The 2007 Race-by-Race Review

In the end it was Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen who completed the most astonishing comeback in Formula One history to snatch the crown, despite having been 17 points adrift with two races to go.

He denied McLaren's incredible new recruit Lewis Hamilton, who for much of the season had seemed certain to become the first-ever rookie champion, and the unhappy Fernando Alonso, who somehow managed to block out a bitter collapse in relations with his team to come within one point of a third consecutive crown.

Unfortunately, this year is more likely to go down in history for unprecedented levels of off-track strife and controversy than for its breathtaking championship denouement.

The McLaren/Ferrari 'spying' affair dominated the second half of the season and meant that the races were often an afterthought to the latest political and court developments. The inter-team unpleasantness at McLaren and some contentious penalties - especially in Hungary - added to the generally unsavoury atmosphere.

While it was impossible to ignore the ugly scandals in the background, hopefully they did not disillusion too many of the new fans attracted by Hamilton's amazing rise to prominence and the unpredictable twists of the title fight.

Ultimately Hamilton's inexperience told in the crucial races, which was a shame given that he had looked much more composed than his far more established championship rivals throughout the preceding 15 rounds.

Raikkonen was a deserving champion, having been demonstrably faster than his peers on many occasions. But his mid-season points deficit was caused by some initially underwhelming performances as he settled in at Ferrari, as well as some mechanical misfortune.

Alonso was initially seen as a reinvigorating presence at McLaren, but this partnership deteriorated amid shocking rancour. On-track, his main issue was in qualifying. Time after time Alonso would be strong in practice and Q1/2, only to miss pole by a few fractions in Q3 and then endure a scruffy race while trying to over-compensate for what he had lost on Saturday.

Massa fared extremely well against Raikkonen, but some poor luck and a handful of untidy races meant he ultimately had to support his team-mate's title bid after being in contention himself for most of the year.

The rest of the field were just a sideshow in 2007. This season was all about three very different men, two teams taking their historic rivalry to a new intensity, and one thrilling, constantly evolving, title fight that just about managed to take precedence over events in court.

Round 1: Australia     Raikkonen launches Ferrari's new era

Race winner: Raikkonen
Pole time: Raikkonen, 1:26.072
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:25.235

Raikkonen enjoyed a dream start to his Ferrari career by dominating qualifying and the race in Australia, leading by as much as 18 seconds.

McLaren provided his main opposition, and Hamilton immediately impressed by sweeping around the outside of teammate Alonso at the first corner. He stayed in front until the final pitstops, when the world champion ran longer and emerged ahead.

Winter testing results suggested that Massa would lead Ferrari's challenge in Australia, but a gearbox failure in qualifying left the Brazilian 16th on the grid and unable to get higher than sixth in the race.

It was already clear that reigning champions Renault would not be in contention for a repeat crown. Giancarlo Fisichella managed only a distant fifth, shadowed by Massa, while Heikki Kovalainen's debut was the total opposite of Hamilton's - the Finn leaving the road several times on the way to a disappointing 10th.

BMW fulfilled pre-season promise, with Heidfeld qualifying third and running second initially on a light fuel load. He ultimately took fourth, benefiting from teammate Robert Kubica encountering gearbox trouble.

Hamilton's astonishing debut aside, the main story in the paddock was the row over whether the Super Aguri and Toro Rosso were illegal 'customer' versions of the 2006 Honda and 2007 Red Bull respectively. Whatever its origin, the Super Aguri certainly looked a more amenable prospect than the 2007 Honda, as Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson qualified ahead of the downcast Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in 10th and 11th - a massive step forward over Aguri's previous form.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Raikkonen     10        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      14
 2.  Alonso         8        2.  Ferrari               13
 3.  Hamilton       6        3.  BMW Sauber             5
 4.  Heidfeld       5        4.  Renault                4
 5.  Fisichella     4        5.  Williams-Toyota        2
 6.  Massa          3        6.  Toyota                 1
 7.  Rosberg        2
 8.  R.Schumacher   1

Round 2: Malaysia     McLaren turn the tables

Race winner: Alonso
Pole time: Massa, 1:35.043
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:36.071

From second and fourth on the grid, the McLaren pair had out-braked a Ferrari apiece into the first corner, with Hamilton then taking second by going around the outside of pole-sitter Massa at the next turn.

Massa's attempt to reclaim second ended in embarrassment, as Hamilton lured the Brazilian into out-braking himself and running through the gravel. The error consigned Massa to fifth, behind Heidfeld, at the flag. Nico Rosberg was set to challenge both before his Williams failed.

Alonso proceeded to dominate the race, although Hamilton again impressed by closing on his teammate during the middle stint. The Briton fell back later, but was able to resist the muted Raikkonen for third, as the Melbourne winner had to drive conservatively to nurse a fading engine.

