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The 2007 Chinese Grand Prix, formally known as the IV Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix (2006中石化中国大奖赛 or the 2006 Zhōngshíhuà zhōngguó dàjiǎng sài in Chinese) was the sixteenth and penultimate round of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, on 7 October 2007.[1][2] The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen for Ferrari, although it would be overshadowed by a potentially title deciding exit for Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.[2]

The Brit had arrived in China with the potential to win the World Championship with a round to spare, having established a twelve point lead over teammate Fernando Alonso, and seventeen over Räikkönen.[2] He duly put his McLaren-Mercedes on pole position ahead of Räikkönen, Felipe Massa and Alonso, with David Coulthard best of the rest for Red Bull-Renault during qualifying.[2]

Raceday would see the Shanghai circuit bathed in low cloud and a constant drizzle, meaning the entire field would start the race on intermediate Bridgestone tyres.[2] That, however, would have little impact on the start as it was grid order off the line, Hamilton leading Räikkönen, Massa and Alonso into the sweeping first corner.[2]

Behind, Ralf Schumacher was knocked into a slide in the midfield, which opened the door for Vitantonio Liuzzi to sneak up the order to sixth.[2] Otherwise it proved to be a fairly tame opening lap, with Hamilton initially able to establish a gap back to Räikkönen, while Massa prevented Alonso from harassing the #6 Ferrari.[2]

The race would settle down until the drizzle stopped and the circuit began to dry, resulting in Hamilton suffering from tyre wear.[2] That allowed Räikkönen to close and ultimately pass the #2 McLaren with ease on lap 31, with Hamilton having been instructed to stay out in a bid to complete the race with one stop.[2]

That decision backfired spectacularly, as Hamilton's tyre would delaminate on his in-lap and cost him even more time.[2] Furthermore, the Brit would be unable to slow his car sufficiently to make the tight left-hand corner that steered the cars into the pitlane proper, resulting in the McLaren sliding into the gravel and beaching itself.[2]

Hamilton was out on the spot as a result of that beaching, with the marshals unable to push the McLaren out of the gravel.[2] His title rivals had already made their stops, and so Robert Kubica would inherit the lead, albeit briefly for a hydraulic failure robbed the Polish racer of a strong finish a few laps later.[2]

Kubica's retirement handed the lead back to Räikkönen, who was now being chased by Alonso as the McLaren squad managed to get the Spaniard out ahead of Massa.[2] Behind, Jenson Button had emerged from the pits in fourth ahead of a resurgent Sebastian Vettel, with the Toro Rosso-Ferrari ominously closing in on the #7 Honda as the final laps ticked away.[2] The German rookie duly swept past the Honda for fourth with a couple of laps to spare.[2]

With that the race was run, with Räikkönen easing away from Alonso to secure victory and keep his title hopes alive, seven points off of Hamilton.[2] Alonso himself, meanwhile, would move to within four points of Hamilton at the head of the Championship hunt, while Massa completed the podium in third but had already slipped out of the hunt.[2]

Vettel, meanwhile, would secure fourth place to claim Toro Rosso-Ferrari's first points of the campaign ahead of Button, with Liuzzi, Nick Heidfeld and Coulthard securing the remaining points.[2]

Background[]

Victory for Lewis Hamilton moved the Brit a significant twelve points clear in the Championship hunt leaving Japan, meaning he could potentially claim the title in China. Indeed, should the Brit outscore Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in Shanghai, then Hamilton would become the first rookie to win the F1 Championship since the inaugural 1950 Championship. However, it was still a three-horse race for the crown, with Alonso having the experience of winning two World Championships, while Räikkönen was the dark horse in third.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had enhanced their title winning advantage, leaving Fuji with 78 points in hand over second placed BMW Sauber. The excluded McLaren-Mercedes would have been a clear first on 202 points had they not been thrown out of the Championship, and so could have claimed the crown in China. Elsewhere, Renault had all but secured third ahead of Williams-Toyota, leaving them to fend off Red Bull-Renault and Toyota in a fight for fourth.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2007 Chinese 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 Austria Alexander Wurz 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
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
38 Japan Kazuki Nakajima United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW29 Toyota RVX-07 2.4 V8 B
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:35.798 4 1:35.898 1 1:35.908 1
2 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 1 1:35.692 1 1:35.381 2 1:36.044 2
3 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 2 1:35.792 2 1:35.796 3 1:36.221 3
4 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 4 1:35.809 3 1:35.845 4 1:36.576 4
5 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 7 1:36.930 7 1:36.252 5 1:37.619 5
6 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 11 1:37.135 9 1:36.709 6 1:38.013 6
7 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 13 1:37.199 8 1:36.602 7 1:38.153 7
8 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 6 1:36.737 6 1:36.217 8 1:38.455 8
9 10 Poland Robert Kubica Germany BMW Sauber 5 1:36.309 5 1:36.116 9 1:37.472 9
10 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 10 1:37.092 10 1:36.771 10 1:39.285 10
11 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 9 1:37.047 11 1:36.862 11
12* 19 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8 1:37.006 12 1:36.891 17
13 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 15 1:37.209 13 1:36.959 12
14 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 16 1:37.225 14 1:36.991 13
15 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 14 1:37.203 15 1:37.247 14
16 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 12 1:37.144 16 1:37.483 15
17 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 17 1:37.251 16
18 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 18 1:37.290 18
19 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 19 1:37.456 19
20 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 20 1:38.218 20
21 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 21 1:38.668 21
22 21 Japan Sakon Yamamoto Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 22 1:39.336 22
Source:[4]
  • 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.
  • * Vettel awarded a five place grid penalty for impeding another driver.[4]

