The F1 World Championship

DISCLAIMER: Hey, it's the last race of the season, so if you hate reading posts about racing, just check back tomorrow. As for now, it's almost 6 months until I get to watch this again. My team is poised to take the championship


Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the Formula One World Championship will be decided today.

The good news is that two Mercedes Drivers currently lead the championship. Screw the whole Constructors Championship, Mercedes had their points (and their money) stolen, so they would have won this one as well, but it will go to Ferrari today...

But the drivers will fight for position all day. Holding nothing back, because there is no tomorrow.


By the time you read this, the race will already be decided. But I'm going to post along the way:


8:50AM - So right now they're going through who can win and how they can do it. Lewis Hamilton can finish in first or second, and guarantee the championship. If Fernando Alonso finishes in first with Hamilton in third, he wins (or any combination of Hamilton finishing behind Alonso by at least two places without a Ferrari car in the top two positions). And then how Ferrari can win the drivers championship, which gets complicated. Both Mercedes drivers have to finish low in the points (Hamilton lower than fifth, and Alonso lower than second) with Kimi Raikkonen winning, and Ferrari takes the Drivers and Constructors championship. It's the first time in over twenty years that three drivers could win the championship at the last race.


9:05AM - The track temperature is ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE DEGREES!!! The grid is lined up, the lights are on, TURN UP THE VOLUME!!!

LAP ONE - And they're off. I will miss that roar for six months. So much is going on that as fast as I can type, more things keep happening. The Ferraris both launched well and take an early lead. Alonso and Hamilton battle for third. Hamilton goes wide to overtake Alonso, and HE'S OFF THE TRACK. He's back on very quickly, but he's lost several positions and is back to seventh from fourth.

LAP FOUR - Man, the Ferraris are pulling away fast. They have to be running ridiculously low fuel loads to be this fast, this soon in the race. Kimi Raikkonen is battling for position with his own team mate Felipe Massa! Both cars are running laps at about 1:14, and every other car is running in the 1:15's. They have to be so much lighter to be a second faster.

LAP FIVE - Lewis Hamilton overtakes Nick Heidfeld in the BMW and moves into sixth. He is now in position to win the World Championship from this position.

LAP EIGHT - Hamilton's car has SLOWED. THE CAR IS DYING. THE CAR IS DYING. OH MY GOD... He's dropped out of the points, his car just sat at idle for almost half a minute. Hamilton switched it back to the "fail safe mode" (essentially the computer forces the car to run, breaking anything necessary to make it happen, his car will run until it dies, which could be at any moment), and he's running again.

LAP ELEVEN - Felipe Massa is holding the fast lap at 1:13:762. As his car gets lighter (the fuel being consumed) he is just going to get faster. He won this race last year, this is his home Gran Prix (he's Brazilian), and you know that he wants to take this one home for himself, and for Ferrari. He must be on the radio begging his team bosses to let him win this race. If Kimi Raikkonen finishes in second place, Fernando Alonso must finish lower than fourth, and Hamilton must finish lower than eight (out of the points).

LAP SIXTEEN - Hamilton has moved into eleventh place. He is still out of the points by three places, but he is faster than much of the field and in a machine that can do it. GO MERCEDES GO!!!!!!! FIFTH PLACE, YOU ONLY NEED FIFTH PLACE.

LAP SEVENTEEN - Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have both dropped into the 1:12's. The Ferraris are SO FAST here in Brazil. Remember, the track is 145 degrees (63 degrees centigrade), and it is so hard to be fast in those temperatures.

LAP TWENTY - Massa pits... Raikkonen runs a 1:12.665 lap in response. He has put the hammer down to pull away from his team mate. Lewis Hamilton is running faster and faster, he's poised to set his fastest lap.

LAP TWENTY ONE - Raikkonen pits... Massa passes while he's in the pits and is not yielding the lead to his teammate. Ferrari CAN NOT ORDER Massa to let him pass. HE MUST DO IT ON HIS OWN!!!

