeld
completing the top ten. Hamilton passed Fisichella to move up to fifth
on lap 18. Massa led Vettel by almost a second, while Kimi fourth was
ten seconds behind his team-mate. Vettel then put in a fastest lap
closing slightly on Felipe on lap 22. Next it was Massa do to a fastest
lap. Vettel was running lighter than the leader and pitted on lap
26,promoting Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton to second, third and fourth,
with Alonso four seconds behind the Brazilian. Glock came in from fifth
on lap 36, pretty much the halfway point of the 71 lap race. Felipe
refulled on lap 37, rejoining in fourth place, with everyone ahead of
him still to pit, as Alonso now led for Renault, but only for one lap as
the Spaniard came in next time round. He was followed in by Hamilton,
who rejoined sixth. Kimi pitted from the lead next time round, which
meant the order was now, Massa, Vettel, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton,
Webber (who had only stopped once) Kovalainen, Glock, Trulli and
Heidfeld rounding off the top ten. With 20 laps to go, Vettel came in
from second to make his final stop, rejoining fifth, so that Massa now
led Alonso by almost ten seconds, with Kimi a further 7.4 behind in
third. Hamilton was 6 down on the Finn, with Vettel 2.9 behind the
McLaren in fifth spot. With eleven laps to go, Kimi had closed to within
2.3 of second placed Alonso. On lap 61, the gap came down to 1.7. It was
1.2 on lap 62.
 And
at this point, the forecast predicted more rain in the final laps and
indeed with six laps to go the rain began. Kimi came in for
intermediates with 5 laps to go, followed by Hamilton and Vettel. Then
Massa came in, stationary for just 5.5 seconds as he too took on
intermediate rain tyres. The order was now Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen,
Glock Hamilton, with Vettel only 1.2 behind the Englishman. Would the
McLaren driver be passed by the Toro Rosso, which would hand Felipe the
title if he won the race? There were only three laps to go and Vettel
had closed the gap to 0.8. Then the unbelievable happened, as Glock
passed Vettel with both men getting past Hamilton as he ran wide. For a
few moments it seemed Felipe would achieve his dream. But Glock was
still on dry tyres and in difficulty, so that first Vettel and then
Hamilton went past him.
The podium saw an emotional Felipe flanked by second placed Alonso and
third placed Kimi. The other points went to Vettel, Hamilton, Glock,
Kovalainen and Trulli.
Stefano Domenicali: "It was an incredible day
and we are happy with what we have achieved. Eight out of ten: that was
the target set us by President Montezemolo at the start of the season
and we achieved it, at the end of a difficult, complicated and
incident-packed season. The entire team, both at the track and back home
always work with great intensity and it deserves to be congratulated for
this. Of course, there is disappointment that we did not get to see
Felipe realize his dream, especially given how the race turned out, but
I think that nevertheless, days like this are important. Felipe has
grown so much, year after year, demonstrating his talent and
personality, answering his critics with his driving and with his mind.
He has had an amazing season and would have deserved the title. That's
sport, it can sometimes be cruel. Last year we won the Drivers' title by
a point and this year we lost it by one. I wish to congratulate
Hamilton, the new world champion. In conclusion, I wish to thank first
and foremost, President Montezemolo, who is always close at hand,
especially in the most difficult moments. Then I also thank our
technical and commercial partners and of course, the FIAT Group, of
which we are proud to be a part."
Felipe Massa: "It was an exciting day. We did everything to
perfection and we almost managed to pull it off. Then, as I crossed the
line, Rob told me that Hamilton had finished fifth and therefore he took
the title by one point. Sport is like this and one has to accept that.
Congratulations to Lewis: whoever gets the most points deserves the
title. I am very proud of the whole team and how much support they have
given me during this fantastic season. Now we must be happy with what
have done, namely bringing home the Constructors' title which I know is
so important for the team. It was a season of highs and lows and we have
learned a lot, from the good moments and from our mistakes. I can leave
Interlagos with my head held high because once again I have won in front
of my home crowd and because this is an unforgettable day. Now I want to
celebrate with my family, my friends and my team. We deserve it!"
Kimi Raikkonen: "I am happy that the team has managed to win the
Constructors' title and I am sorry for Felipe, who has lost the title by
a single point. That's racing and we have to live with it. I am
particularly happy for Stefano, in his first year as team principal as I
know how much pressure he has had to deal with and I think that this
result is a good reward for that. My race was not particularly exciting.
At the start the track was wet, especially the first three corners,
where I was being very careful not to make a mistake. Then, my first set
of dry tyres gave me a lot of understeer and I was struggling to match
the pace of the leaders. On the second set, things gradually improved
and I managed to close up on Alonso. Then, when we went onto wets, I got
very close but the team told me to avoid taking any risks as Felipe had
a chance of winning the title and so I gave up on attacking him. A not
very positive season for me has come to an end, but I will do all I can
to make up for it next year."
Luca Baldisserri: "Last year we won both titles at the last race
and this year we lost one, with just a few metres to go. We had a
perfect race, without making the slightest mistake in difficult
conditions, with the rain playing its part at the start and at the end.
Once again, we have won the Constructors' title which is in itself a
great achievement. It confirms that this team, considering also all the
changes it has undergone in the last two years, is still the best. I
wish to congratulate Felipe, for yet another amazing race: he has had a
fantastic season, as a driver and as a person."
Source - Ferrari Media |
