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The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, officially the XXXVI Grande Prêmio do Brasil was the seventeenth and final race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which took place at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil, on 21 October 2007.[1][2] The race would see Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen fight for the title at the final race of the season, with just a point separating at the end of the race.[2]

Hamilton had led the Championship battle arriving in São Paulo, the Brit leading McLaren-Mercedes teammate and defending Champion Alonso by four points.[2] The third man in the hunt, Ferrari's Räikkönen, would have to overcome a seven point deficit to claim a maiden crown, and was viewed by many as the dark horse for the title.[2]

However, all of the title protagonists would be beaten to pole position in qualifying, as Felipe Massa secure the top slot on the grid in front of his home fans.[2] Hamilton duly claimed second ahead of Räikkönen with Alonso in fourth, while Mark Webber shared the third row with Nick Heidfeld.[2]

The start of the race would see Räikkönen strike the first blow, the #6 Ferrari sprinting ahead of Hamilton to slot into second behind the sister car of Massa.[2] Alonso then slithered inside the #2 McLaren to secure third, through Curve del Sol, before defending heavily into Reta Oposta from his teammate.[2]

Hamilton took the bait and attacked, only to lock-up having moved to the outside of the circuit and ran wide.[2] He subsequently dropped to eighth behind Webber, Heidfeld, Robert Kubica and Jarno Trulli, while Vitantonio Liuzzi lost his front wing as the midfield made room for the returning McLaren.[2]

With Hamilton already having to make a comeback the two Ferraris broke away from Alonso, with Massa leading Räikkönen much to the delight of the home fans.[2] Hamilton, meanwhile, would make early moves on Trulli and Heidfeld to move into sixth, before his first ever mechanical gremlin struck, leaving the Brit stuck in neutral and sliding down the order.[2]

Thirty tense seconds later and Hamilton finally got going again, although he had slumped to the back of the field in eighteenth.[2] Yet, the Brit quickly managed to get back up to speed, and by lap fifteen the #2 McLaren was up to eleventh with a move on Rubens Barrichello.[2]

The first rounds of stops opened on lap twenty, with Massa leading the charge into the pits for those on two-stops.[2] Räikkönen was in two laps later along with Alonso, Trulli, Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton, with Hamilton short-fuelling to try an ambitious three-stop, knowing that, as things stood, he would need fifth place to secure the title.[2]

Hamilton again had to battle back into the top ten, only to be dumped back out again when he made his early second stop on lap 37.[2] Up front, meanwhile, Massa would make an error at Descida do Lago prior to his stop, opening the door for Räikkönen to challenge for the lead, having trailed the Brazilian by three seconds throughout the second stint.[2]

Ultimately the pass for the lead was made in the pitlane, with Räikkönen staying out three laps longer than the Brazilian and setting a succession of fastest laps to jump ahead.[2] By this stage Kubica was in third ahead of Alonso, but yet to stop, while Hamilton was up to eighth, although that became ninth after he completed his third and final stop on lap 57.[2]

The final stages of the race were tense, with Hamilton first moving past David Coulthard and then Trulli, although he trailed the three-way battle for fourth by some margin.[2] Indeed, his only hope of getting into fifth would require Rosberg, Heidfeld and Kubica to trip over one-another, although when Rosberg's lunge carried himself and Heidfeld off a turn one, only Kubica was able to benefit.[2]

With that the race was over, with Räikkönen and Massa lapping Hamilton en-route to securing a dominant one-two for Ferrari.[2] Alonso completed the podium a distant third and hence slipped behind Räikkönen by a point, while Kubica, Rosberg and Heidfeld crossed the line a few moments later.[2] Hamilton hence came across the line in seventh and lost the Championship by a point, and ergo left Räikkönen as Champion on 110 points to Alonso and Hamilton's 109.[2]

One potential twist was investigated after the race however, after the scrutineers initially questioned the fuel used in the BMW Sauber and Williams-Toyota cars.[3] This was ultimately thrown out by the officials after an investigation, although McLaren appealed, gaining a hearing on 16 November 2007.[3] However, the FIA rejected their appeal and reaffirmed the provisional results.[3]

Background[]