LAP TWENTY TWO - Fernando Alonso pits. Four tires and a full tank of gas in EIGHT POINT SEVEN SECONDS. God that's fast! Hamilton is in behind him, and his car is re-tired and fueled in FIVE POINT SIX SECONDS!!!

LAP TWENTY FOUR - Adrian Sutil just rammed Anthony Davidson! It was an unintentional slide, but still will probably put cars out of the race. After the first Spyker car was destroyed on lap one (didn't type about it, I was furiously typing about the leaders) this is another horrible incident for the Dutch team.

LAP TWENTY NINE - Rubens Barrichello came along the outside of Hamilton and the rookie was forced to lock up the brakes to stop the car form ramming RB. He's dropped to TWELFTH... Push Hamilton, PUSH!!!

LAP THIRTY ONE - Toyota in the pits, and one of their pit crew has been hit as the car pulled in. He was rammed with a 1600lb car doing about 15mph. He's hurt, hurt bad. But the level of dedication is amazing. He pulled himself away from the front of the car (dragging himself with his arms) while someone rushed in to take his place! Then, once the stop was over and the car away, they helped him up and into the garage to be tended to by the medical crew.

LAP THIRTY THREE - Hamilton is hauling ass and up to ninth position. The track temp is DROPPING to 140 degrees and his car is getting faster. I need more coffee.

LAP THIRTY SEVEN - Heikki Kovalainen has slid off of the track in his Renault, and his car is DESTROYED. He is fine, and out of the car. He's waving to the crowd and sitting on the barrier wall. Frustrated, but OK. Massa still leads, with Raikkonen in second, Alonso in third, and Hamilton pushing his car HARD in ninth. ONE POSITION gets him into the points and puts him back into the hunt for the championship.

LAP FORTY ONE - Big block by Robert Kubica as Nico Rosberg tried to pass him. Rosberg had to lock up all four wheels and slide the car sideways to avoid him! Amazing block.

LAP FORTY TWO - Rubens Barrichello's engine has exploded as he tried to pull into pit lane. There is smoke everywhere and his season is over. For the first time in FIFTEEN YEARS of Formula One driving, Barrichello has failed to finish in the points in EVERY RACE... Tragic season for the veteran driver.

LAP FORTY FOUR - Felipe Massa slid on the last turn and has lost so much of his lead on his team mate Kimi Raikkonen. A full two seconds lost on that one slide, and Raikkonen is RIGHT ON HIS ASS. He wants this win more than anyone on the track, because he needs a solid victory to win the championship. Hamilton has advanced another position, and is in eighth. He's in the points. GO HAMILTON GO!!! TWO POSITIONS MORE!

LAP FORTY NINE - The Ferraris are still pulling away from the field. Felipe Massa is into the pits. SIX POINT ONE SECONDS, four tires and fuel, and Massa is out into second position. He's on the "supersoft" tires, and should be turning some amazing laps.

LAP FIFTY - Kimi Raikkonen's right front tire is not looking good. On the in car camera you can see that it looks like the tire is coming apart, and there was an incident at the Nurburgring two years ago where a tire disintegrated and destroyed the front of the car (a Merc). Everyone is worried about that tire holding together. Raikkonen is not coming into the pits. Probably to build a gap between him and his teammate Massa.

LAP FIFTY TWO - Raikkonen into the pits, he needs to be in and out of the pit lane in 24.7 seconds to stay ahead of his team mate. He's in, he's fueled LIGHTING FAST (5.2 seconds), and he's out. He's pulling along the lane, he has to follow the pit lane speed limit, here comes his team mate to pass him at over 240 kilometers per hour... Raikkonen is accelerating away from the pits, here comes Massa, and RAIKKONEN IS OUT IN FRONT OF HIM. By less than 100 meters he's out in first.

