Brazilian redemption

364 days after being at the receiving end of Michael Schumacher's final heroic maneouvre in F1, Kimi Raikkonen has reached the promised land.

Coming into the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2006, Michael Schumacher (Schumy) needed to win the race and further, needed Alonso to not score a point, to clinch the Driver's Championship. Both requirements were possible, with the former being highly probable but the latter quite unlikely, since the Renault had shown bullet proof reliability through the entire season, Monza notwithstanding. However, if at all one needs reminding, the Ferrari team is the one that had set the standards for reliability through the current decade, and it was the Michael Schumacher piloted 248F1's engine blowup in the previous race that had landed him in that tight spot. So, as the cliche goes, anything was possible.

And "anything" did happen. Except that, instead of Schumy getting the luck he hoped for and Alonso running out of it, Schumy faced further trouble with his Ferrari during qualifying. He did not come out for a single lap during Q3, and as a result, started the race in 10th position. He started well enough, and was clinically dismantling his rivals one by one, as he continued his inexorable rise to the top. In keeping with the trend, his tire failed soon after he went past Fisichella. What made it worse was that, this happened right after the first corner. So, he limped through one whole lap, dragging his Ferrari on three wheels, possibly damaging the underside, before being able to change tires. He rejoined the track just in front of his teammate and race leader Massa, which meant that he was around 75 seconds away from where he needed to be.

From here, he put on a charge that was as compelling as any I've witnessed. He had a willing car underneath him, but it was his genius that kept it lap after lap for 50 odd laps, at the fine line that separates lap records and spectacular accidents. He made up time on the leaders by the "couple of seconds". By the time the final pitstops were done, he was in the points, and looking to go better. His rival Alonso was safe and steady in second place. So, he could not do much about the championship battle, but he definitely could decide the race standings. After progressing through the field, notably, past the the Honda of Barrichello and the BMWs, he came up behind Fisichella. The Renault was quick and it took Schumy a while to get past him. This was the phase where he lost the time to catch up with Alonso on track.

Massa, Alonso and Button were holding down the podium positions. Schumy was at No.5. Few seconds ahead of him was Kimi Raikkonen, driving a McLaren, and also, the man who was taking his seat at Ferrari for the 2007 season. Schumy caught up with Kimi, tried and failed to pull off an outrageous move around the outside at one of the slow corners. 3 laps from the end, he got into Kimi's slipstream down the straight. Noticing the impending attack, Kimi covered the inside line. Undeterred, Schumy snuck himself into whatever space that was left between Kimi and wall, outbraked him, and went through. I think that that was the only time during the entire race that I allowed myself a smile. The irony of the last act was not lost on me.

But today is Raikkonen day. It is Oct 21st 2007. Kimi has driven the scarlet Ferrari this season, while his arch rivals sit in the silver McLaren. Coming into the Brazilian GP, Kimi's position was not as hopeless as Schumy's. He was 7 points behind Hamilton. There were a couple of possibilities for Kimi to win this year's championship, but the easier one (and by easier, I mean, the easier one for me to remember) was that, Kimi had to win the race, Massa or anyone bar Alonso had to be second, and Hamilton had to be lower than 5th. McLaren hadn't had a single reliability based DID NOT FINISH (DNF) through the entire season. In spite of the reliability stakes being pushed higher and higher through the years, this was unprecedented. So, the odds on Kimi being crowned champion were really long.

Massa, Hamilton, Kimi and Alonso qualified in that order. Speculation was that, if Ferrari had the legs on the McLaren during the race, they could very well get a 1-2 and Massa wouldn't be the 1 for sure. But McLaren surely was quick enough to easily stay out of reach of the BMW and the Williams. So, at worst, Hamilton had fourth place sewn up, which would land him the championship.

My only hope was for Kimi to win the race, thereby claiming the bragging rights along the lines of losing a championship in spite of having won more races (6) than his championship rivals (4, for both Hamilton and Alonso). Kimi was almost expected to get ahead of Hamilton at the 1st corner, and he did. And with the way things turned out, Kimi slotting in behind Massa, caused Hamilton to lose some momentum, thereby enabling Alonso to pass him at the Senna Esses. At the end of the back straight, Hamilton made a desperate lunge at Alonso, went off track and rejoined in 8th position.

