Kimi Raikkonen kept his cool while it all went wrong for McLaren to steal his first drivers' championship by just one point from Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in an action-packed Brazilian Grand Prix.
The tension was palpable on the grid and with the sun beating down on the track, surface temperature was an unbelievable 63 degrees Centigrade and the air a stuffy 32 degrees and concerns mounted over how the super-soft Bridgestone tyre would cope with the unexpectedly boiling temperature.
Hamilton was hesitant off the line and was passed by Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso sniffed an opportunity and forced his way past in turn two. Hamilton yielded but went too hot into turn three, locking his front tyres and sliding off track, dropping to seventh.
Teams went on high alert on lap two when Yamamoto slammed into the rear of Fisichella's Renault, spreading debris all over the track at turn three, but there was to be no safety car - bad news for Hamilton who was held up behind Hamilton's BMW.
On lap seven, Kubica took a big dive down the inside of Mark Webber in turn one to take fourth place while behind him Hamilton went round the outside of Hamilton in the same corner for sixth. But just as it looked to be coming back to the rookie, his McLaren lost drive and he couldn't find a gear, dropping him down to 18th and 40 seconds behind the leader before the car miraculously came back to him and he set about trying to carve his way back through the field.
At the front the Ferraris were in a class of their own and Alonso seemingly decided not to risk his car by trying to hang on, so he was running a comfortable third ahead of Kubica. By lap 17, Hamilton had cruised up to eleventh, needing to finish the race fifth at that stage to win the title.
The first pit stop window began on lap 19 when Massa pitted from the lead. Raikkonen came in on lap 20 and Alonso on lap 22. Hamilton followed after his team mate and took on the soft tyres with a very short refuelling stop as McLaren tried to roll the dice and give the rookie the chance to overtake with a lighter car.
As the first pit stops shook out, Massa led Raikkonen, Alonso, Kubica, Trulli and Heidfeld as Hamilton had slipped down to thirteenth.
Hamilton blasted past Barrichello in a brave move down the inside of turn one but then was held up behind Vettel for a good three laps. Meanwhile the possibilities took another twist on lap 33 as Kubica passed Alonso for third place. There was a shock for Williams in the pit lane as well when Nakajima mowed down two of his mechanics at his first ever pit stop.
On lap 37 Hamilton pitted for the second time after McLaren switched him to a three-stop strategy, for hard tyres, just as Heikki Kovalainen's suspension failed and sent him spinning into the tyre wall at turn three.
By lap 44 Hamilton was up to eighth, as Massa continued to lead Raikkonen and Alonso some 30 seconds behind the Ferraris.
Massa pitted on lap 50 for the obligatory soft tyres as all eyes shifted to whether, and how Ferrari would get Raikkonen ahead of the Brazilian a it looked increasingly unlikely that Hamilton would be able to take the title.
Raikkonen pitted two laps later and rejoined the race in the lead with seventeen laps to go while Hamilton struggled in eighth, still having to make one more pit stop.
After his final stop, Hamilton was back in eighth, 20s behind seventh-placed Trulli, but with nothing to lose put the pedal down and immediately set a new fastest lap of the race. Trulli pitted with seven laps to go, giving Hamilton the position but it was not nearly enough.
Raikkonen stormed to the flag ahead of Massa to beat Fernando Alonso to the title by just one point while Lewis Hamilton, who started the weekend as favourite, also ended the season one point short.
Rosberg crowned a good season for Williams with fourth place ahead of another strong drive for Robert Kubica. Heidfeld finished sixth, leading Hamilton and Trulli home in the final two points paying positions.
http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/10/21/kimi-ices-mclaren-to-steal-drivers-title/