With Lewis Hamilton failing to finish for the first time in his fledgling career the title fight would go down to the season finale in Brazil, with three main protagonists in contention. Hamilton continued to lead the charge, with a four point advantage over Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard needing to finish fourth or higher with Hamilton failing to score. The third man, and dark horse in the fight, was China racer winner Kimi Räikkönen, who would have to finish second or first in China, and see Hamilton finish sixth or lower.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had added to their title winning tally once again, leaving China on 186 points at the head of the field. BMW Sauber headed to the finale having already secured second, and were just six shy of the 100 point mark, while Renault had claimed third with a round to spare on 51. Elsewhere, Toro Rosso-Ferrari had picked up their first points of the campaign, moving them up to seventh from the foot of the table.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 108T 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes FO 108T 2.4 V8 B
3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France ING Renault F1 Team Renault R27 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F2007 Ferrari 056 2007 2.4 V8 B
7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda Racing F1 Team Honda RA107 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber F1.07 BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 B
11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF107 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB3 Renault RS27 2.4 V8 B
16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
17 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
19 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR2 Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII-B Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
21 Japan Sakon Yamamoto Netherlands Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII-B Ferrari 056 2006 2.4 V8 B
22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA07 Honda RA807E 2.4 V8 B
Source:[4]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 1 1:12.303 3 1:12.374 1 1:11.931 1
2 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4 1:13.033 2 1:12.296 2 1:12.082 2
3 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 3 1:13.016 1 1:12.161 3 1:12.322 3
4 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 2 1:12.895 4 1:12.637 4 1:12.356 4
5 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 5 1:13.081 6 1:12.683 5 1:12.928 5
6 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 9 1:13.472 10 1:12.888 6 1:13.081 6
7 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 6 1:13.085 5 1:12.641 7 1:13.129 7
8 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 8 1:13.470 8 1:12.832 8 1:13.195 8
9 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 7 1:13.264 9 1:12.846 9 1:13.272 9
10 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 13 1:13.707 7 1:12.752 10 1:13.477 10
11 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 12 1:13.661 11 1:12.932 11
12 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 10 1:13.482 12 1:12.968 12
13 19 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15 1:13.853 13 1:13.058 13
14 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 1:13.607 14 1:13.251 14
15 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 14 1:13.767 15 1:13.315 15
16 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 16 1:14.054 16 1:13.469 16
17 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 17 1:14.078 17
18 22 Japan Takuma Sato United Kingdom Super Aguri-Honda 18 1:14.098 18
19 17 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 19 1:14.417 19
20 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson United Kingdom Super Aguri-Honda 20 1:14.596 20
21 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 21 1:15.217 21
22 21 Japan Sakon Yamamoto Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 22 1:15.487 22
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 ______________ 1
2 Felipe Massa
Lewis Hamilton ______________
Row 2 ______________ 3
4 Kimi Räikkönen
Fernando Alonso ______________
Row 3 ______________ 5
6 Mark Webber
Nick Heidfeld ______________
Row 4 ______________ 7
8 Robert Kubica
Jarno Trulli ______________
Row 5 ______________ 9
10 David Coulthard
Nico Rosberg ______________
Row 6 ______________ 11
12 Rubens Barrichello
Giancarlo Fisichella ______________
Row 7 ______________ 13
14 Sebastian Vettel
Vitantonio Liuzzi ______________
Row 8 ______________ 15
16 Ralf Schumacher
Jenson Button ______________
Row 9 ______________ 17
18 Heikki Kovalainen
Takuma Sato ______________
Row 10 ______________ 19
20 Kazuki Nakajima
Anthony Davidson ______________
Row 11 ______________ 21
22 Adrian Sutil*
Sakon Yamamoto ______________
  • * Sutil started the race from the pitlane.[5]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 71 1:28:15.270 3 10
2 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 71 +1.493s 1 8
3 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 71 +57.019s 4 6
4 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 71 +1:02.848 10 5
5 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 71 +1:10.957 7 4
6 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 71 +1:11.317 6 3
7 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 70 +1 Lap 2 2
8 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 70 +1 Lap 8 1
9 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 70 +1 Lap 9
10 17 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 70 +1 Lap 19
11 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 70 +1 Lap 15
12 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 69 +2 Laps 18
13 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 69 +2 Laps 14
14 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 68 +3 Laps 20
Ret 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 43 Brakes PL
Ret 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 40 Engine 11
Ret 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 35 Accident 17
Ret 19 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 34 Hydraulics 13
Ret 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 20 Engine 16
Ret 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 14 Gearbox 5
Ret 21 Japan Sakon Yamamoto Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 2 Collision 22
Ret 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 2 Collision 12
Source:[6]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.

Milestones[]

Standings[]

A sixth win of the campaign left Kimi Räikkönen atop the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship standings at the final round, the Finn claiming his maiden World Championship with 110 points. Lewis Hamilton hence slipped to second having headed the Championship since the Spanish Grand Prix, missing out on a rookie Championship title by a single point. Fernando Alonso then completed the top three, level on points with Hamilton but behind on countback, while Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld completing the top five.