Grid[]

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

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

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

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari 56 1:37:58.395 2 10
2 1 Spain Fernando Alonso United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 56 + 9.806s 4 8
3 5 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 56 + 12.891s 3 6
4 19 Germany Sebastian Vettel Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 + 53.509s 17 5
5 7 United Kingdom Jenson Button Japan Honda 56 + 1:08.666 10 4
6 18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 + 1:13.673 11 3
7 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Switzerland BMW Sauber 56 + 1:14.224 8 2
8 14 United Kingdom David Coulthard Austria Red Bull-Renault 56 + 1:20.750 5 1
9 4 Finland Heikki Kovalainen France Renault 56 + 1:21.186 13
10 15 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 56 + 1:24.685 7
11 3 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella France Renault 56 + 1:26.683 18
12 17 Austria Alexander Wurz United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 55 + 1 Lap 19
13 12 Italy Jarno Trulli Japan Toyota 55 + 1 Lap 12
14 22 Japan Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 55 + 1 Lap 20
15 8 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Japan Honda 55 + 1 Lap 16
16 16 Germany Nico Rosberg United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 54 + 2 Laps 15
17 21 Japan Sakon Yamamoto Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 53 + 3 Laps 22
Ret 10 Poland Robert Kubica Switzerland BMW Sauber 33 Hydraulics 9
Ret 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 30 Spin 1
Ret 11 Germany Ralf Schumacher Japan Toyota 25 Spin 6
Ret 20 Germany Adrian Sutil Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 24 Accident 21
Ret 23 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Japan Super Aguri-Honda 11 Brakes 14
Source: [5]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

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.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 107
2 Spain Fernando Alonso 103
3 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 100
4 Brazil Felipe Massa 86
5 Germany Nick Heidfeld 58
6 Poland Robert Kubica 35
7 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 30
8 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21
9 Germany Nico Rosberg 15
10 United Kingdom David Coulthard 14 ▲1
11 Austria Alexander Wurz 13 ▼1
12 Australia Mark Webber 10
13 Italy Jarno Trulli 7
14 Germany Sebastian Vettel 6 ▲4
15 United Kingdom Jenson Button 6 ▲1
16 Germany Ralf Schumacher 5 ▼2
17 Japan Takuma Sato 4 ▼2
18 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 3 ▲1
19 Germany Adrian Sutil 1 ▼2
World Championship for Constructors*
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 186
2 Germany BMW Sauber 94
3 France Renault 51
4 United Kingdom Williams-Toyota 28
5 Austria Red Bull-Renault 24
6 Japan Toyota 12
7 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8 ▲3
8 Japan Honda 6
9 Japan Super Aguri-Honda 4 ▼2
10 Netherlands Spyker-Ferrari 1 ▼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 '16. China 2007', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/chine.aspx, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  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 'China 2007: Rivals gain from Hamilton crisis.', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 07/10/2007), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/60213/1/china-2007-rivals-gain-from-hamilton-crisis, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  3. 'China 2007: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  4. 4.0 4.1 '2007 FORMULA 1™ Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2007/races/823/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/02/2020)
  5. "2007 FORMULA 1™ Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix - Race". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 6 October 2007. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141228121814/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2007/785/. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  6. 6.0 6.1 [Archived] '2007 Chinese GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190410001408/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2007&gp=Chinese%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 20/02/2020) - Original
V T E China Chinese Grand Prix
Circuits Shanghai International Circuit (2004–present)
ShanghaiCircuit1
Races 20042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
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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