Kimi Raikkonen is World Champion

In one of the most dramatic climaxes to a Formula One season, a gripping Brazilian Grand Prix saw rank outsider Kimi Raikkonen burst through to snatch the world championship by just 1 point. Before the race Kimi was 7 points and Alonso 4 points behind Hamilton.

The race was full of excitement and only at the end of the race champion has decided. Kimi won the race and team mate Felippa Massa avoided Alonso by finishing 2nd ahead of Alonso leaving him 1 point behind Kimi in Standing. Hamilton needed to finish at least 5th to clinch the title but unfortunately finished 7th.

Hamilton’s feisty recovery from his off-road moment, and then a gearbox problem when the system momentarily stuck in neutral on the eighth lap, brought him up to seventh place, thus giving him 109 points too. But with one second place more than Alonso, he got the nod for second place overall over the Spaniard.

Between the two team mates, fourth place was a pitched battle between Nico Rosberg’s Williams and the BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld. They finished in that order after some gripping racing. Behind Hamilton, Jarno Trulli took the final point for Toyota.

Congrates Kimi and Ferrari. Bad Luck Hamilton, Alonso and McLaren, Better Luck Next Year.

Top 3 Drivers at Brazilian Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

Felippa Massa - Ferrari

Fernando Alonso - McLaren

Standing after Final Races

Driver's Championship

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 110 points - World Champion

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 109 points - Runner Up

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 109 points

Constructor's Championship

Ferrari - 204 points

BMW Sauber - 101 points

Renault - 51 points

Kimi Won Chinese Grand Prix

Formula 1's World Driver Championship is still wide open as Championship leader Lewis Hamilton failed to fnish the race in the Chinese Grand Prix and Kimi Raikkonen snatched victory for Ferrari.

Now the situation is that Defendin Champion Fernando Alonso is only 4 points and Kimi Raikkonen only 7 points behind the leader Lewis Hamilton to set up an enthralling three-man battle for the drivers' crown in the final race of the season in Brazil on October 21.

Britain's Hamilton still leads with 107 points from Alonso's 103 with Raikkonen on 100 points after his fifth victory of the season. This win is the 200th win overall for Ferrari.

It will be the first time since 1986 that three drivers go into the final round of the season still
in contention for the drivers' crown.

Hamilton, 22, looked on course to become the first rookie and the youngest driver in history to win the world championship until it all went wrong when his intermediate tyres suddenly became un-drivable in the changing track conditions caused by the on-off rain, on lap 31 of the 56-lap race.

Raikkonen took the lead from Hamilton in the middle of the race to to claim the 14th victory of his career.

Double world champion Alonso had looked a beaten man after qualifying fourth but now finds his bid to become only the third man to win a hat-trick of titles.

Brazil's Felipe Massa filled the other podium place Sunday for Ferrari.

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel finished a career best 4th with his team-mate Tonio Liuzzi 6th separated by Britain's Jenson Button, who finished finished 5th for Honda.

Germany's Nick Heidfeld was 7th for BMW Sauber with David Coulthard picking up the final point for Red Bull.

Top 3 Drivers at Japanese Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

Fernando Alonso - McLaren

Felippa Massa - Ferrari


Standing after 16 Races


Driver's Championship

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 107 points

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 103 points

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 100 points


Constructor's Championship

Ferrari - 186 points

BMW Sauber - 94 points

Renault - 51 points

Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix in Style

There was heavy rain at Fuji Speedway circuit, as rain and mist forced the race to start under the safety car with visibility virtually impossible.

However, after 19 agonising laps tiptoeing around the 4.5km circuit, the cars were given the green light and the race was on.

Lewis Hamilton drove a faultless race in difficult conditions, whilst others fell by the wayside
including team-mate Fernando Alonso who crashed out after aquaplaning on lap 42.

Lewis Hamilton now has 12 points advantage over team-mate and rival Fernando Alonso with 2 races to go.

Renault finally managed to secure a podium finish this year as Heikki Kovalainen, secured second place and Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen finished third.

Webber’s David Coulthard secured his best result of the season finishing in fourth while Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella grabbed fifth place.

Felipe Massa provided a glorious moment of F1 history as he battled with BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica in the last few corners of the race as both drivers bumped and squeezed each other off the track in a thrilling piece of racing action and finished the race six and seventh respectively.

Vitantonio Liuzzi securing his first point of the season in eighth place.