Fisichella emerged on top of the tight midfield group again, albeit a minute off the pace in sixth, ahead of Jarno Trulli and the now calmer Kovalainen.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Alonso        18        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      32
 2.  Raikkonen     16        2.  Ferrari               23
 3.  Hamilton      14        3.  BMW Sauber            10
 4.  Heidfeld      10        4.  Renault                8
 5.  Fisichella     7        5.  Toyota                 3
 6.  Massa          7        6.  Williams-Toyota        2
 7.  Rosberg        2
 8.  Trulli         2
 9.  R.Schumacher   1
10.  Kovalainen     1

Round 3: Bahrain     Massa's breakthrough

Race winner: Massa
Pole time: Massa, 1:32.652
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:34.067

He rose to the occasion and delivered a commanding drive from pole to victory, resisting a strong challenge from Hamilton, who loomed in his mirrors in the final laps.

It was another spectacular weekend for Hamilton, as he out-qualified Alonso and made the front row for the first time, then became the first man in history to finish on the podium in his first three GPs.

He also left Bahrain with a share of the championship lead, tied with Raikkonen and Alonso atop the table.

Alonso out-muscled Raikkonen for third on the first lap, but was never comfortable with his McLaren and soon began to hold up the Ferrari and Heidfeld. Raikkonen got ahead in the pits and cruised away to clinch third, while Heidfeld passed the McLaren on-track with a sublime outside line move.

Kubica, Trulli and Fisichella completed the scorers - but only after the fragility that would mar Red Bull's year robbed the team of a double points finish. David Coulthard had charged from the back row to seventh, ahead of Mark Webber, following gearbox issues in qualifying, but driveshaft failure and transmission glitches respectively prevented either from reaching the flag.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Alonso        22        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      44
 2.  Raikkonen     22        2.  Ferrari               39
 3.  Hamilton      22        3.  BMW Sauber            18
 4.  Massa         17        4.  Renault                9
 5.  Heidfeld      15        5.  Toyota                 5
 6.  Fisichella     8        6.  Williams-Toyota        2
 7.  Trulli         4
 8.  Kubica         3
 9.  Rosberg        2
10.  R.Schumacher   1

Round 4: Spain     Massa ruins Alonso's party

Race winner: Massa
Pole time: Massa, 1:21.421
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:22.680

But then Massa snatched pole from the world champion with a superb final lap, and when Alonso tried to drive around the outside of the Ferrari into the first corner at the start, the Brazilian held his ground and left Alonso to skitter across the gravel.

While Alonso was never on the pace after the incident and had to settle for a distant third, Massa shrugged off the contact and dominated the rest of the afternoon, leading by up to 20 seconds on the way to his second successive victory. Even a brief flash fire at his second pitstop could not halt the imperious Ferrari.

Hamilton had a straightforward race to second, maintaining his remarkable podium run and putting the rookie into an unexpected championship lead.

Raikkonen barely had chance to feature in the race, retiring from third with electrical problems just nine laps in.

After a mediocre start to the year, Kubica regained some respectability with a competitive run to fourth, although Heidfeld may well have beaten him but for the loose wheel that sent him tumbling down the order after he had briefly led the race during the pit sequence.

Despite his gearbox wilting yet again in the closing stages, Coulthard scored Red Bull's first points of 2007 by fending off Rosberg for fifth. Kovalainen might have beaten both of them had Renault not suffered from fuel rig glitches that forced both drivers to make additional stops. This dropped Kovalainen to seventh and left Fisichella ninth - with the Italian's extra pit visit allowing Sato to score Super Aguri's first-ever point in eighth.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      30        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      58
 2.  Alonso        28        2.  Ferrari               49
 3.  Massa         27        3.  BMW Sauber            23
 4.  Raikkonen     22        4.  Renault               11
 5.  Heidfeld      15        5.  Williams-Toyota        5
 6.  Fisichella     8        6.  Toyota                 5
 7.  Kubica         8        7.  Red Bull-Renault       4
 8.  Rosberg        5        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      1
 9.  Trulli         4
10.  Coulthard      4

Round 5: Monaco     McLaren take control

Winner: Alonso
Pole time: Alonso, 1:15.726
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:15.284

Alonso commanded qualifying and the race, leading Hamilton in a one-two that left them sharing the championship lead. Massa was a full minute adrift in third.

With such a comfortable advantage, McLaren were keen to avoid unnecessary risk and altered their drivers' strategies and asked them to hold station in the second part of the race.

Hamilton, who had hoped to try and jump Alonso in the pits, expressed his dissatisfaction with the instruction in the press conference, and inadvertently prompted an FIA probe into whether McLaren had applied illegal team orders. They were swiftly exonerated.

Raikkonen looked like he would be the McLarens' main threat, but left himself 15th on the grid after swiping the barriers on an out-lap in Q2. From there he could only salvage a single point.

