Lewis Hamilton's hopes of becoming F1 World Champion at the Chinese Grand Prix ended in retirement.
Title to go down to the wire as rookie's hopes are beached
Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a world championship triumph at the Chinese Grand Prix ended in disaster after he retired from the race in Shanghai.
Looking to become Formula One's first rookie world champion, not to mention the sport's youngest ever title winner, Hamilton instead ended the race beached on a gravel trap at the entry to the pitlane.
Starting from pole position after a stunning lap in qualifying, the 22-year-old had appeared set to take the title in style as he streaked away from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen during the early laps of a race which, like last weekend's Japanese GP, took place in wet conditions.
The showers appeared less tricky for drivers than the heavy rain witnessed at Fuji, but Hamilton's performance neverthless had seemed just as assured as he built a lead of over eight seconds.
Decision
He made his opening pit stop on lap 16 and retained the intermediate tyres with which he started the race. The same decision was made by the remainder of the top four - Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso - when they in turn pitted on laps 18 and 19.
However, with a dry line appearing on the Shanghai International Circuit, cars were beginning to pit for more suitable tyres by lap 26.
The race leaders elected to stay out on wets, however, and, with Hamilton seemingly suffering the consequences far worse than his rvials, Raikkonen began to rein him in.
The pair spent lap 28 fighting tooth and nail for the lead, with Hamilton finally ceding ground at turn eight on the following lap.
In terms of the championship race, Hamilton could actually afford to let Raikkonen go; a different matter was the third-placed Alonso - the Spaniard, having passed Massa, being 13 seconds behind on lap 30.
By this stage such was Hamilton's lack of progress that Toyota's Jarno Trulli had unlapped himself. With Raikkonen building an eight-second advantage, Hamilton finally pitted at the end of lap 31.
But, with his tyres totally shot - the right rear was bald - Hamilton failed to negotiate the left-hand entry to the pitlane.
Stricken
As he fought unsuccessfully to free himself from the gravel, team boss Ron Dennis watched on, head in hands, while Raikkonen and Alonso each tip-toed past the stricken McLaren to stop for dry tyres.
Thus, with the world championship beckoning, Hamilton and McLaren had instead conspired to produce his first retirement of the season.
With the season's final race coming in a fortnight's time in Brazil, Hamilton's lead over Alonso now stands at four points, with Raikkonen a further three behind.
The latter eventually took the chequered flag 9.8 seconds ahead of the reigning world champion, with Massa coming home third ahead of Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel.
Alone among the front runners in making just one stop, the latter's result more than made up for his glaring error at Fuji, with Toro Rosso's bumper haul of points bolstered by Vitantonio Liuzzi's sixth place.
The pair were separated by Honda's Jenson Button - scoring points for the third time this season - with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finishing seventh ahead of Red Bull's David Coulthard.
Having been one of those to gamble with an early switch to dry tyres on lap 27, Heidfeld's team-mate, Robert Kubica, had looked set to cash in as, with attentions focused on Hamilton's retirement, he quietly assumed the lead after both Raikkonen and Alonso made their second stops.
Agonisingly, however, the Pole's run at the front lasted less than two laps before he pulled off the track with a mechanical failure on lap 35.
The 'miracle' Alonso had hoped for had thus, more or less, come true, with this most dramatic of Formula One seasons now set for a fitting climax.
Chinese Grand Prix, result:
1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1hr 37mins 58.395secs, 2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:38:08.195, 3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:38:11.195, 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38:51.895, 5 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1:39:06.995, 6 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39:11.995, 7 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:39:12.595, 8 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:39:19.095, 9 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 1:39:19.495, 10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:39:22.995, 11 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:39:24.995, 12 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams at 1 Lap, 13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota at 1 Lap, 14 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri at 1 Lap, 15 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda at 1 Lap, 16 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams at 2 Laps, 17 Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) Spyker at 3 Laps
Not Classified: 18 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 33 Laps completed, 19 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 30 Laps completed, 20 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 25 Laps completed, 21 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker 24 Laps completed, 22 Anthony Davidson (Gbr) Super Aguri 11 Laps completed
Leading World Championship Standings after Chinese Grand Prix
Drivers: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 107pts, 2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 103, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 100, 4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 86, 5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 58, 6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 35, 7 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 30, 8 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 21, 9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 15, 10 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 14, 11 Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams 13, 12 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 10, 13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 7, 14 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 6, 15 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 6, 16 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 5, 17 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 4, 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 19 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Spyker 1
Manufacturers: 1 Ferrari 186pts, 2 BMW Sauber 94, 3 Renault 51, 4 Williams 28, 5 Red Bull 24, 6 Toyota 12, 7 Scuderia Toro Rosso 8, 8 Honda 6, 9 Super Aguri 4, 10 Spyker 1
