2007 Chinese Grand Prix

2007 Chinese Grand Prix
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Round	16 of 2007
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The Shanghai International Circuit.
Race Details
Date	7 October, 2007
Race Number	784
Official Name	IV Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2006中石化中国大奖赛 2006 Zhōngshíhuà zhōngguó dàjiǎng sài
Location	Shanghai International Circuit Jiading, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.451 km (3.387 mi)
Distance	56 laps, 305.256 km (189.677 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:35.908
Fastest Lap
Driver	Felipe Massa Ferrari
Time	1:37.454 on lap 56
Podium
First	Kimi Räikkönen
Second	Fernando Alonso
Third	Felipe Massa
Lap Leaders
No race-code specified

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

The race would settle down until the drizzle stopped and the circuit began to dry, resulting in Hamilton suffering from tyre wear. 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.

That decision backfired spectacularly, as Hamilton's tyre would delaminate on his in-lap and cost him even more time. 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.

Hamilton was out on the spot as a result of that beaching, with the marshals unable to push the McLaren out of the gravel. 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.

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. 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. The German rookie duly swept past the Honda for fourth with a couple of laps to spare.

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. 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.

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.

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	Fernando Alonso	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-22	Mercedes	FO 108T 2.4 V8	B
2	Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-22	Mercedes	FO 108T 2.4 V8	B
3	Giancarlo Fisichella	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R27	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
4	Heikki Kovalainen	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R27	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
5	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2007	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
6	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F2007	Ferrari	056 2007 2.4 V8	B
7	Jenson Button	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA107	Honda	RA807E 2.4 V8	B
8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda	RA107	Honda	RA807E 2.4 V8	B
9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.07	BMW	P86/7 2.4 V8	B
10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.07	BMW	P86/7 2.4 V8	B
11	Ralf Schumacher	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF107	Toyota	RVX-07 2.4 V8	B
12	Jarno Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF107	Toyota	RVX-07 2.4 V8	B
14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB3	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB3	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
16	Nico Rosberg	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW29	Toyota	RVX-07 2.4 V8	B
17	Alexander Wurz	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW29	Toyota	RVX-07 2.4 V8	B
18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR2	Ferrari	056 2006 2.4 V8	B
19	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR2	Ferrari	056 2006 2.4 V8	B
20	Adrian Sutil	Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team	Spyker	F8-VII-B	Ferrari	056 2006 2.4 V8	B
21	Sakon Yamamoto	Etihad Alder Spyker F1 Team	Spyker	F8-VII-B	Ferrari	056 2006 2.4 V8	B
22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri F1 Team	Super Aguri	SA07	Honda	RA807E 2.4 V8	B
23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri F1 Team	Super Aguri	SA07	Honda	RA807E 2.4 V8	B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
38	Kazuki Nakajima	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW29	Toyota	RVX-07 2.4 V8	B
Source:

Qualifying

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	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes		3	1:35.798		4	1:35.898		1	1:35.908	1
2	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		1	1:35.692		1	1:35.381		2	1:36.044	2
3	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		2	1:35.792		2	1:35.796		3	1:36.221	3
4	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Mercedes		4	1:35.809		3	1:35.845		4	1:36.576	4
5	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault		7	1:36.930		7	1:36.252		5	1:37.619	5
6	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota		11	1:37.135		9	1:36.709		6	1:38.013	6
7	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault		13	1:37.199		8	1:36.602		7	1:38.153	7
8	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		6	1:36.737		6	1:36.217		8	1:38.455	8
9	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber		5	1:36.309		5	1:36.116		9	1:37.472	9
10	7	Jenson Button	Honda		10	1:37.092		10	1:36.771		10	1:39.285	10
11	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		9	1:37.047		11	1:36.862				11
12*	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		8	1:37.006		12	1:36.891				17
13	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		15	1:37.209		13	1:36.959				12
14	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault		16	1:37.225		14	1:36.991				13
15	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri-Honda		14	1:37.203		15	1:37.247				14
16	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota		12	1:37.144		16	1:37.483				15
17	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda		17	1:37.251							16
18	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault		18	1:37.290							18
19	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams-Toyota		19	1:37.456							19
20	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri-Honda		20	1:38.218							20
21	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker-Ferrari		21	1:38.668							21
22	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker-Ferrari		22	1:39.336							22
Source:

• ^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.

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

Results

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

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

Milestones

• 750th Grand Prix entry for a car using #12 as its race number.
• 69th and final Grand Prix start for Alexander Wurz.
• Kimi Räikkönen secured his fourteenth career victory.
  • Also the 50th win for a car issued with #6 as its race number.
• Ferrari secured their 200th win as a constructor and engine supplier.

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 Lewis Hamilton 107 — 2 Fernando Alonso 103 — 3 Kimi Räikkönen 100 — 4 Felipe Massa 86 — 5 Nick Heidfeld 58 — 6 Robert Kubica 35 — 7 Heikki Kovalainen 30 — 8 Giancarlo Fisichella 21 — 9 Nico Rosberg 15 — 10 David Coulthard 14 ▲1 11 Alexander Wurz 13 ▼1 12 Mark Webber 10 — 13 Jarno Trulli 7 — 14 Sebastian Vettel 6 ▲4 15 Jenson Button 6 ▲1 16 Ralf Schumacher 5 ▼2 17 Takuma Sato 4 ▼2 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi 3 ▲1 19 Adrian Sutil 1 ▼2

World Championship for Constructors* Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Ferrari 186 — 2 BMW Sauber 94 — 3 Renault 51 — 4 Williams-Toyota 28 — 5 Red Bull-Renault 24 — 6 Toyota 12 — 7 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8 ▲3 8 Honda 6 — 9 Super Aguri-Honda 4 ▼2 10 Spyker-Ferrari 1 ▼1 EXC McLaren-Mercedes 166 —

Only points scoring drivers are shown.

• * Includes points scored by McLaren-Mercedes before their exclusion prior to the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix.

References

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