Hamilton wins Chinese GP, extends F1 title lead

Published 9:59 am Sunday, October 19, 2008

SHANGHAI, China — Lewis Hamilton’s win in the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday proved to be anticlimactic, leaving the McLaren driver just short of clinching the 2008 Formula One title.

Hamilton led from start to finish in a tepid race, finishing 14.9 seconds ahead of rival Felipe Massa, who took second thanks to Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen letting him through late in the race.

The result extended Hamilton’s lead in the drivers’ championship to seven points with only the Brazilian Grand Prix remaining in two weeks.

“It might be another step towards my dream but we’ve still got to keep calm and keep our heads,” Hamilton said. “I just hope we can pull through.”

The Briton led Raikkonen by precisely the same margin heading into the Brazilian GP last season, only to have a botched overtaking maneuver and gearbox trouble relegate him to seventh place, handing the title to the Finn.

The points coincidence aside, Hamilton is in prime position to become F1’s youngest champion. The only way Massa can beat him is if the Brazilian wins his home race and the McLaren driver finishes no higher than seventh, or Massa finishes second and Hamilton out of the points.

“We are in a tough position, but we know anything can happen,” Massa said. “We need to keep our heads up; it’s not finished yet. We can have a much better car in Brazil than we had here.

“I feel a bit as though I’m in a penalty shootout in the football World Cup finals — we have missed the first two shots while the other team has scored, and therefore we cannot make any more mistakes and hope that they make three.”

Ferrari can take some succor from moving 11 points above McLaren in the constructors’ championship, thanks to the retirement of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen.

BMW’s Robert Kubica finished sixth, ending his slim title chances.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth, ahead of the BMW pair of Nick Heidfeld and Kubica. Toyota’s Timo Glock was seventh and Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. got the final point.

In a race of little incident, Hamilton got off the line well from pole position and led from start to finish.

“It was a great start, one of the best we have had this year, which was needed,” Hamilton said. “From there it was pretty smooth sailing. Throughout the weekend we knew we had the pace.”

Raikkonen was second for most of the race, before conceding that position to Massa on lap 50 of 56 to boost Massa’s title hopes.

Team orders prohibit a driver deliberately giving up track position to a teammate, but Raikkonen dropped his lap time from the 1-minute, 38-second range to 1-minute, 40-second range for two laps as Massa caught and overtook, before stepping up his pace again.

“I am not in a position to challenge for the championship,” Raikkonen said. “I know what the team expects and I am happy to try to achieve the maximum points for the team. For my season it does not make any difference.”

Hamilton had no problem with Ferrari’s swap.

“They’re a team,” Hamilton said. “I know in my position, if Heikki was leading, we’d probably do the same thing. They did a great job.”

The only incident of note in the race came at the first corner when Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Sebastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso collided. Trulli retired as a result after struggling on for a lap, while Bourdais was dropped to 18th place before climbing back to finish 13th.

Results from Sunday’s Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the 5.451-kilometer (3.387-mile) Shanghai International Circuit (with driver, nationality, car, laps completed, time and winner’s average speed):

1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 56 laps, 1 hour, 31 minutes, 57.403 seconds, 199.049 kph (123.683 mph).

2. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 56, 1:32.12.328.

3. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 56, 1:32.13.848.

4. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 56, 1:32.15.773.

5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 56, 1:32.26.326.

6. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW, 56, 1:32.30.622.

7. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 56, 1:32.39.125.

8. Nelson Piquet Jnr., Brazil, Renault, 56, 1:32.54.048.

9. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 56, 1:33.01.742.

10. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 56, 1:33.12.245.

11. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 56, 1:33.22.464.

12. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 56, 1:33.28.250.

13. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 56, 1:33.28.860.

14. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 56, 1:33.29.825.

15. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 55.

16. Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, 55.

17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 55.

Not Classified

18. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren, 49 laps.

19. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 13.

20. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 2.

Fastest lap

Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1 minute, 36.325 seconds on lap 13.

Drivers’ standings

1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 94 points.

2. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 87.

3. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW, 75.

4. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 69.

5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 60.

6. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 53.

7. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren, 51.

8. Sebastien Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 30.

(tie) Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 30.

10. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 22.

Constructors’ standings

1. Ferrari, 156 points.

2. McLaren, 145.

3. BMW, 135.

4. Renault, 72.

5. Toyota, 52.

6. Toro Rosso, 34.

7. Red Bull, 29.

8. Williams, 26.

9. Honda, 14.