Moderator: 3ne2nr Mods
Renault's Fernando Alonso took a superb victory in the Japanese Grand Prix as title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa collided in a dramatic race.
Hamilton made a poor start, ran off the road at the first corner and was tipped into a spin by Massa on lap two.
Both were given penalties for different incidents but Massa recovered to take eighth and cut Hamilton's lead to six points with two races left.
Hamilton, his car damaged by Massa, was 12th and out of the points.
Hamilton failed to score points in a car damaged in the collision with Massa and ended up finishing 12th.
The Englishman is still in a strong position but will have to cut out the mistakes that have characterised his season if he is not to lose the championship for the second year in a row.
Massa is not Hamilton's only title rival. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica is 12 points off the lead and cannot be ruled out.
Hamilton's problems began at the very start of the race as he got off the line slowly from pole position in his McLaren and then went too far in trying to make amends at the first corner.
He left his braking too late trying to prevent Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen taking the lead and, with smoke pouring from his locked tyres, took both of them off the track.
The move would earn Hamilton a penalty for forcing another car off the track, but it also demoted him to sixth place, right behind Massa.
The Englishman tried to pass the Ferrari into the Turn 10/11 chicane on the second lap and the two cars ended up colliding.
Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix
Massa left his braking too late trying to fend Hamilton off into the initial right-hand part of the corner.
That put him off line on the outside and, trying to retain the place, he dived over the kerbs through the left-handed part and tipped Hamilton into a spin as he rejoined the track.
Hamilton had to sit and wait for the entire field to pass before he could rejoin the race, and he immediately called into the pits for new tyres to replace the ones he had badly flat-spotted at the first corner.
Massa was given his own penalty for causing that collision, and, once they had taken their drive-throughs, the two title rivals ended up at the back of the field - with Massa a few seconds ahead.
The chaos among the drivers of the leading teams left Kubica in the lead but he lost it to Alonso when the Spaniard made his first pit stop a lap later than the Pole.
Renault put in four laps' less fuel than BMW for the middle stint of the race and the team lost no time in telling Alonso that he had to "sprint like hell" to win the race.
The double world champion did exactly that, pulling out a lead of more than 12 seconds in his 25-lap second stint.
That put him completely out of Kubica's reach, and the BMW driver was left to fend off Raikkonen.
The Finn drove a race that has become typical of him this season - he was anonymous until the final pit stops and then came alive.
The world champion rejoined from his final stop just behind Kubica but, although he pressured the BMW hard for the next few laps, the Pole was able to fend him off and eventually build a small cushion for the last few laps.
Nelson Piquet finished fourth for Renault, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli, the Toro Rossos of Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel and Massa taking the remaining points positions.
worksux101 wrote:so it was pointed out to me that this is the 4th time for the season hammi has messed up kimi...nice
^^ HAAHAAHAA but FIA is PRO-FERRARI..so we know how it wud tilt...
if that was the case, hammi and mclaren shudnt be racing this yr
Rallyfignis wrote:You have any idea what Max has put mclaren through?
He's got a personal vendetta against Ron Dennis and is not afraid to use his power against him.
But I guess that's what you get for pissing people off on your way up
based on what?... sicne last yr FIA has been pro ferrari....rub the protex out yuh eyes and admimt it...
worksux101 wrote:based on what?... sicne last yr FIA has been pro ferrari....rub the protex out yuh eyes and admimt it...
pro ferrari sometimes...anti-mclaren...i think not...
if they were truly anti mclaren, they wudve listened to half of the f1 supporters out there calling for mclaren and their drivers to be excluded from last yr's championship and either be disqualified this yr or deducted points from the start...
i fail to see how ppl can support a team that stole their rival's info as well as the drivers that knew everything about it....
btw...how yu know i does ue protex
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests