Massa wins, Hamilton champion after finish in Brazil
Going into the last lap at Interlagos Felipe Massa was set to be champion - he was leading, with Lewis Hamilton 6th. But a late pass from the McLaren driver on Toyota Timo Glock gave him the 5th place he needed, and caused the smiles to turn to tears in the Ferrari garage.
Fernando Alonso took 2nd place for Renault, with Kimi Raikkonen third in the 2nd Ferrari.
The title is on the line and Felipe Massa has put himself in the best possible position to win Sundays 71 lap Brazilian Grand Prix as he stormed to the pole position by over three-tenths of a sec. The battle for the pole came down to the wire at the end of the final sessions and the Brazilian improved on his own best with a lap around the 4.309km circuit with an unbeatable 1:12.368s.
Jarno Trulli has run well all weekend in the leading Toyota, but the Italian veteran really pulled it all out on his final run to join Massa on the front row of the grid. Looking at the gap to team-mate Timo Glock, some 1.4 seconds, it is fairly safe to assume that Toyota has a very split fuel strategy and this will please the pole sitter.
Outgoing champion Kimi Raikkonen had a relatively trouble-free run to line up 3rd in the 2nd Ferrari but Lewis Hamilton made it hard work to join the Finn on the second row of the grid. Hamilton’s penultimate run saw him make mistakes at both the second and fourth turn leaving him well down the order. The final lap saw gains from the championship leader but starting fourth makes it a tricky afternoon ahead even if he does not need to challenge Massa for the race win to become the world champion. Heikki Kovalainen ran well ahead of
the pole position shoot out and starts 5th, less than a 10th shy of team mate Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso made it 18 straight races that he has out-qualified his team mate, and is the only driver in the field to achieve such a feat. The former champion set the pace in the second and third practice sessions, and lines up sixth for the final race of the season and could well still play a part in the outcome of the championship.
It has been a solid weekend again for the Toro Rosso Ferrari team completely showing the way to the Red Bull Renault team despite having effectively the same chassis. Sebastian Vettel, second fastest in the second round of qualifying, lines up alongside Alonso on the third row of the grid while Sebastien Bourdais starts behind the leading BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld in ninth position. Timo Glock rounds out the top ten for Toyota.
Nelson Piquet will be disappointed to start 11th in his first home Grand Prix. The Renault driver is under pressure from the team and may not retain the drive for next season. The rookie needs a strong race but in starting outside of the top ten, is at least the fastest driver who has a free choice on fuel strategy and that could be a factor on race day with rain predicted.
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