LAP FIFTY SEVEN - Hamilton is in to pit, and passed by David Coulthard. He's still stuck in eighth position. He's absolutely flying around this track, and has just set the fastest lap with a 1:12.500, but he is still so far back of seventh position. Everyone else is running in the 1:13's.

LAP FIFTY EIGHT - Fastest lap again be Hamilton. PUSH HAMILTON PUSH... The rest of the field is over half a second slower. There is traffic in front of him that is going to slow drivers four, five, and six. GO YOU BRITISH BASTARD GO!!!!

LAP SIXTY ONE - Nico Rosberg has managed to almost destroy Jarno Trulli (fifth and sixth), slowing both cars substantially. Both cars are unscathed but SLOWED immensely on that lap. David Coulthard has slid, he's slower as well. AND JUST LIKE THAT, HAMILTON IS PAST HIM... GO HAMILTON, GGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

LAP SIXTY FIVE - Hamilton is in Seventh and with Raikkonen in First he will need two more positions to win the World Championship. Rosberg in front of him is hauling ass, and he does not look like he will have the time left in the race to catch the German in front of him. Raikkonen just set fastest lap, and barring a huge mechanical failure, he will win this race. But that does not mean that he will be the Champion...

LAP SIXTY SEVEN - Raikkonen just set fastest speed on track 315.2 KmPH...

LAP SIXTY EIGHT - Kubica (5th) and Rosberg (6th) are tying each other up fighting for position. Hamilton is less than ten seconds behind. If he takes them both, he is the World Champion. COME ON, PUSH THAT CAR!!!! (If you could only know how fast I am typing and how hard I am hitting these keys!)

LAP SEVENTY - Raikkonen is driving like a man possessed. Absolutely flawless. The race has been decided, he will win. But PLEASE GOD, LET HAMILTON PASS THE GUYS IN FRONT OF HIM!

LAP SEVENTY ONE - (From the finish line) Here comes Raikkonen, last corner, he has won the race. Here comes Massa in second (doesn't matter). Alonso in third... Hamilton in seventh... NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...


It's all over, victory in the race for Raikkonen. Victory in the Constructors Championship for Ferrari. And in the most improbable manner, THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO KIMI RAIKKONEN. The man has ALWAYS been a "bridesmaid." Six seasons in Formula One, Forty Seven race victories, and with his Forty Eighth he has finally won a World Drivers Championship. Before this, his had been consecutive second place finishes.

The man is celebrating, he's at the final weigh in (be DQ'd, PLEASE GOD DISQUALIFY HIM for being to light), but NO. He is the World Champion. In the most convoluted turn of events, he has executed the most improbable scenario and taken victory BY ONE POINT!!!!

Final Standings-

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 110 Points - World Champion

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) - 109 Points (Tie Breaker over Alonso with higher average finishing position)

Fernando Alonso (McLaren Mercedes) - 109 Points (Breaking his streak of World Championships at only two in a row. Michael Schumacher's record of five will stand for a long time.)

And just like that Ferrari has taken it. Without shame I can admit that I am upset almost to the point of tears (OK, that's not really honest, there has been a tear or two)... As they hand him the trophy the church bells in Maranello (Ferrari's home town) are ringing as the people literally celebrate in town square, congrats Ferrari. ONE POINT.


I will be cursing that brief failure of the car on Lap Eight for six months. It cost Hamilton and Mercedes the championship. The fury of typing is gone, the disappointment is overwhelming, and just like that, at the last race of the season, what was all but guaranteed is gone. I know that some people don't know why there is so much emotion in this sport. But to be involved, you have to care. I've always said that second place is the first loser, and I stand by it... It hurts and it will be another year before we have a chance to take the Championship back.

It's been an amazing season. The best showing by a rookie driver ever. The former (now) World Champion BEHIND the rookie, in second, and on the same team. McLaren Mercedes being fined all of their Constructors Championship points and $100,000,000...

Wow.

What a year.

For those of you that made it this far, thanks for hanging in there. That was one intense post to write, and had to be one hell of a long read. I'm just drained...