In the Constructors Championship it appeared, on the surface, to have been another crushing year for Ferrari, as they ended the campaign on 204 points and 103 ahead of second placed BMW Sauber. In truth the exclusion of McLaren-Mercedes had really settled the Championship, for the British squad would have taken the crown had they been allowed to score points after the "Spygate Scandal" ruled then out. Third would go to Renault, concluding their title defence with a miserable tally of 51, with all eleven constructors having registered points across the campaign.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 110 ▲2
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 109 ▼1
3 Spain Fernando Alonso 109 ▼1
4 Brazil Felipe Massa 94
5 Germany Nick Heidfeld 61
6 Poland Robert Kubica 39
7 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 30
8 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21
9 Germany Nico Rosberg 20
10 United Kingdom David Coulthard 14
11 Austria Alexander Wurz 13
12 Australia Mark Webber 10
13 Italy Jarno Trulli 8
14 Germany Sebastian Vettel 6
15 United Kingdom Jenson Button 6
16 Germany Ralf Schumacher 5
17 Japan Takuma Sato 4
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 3
19 Germany Adrian Sutil 1
World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 204
2 Germany BMW Sauber 101
3 France Renault 51
4 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 33
5 Austria Red Bull-Renault 24
6 Japan Toyota 13
7 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
8 Japan Honda 6
9 Japan Super Aguri-Honda 4
10 Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 1
EXC United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 166

Only points scoring drivers are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 '17. Brazil 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bresil.aspx, (Accessed 21/02/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 'Brazil 2007: Raikkonen shatters Hamilton's dream.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 22/10/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/60381/1/brazil-2007-raikkonen-shatters-hamiltons-dream, (Accessed 21/02/2020)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 [Archived] 'McLaren appeal rejected', itv-f1.com, (ITV plc. 16/11/2007), https://web.archive.org/web/20071118134931/http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41307, (Accessed 20/02/2020) - Original
  4. 'Brazil 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bresil.aspx, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 'FORMULA 1™ Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2007 - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/824/brazil/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  6. 'Brazil 2007: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/bresil/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  7. 7.0 7.1 [Archived] '2007 Brazilian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190410165112/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2007&gp=Brazilian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 21/02/2020) - Original
V T E Brazil Brazilian Grand Prix
Circuits Interlagos (1972–1977, 1979–1980, 1990–2019), Jacarepaguá (1978, 1981–1989)
Interlagos1990
Races (Brazilian GP) 197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Non-Championship Race 1972
V T E 2007 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren • Renault • Ferrari • Honda • BMW Sauber • Toyota • Red Bull • Williams • Toro Rosso • Spyker • Super Aguri
Engines BMW • Ferrari • Honda • Mercedes • Renault • Toyota
Drivers Alphabetically Albers • Alonso • Barrichello • Button • Coulthard • Davidson • Fisichella • Hamilton • Heidfeld • Kovalainen • Kubica • Liuzzi • Massa • Nakajima • Räikkönen • Rosberg • Sato • R. Schumacher • Speed • Sutil • Trulli • Vettel • Webber • Winkelhock • Wurz • Yamamoto
Drivers by Number Alonso • 2 Hamilton • 3 Fisichella • 4 Kovalainen • 5 Massa • 6 Räikkönen • 7 Button • 8 Barrichello • 9 Heidfeld • 10 Kubica • 10 Vettel • 11 R. Schumacher • 12 Trulli • 14 Coulthard • 15 Webber • 16 Rosberg • 17 Wurz • 17 Nakajima • 18 Liuzzi • 19 Speed • 19 Vettel • 20 Sutil • 21 Albers • 21 Winkelhock • 21 Yamamoto • 22 Sato • 23 Davidson
Other Drivers Badoer • De la Rosa • Doornbos • Fauzy • Gené • Glock • Karthikeyan • Klien • Kobayashi • Loeb • Montagny • Paffett • Piquet • Rossiter • M. Schumacher • Van der Garde • Zonta
Cars Ferrari F2007 • BMW Sauber F1.07 • Renault R27 • Williams FW29 • Red Bull RB3 • Toyota TF107 • Toro Rosso STR2 • Honda RA107 • Super Aguri SA07 • Spyker F8-VII • McLaren MP4-22
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Australia • Malaysia • Bahrain • Spain • Monaco • Canada • United States • France • Britain • Europe • Hungary • Turkey • Italy • Belgium • Japan • China • Brazil
See also 2006 Formula One Season • 2008 Formula One Season • Category
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