There was a long way to go, and the pattern of the race had not been established yet. After a few laps, it appeared as though Massa and Kimi were able to comfortably increase the lead over Alonso by about half a second a lap. Alonso's pursuers were Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld and Hamilton in that order, and none of those bar Hamilton had the pace to keep up with him. Soon enough Hamilton had dispatched Heidfeld. This is when the television producers took a commercial break.

At this point, I was still a little groggy for two reasons. One - I was quite pessimistic about Kimi's chances for the championship. Two - I had had an extremely late, tiring Saturday night. What caught my attention and violently shook me out of my lethargy was the text commentary on www.f1.com about Hamilton's demise. Sure enough, by the time the video broadcast came back on, he was lying in last place. Realization that his McLaren was up and firing again made me queasy. No one knew what the problem was. And no one could calculate where he would land if he continued problem free from there on. Now, the nerves jangled. They haven't since Oct 22nd 2006 for any F1 related reason. But now, the possibilities were clear. If Kimi did not suffer mechanical trouble, he would win the race. The variable was Hamilton's progress through the field. That would decide the fate of this year's Driver's Championship.

Massa and Kimi made serene progress. They put daylight between them and the rest. Hamilton too made progress. He roared back through the field. But a distinct suspicion that he would have to make an extra pitstop compared to the rest remained.

It was also going to be interesting to see how Ferrari would handle the Massa - Kimi switch. The second and final pitstop would hold the key. Kimi had three extra laps. On the first one, he set purple (fastest) on all three sectors. His second was only marginally slower. The third was as quick, and at the end of it, he pulled into the pitlane. While this should normally ensure track position, trouble was that Massa pretty much matched his times on fresh tires. So, it was going to be nip and tick. And it was. Kimi rejoined just a few metres ahead of Massa. Ahead was the key. It stayed that way to the end.

Hamilton had already made two pitstops, and when he came out after the second one, found himself a lap down on the Ferraris. The Ferrari's second stop put him back on the same lap as the leaders, but his progress wasn't as fast as it needed to be for him to snatch 5th. Sure enough, he made one more stop, and went back a lap down. As fate would have it, a few seconds behind the Ferraris. So, every shot of Kimi and Massa, showed Hamilton's McLaren in the background.

As the laps ticked down, it became obvious that the only thing that could disrupt Kimi's coronation would be the retirements of two of the top 6. Ahead of Hamilton, Heidfeld, Rosberg and Kubica were locked in battle. Surely, things could turn sour for two of them. And they almost did when Rosberg made an optimistic dive down the inside of Heidfeld at Turn 1. Heidfeld did not expect this, but thankfully, decided to avoid contact rather than shut the gap. This led to both of them sliding wide at the corner. Kubica shot through. Kubica opened a gap over Rosberg, who in turn opened one over Heidfeld. But the hostilities did not end there. Kubica's tires started graining and soon enough, he fell into the clutches of Rosberg. They waged a battle for a couple of laps, and Rosberg finally swept past and drove away. Only a handful of laps remained.

The quirky nature of the situation meant that in spite of Kimi, Massa and Hamilton (one lap down) being the first ones to take the chequered flag, the final championship standing could not be confirmed. Alonso, Rosberg, Kubica and Heidfeld still had the major part of the final lap to complete. So, Kimi could not celebrate. And Hamilton must have been nursing a faint hope. Thankfully, status quo was maintained.

Kimi celebrated with some arm thrusting and a bright smile. Massa looked to be on the verge of tears. Not because he lost the championship, but because, he could not win in front of his faithful Paulistas. Alonso seemed content. Hamilton appeared to have taken the result in his stride.

As for me, I am happy rather than ecstatic, for Kimi is not Schumy to me. Plus, this was no finale. Next year, Kimi is set at Ferrari. Likewise, Hamilton at McLaren. And I hope Alonso will reunite with Renault. Their head to head duels will light up the track in the years to come. Truth be told, the battles have just begun.