F1: Raikkonen Wins Race and Title in Brazil:
Fourth on the grid, Alonso pressured Hamilton into the next corner, the Lago dive, and moved past the Brit, who went wide and down to the eighth spot…. Hamilton promptly went into attack mode, moving past Jarno Trulli’s Toyota on the following lap, then engaging in battle against Nick Heidfeld’s BMW for P6, a position the rookie gained on the seventh lap.
The Brit’s joy was short-lived, however: on the following lap, the championship’s deciding moment came about as Hamilton’s gearbox began to balk after the Lago corner. In-car footage showed the McLaren driver repeatedly hitting his shift paddle to no avail, until finally, right after the Laranjinha turn, the car seemingly went back to normal once again, in “mysterious†action eerily similar to what happened to Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari at the same track also on a title decider last year. The malady cost Hamilton 10 spots as he dropped down to 18th.
And that was it. Alonso could do no better than third, Massa gave way to Raikkonen in the pits, the Williams and BMW drivers narrowly failed to take each other out, and Kimi was the improbable champion.
So what will next year be like? Lewis and Kimi will presumably be team leaders at McLaren and Ferrari, but where will Alonso be? BMW? Renault?