Top 3 Drivers at Japanese Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mclaren
2. Heikki Kovalainen - Renault
3. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

Standing after 15 Races


Driver's Championship

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 107 points

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 95 points

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 90 points

Felippa Massa (Ferrari) - 80 points


Constructor's Championship

Ferrari - 170 points

BMW Sauber - 92 points

Renault - 51 points

Kimi Raikkonen won the Belgium Grand Prix

Kimi Raikkonen became a three-time winner at Spa followed by team-mate Felippa Massa.

Ferrari finished one-two and McLaren were thrashed into a third and fourth position on Sunday's Belgium Grand Prix.

Ferrari's 18 championship points also secured the Constructor's Championship following McLaren’s disqualification in the manufacturers title race.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished 4th behind bitter rival Fernando Alonso in Mclaren. Fernando Alonso is now only 2 poits behind Hamilton as three races to go.

BMW-Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld consolidated his position as the best of the rest with another fifth place finish whilst Williams’ Nico Rosberg secured his second consecutive sixth place.

Mark Webber grabbed his first points since the European Grand Prix with seventh whilst Heikki Kovalainen took the last of the points in eighth for Renault.

Top 3 Drivers at Belgium Grand Prix

1. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
2. Felippa Massa - Ferrari
3. Fernando Alonso - Mclaren

Standing after 14 Races

Driver's Championship

Lewis Hamilton - 97 points

Fernando Alonso - 95 points

Kimi Raikkonen - 84 points

Felippa Massa - 77 points

Constructor's Championship

Ferrari - 161 points

BMW Sauber - 90 points

Introduction to Formula 1 Racing

Formula One (F1) also known as "Grand Prix", is the highest level of car racing defined by the motor sport's world governing body, Federation International of Automobile (FIA). The results of all the races in a year are combined to decide two annual World Championships, one for Driver Championships and one for Constructor Championships.

The speed of the cars in F1 race is very high, often greater than 320 km/h (200 mph). The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tyres.

Europe is Formula 1's traditional center and remains its leading market but Grand Prix are held all over the world, with new races in Bahrain, China, Malaysia, Turkey and the United States since 1999. It goes on increasing and India is a possible venue in 2009. In 2007, total 17 races are going to be held and 9 are outside Europe. F1 is considered as the world's most expensive sport.

The number of Grand Prix held in a season has varied over the years. Only seven races comprised the inaugural 1950 World Championship. The number of races had stayed at sixteen or seventeen since the 1980s, and it reached highest to nineteen in 2005.

A Formula One race consists of several laps around a circuit. A typical circuit usually features a stretch of straight road on which the starting grid is situated. A typical circuit of Formula 1 varies up to several KM and the number of laps depends on the length of the circuit. There is a "Pit Lane" in every circuit, where the drivers stop for fuel and tyres during the race, and where the teams work on the cars before the race, is normally located next to the starting grid. In most of the cases the layout of the circuit runs in a clockwise direction.

Currently total 10 teams are participating in Formula One with two cars per team, therefore total 20 cars competing in a race. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans an entire weekend, beginning with two free practice sessions on Friday. After this, a qualifying session is held for Pole position, which decides the position of the cars for the race in two cars per row format. The pole position is decided by the time taken by a driver to complete the circuit i.e. one round of the circuit called "Lap". The driver completes the circuit in lesser time gets the first position on the grid and so on...

A light system above the track then signals the start of the race. Races are a little over 305 kilometers (190 miles) long and are limited to two hours. All the cars participate in the race one behind other in a two cars per row format. The final race is usually held on Sunday called Race Day. The race consists of several Laps depends upon the length of the circuit. During the race, drivers may make one or more pit stops in order to refuel and change tyres. The driver who first crosses the final Lap known as Chequered Flag will be the winner of the race. The first three drivers will go for podium to take the trophy with their National Anthem.

The motor sport's world governing body, FIA awards points to the top eight drivers and their respective teams of a Grand Prix.

• Winner - 10 Points
• Runner up - 8 Points
• 3rd - 6 Points
• 4th - 5 Points
• 5th - 4 Points
• 6th - 3 Points
• 7th - 2 Points
• 8th - 1 Points

The winner of the Driver Championship and Constructor Championship is decided by the most points collected by the drivers and teams respectively at the end of the season. If any drivers/teams have the exact amount of points the driver/team who has won more Grand Prix races during the course of the Season is declared the winner.