Fisichella excelled on the streets again to beat the two BMWs to fourth, while Alex Wurz scored the first points of his comeback season by fending off Raikkonen to take a strong seventh for Williams.

Until Monaco, Ferrari and McLaren had been fastest in every single official session, but that run was ended on Saturday morning in the Principality, when Spyker's Adrian Sutil produced an astounding lap in damp conditions to upstage the title contenders for the back of the grid team.

Although he would crash out of the race, that performance was enough to thrust the German rookie into the thick of early 'silly season' speculation.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Alonso        38        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      76
 2.  Hamilton      38        2.  Ferrari               56
 3.  Massa         33        3.  BMW Sauber            30
 4.  Raikkonen     23        4.  Renault               16
 5.  Heidfeld      18        5.  Williams-Toyota        7
 6.  Fisichella    13        6.  Toyota                 5
 7.  Kubica        12        7.  Red Bull-Renault       4
 8.  Rosberg        5        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      1
 9.  Trulli         4
10.  Coulthard      4

Round 6: Canada     Hamilton shrugs off the carnage for first win

Winner: Hamilton
Pole time: Hamilton, 1:15.707
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:16.367

The rookie led the majority of the race after taking his first pole position, as his usual rivals all squandered their chances.

Alonso slewed across the run-off while trying to drive around the outside of his teammate at the start, then made several other errors and also picked up a penalty for stopping in a closed pit during a caution. He then struggled more than most with the super-softs and slumped to seventh - passed on track by Sato's Super Aguri in the closing stages.

The Ferraris fared little better. Massa was on course for a podium before being disqualified for ignoring a red light in the pit exit, while Raikkonen damaged his car when he tagged his teammate at the first corner and also collected debris from Kubica's hunt, leaving him an anonymous fifth.

Heidfeld was the only man who came close to Hamilton's pace and duly took second, raising BMW's spirits after Kubica's ferocious accident. Remarkably the Pole escaped serious injury in the crash, which was triggered when he clipped Trulli in the flat-out kink before the hairpin.

After appalling qualifying runs, Wurz and Kovalainen redeemed themselves with excellent drives to third and fourth. Their teams' quick strategic thinking during the abundant full course yellows and their own wise management of the super-soft tyres paid dividends as others floundered.

Inevitably in such a bizarre race there were many tales of misfortune, and Fisichella, Rosberg, Webber, Barrichello and even Davidson (who lost ground after hitting an unfortunate beaver!) could all have been in contention for the podium.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      48        1.  McLaren-Mercedes      88
 2.  Alonso        40        2.  Ferrari               60
 3.  Massa         33        3.  BMW Sauber            38
 4.  Raikkonen     27        4.  Renault               21
 5.  Heidfeld      26        5.  Williams-Toyota       13
 6.  Fisichella    13        6.  Toyota                 6
 7.  Kubica        12        7.  Red Bull-Renault       4
 8.  Kovalainen     8        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz           8
10.  Rosberg        5

Round 7: USA     Hamilton stretches his lead

Winner: Hamilton
Pole time: Hamilton, 1:12.331
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:13.117

The champion had narrowly missed out on pole to his teammate and then made a dramatic jink towards the McLaren signalling area in the middle of the race after Hamilton had resisted his attempt to take the lead at the first corner. Earlier in the week Alonso had given the first in a series of increasingly caustic interviews about his discomfort at McLaren and his belief that the team were favouring Hamilton.

It looked insignificant at the time, but Raikkonen's fastest lap and fourth place proved to be a significant turning point in the championship, as the Finn finally clicked with the Ferrari for the first time since Melbourne. A poor start and a heavy fuel load masked his potential at Indianapolis, by in the second half of the race he gained rapidly on third-placed teammate Massa.

Kovalainen maintained his impressive form with a confident fifth place, even leading briefly thanks to a long first stint. His teammate Fisichella spun away his chance of a similar performance.

Kubica was disappointed to learn that he would have to sit out the race to ensure he was fully recovered from his Montreal accident. Test driver Sebastian Vettel was promoted to the race team in his place, and duly became the youngest ever F1 points-scorer as he took eighth despite going across the grass at the start.

His teammate Heidfeld retired from fifth with a late hydraulic failure, and with Rosberg also stopping when sixth shortly afterwards, Trulli was elevated into the top six for Toyota, just ahead of Webber.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      58        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     106
 2.  Alonso        48        2.  Ferrari               71
 3.  Massa         39        3.  BMW Sauber            39
 4.  Raikkonen     32        4.  Renault               25
 5.  Heidfeld      26        5.  Williams-Toyota       13
 6.  Fisichella    13        6.  Toyota                 9
 7.  Kovalainen    12        7.  Red Bull-Renault       6
 8.  Kubica        12        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz           8
10.  Trulli         7

Round 8: France     Raikkonen's comeback commences

Winner: Raikkonen
Pole time: Massa, 1:15.034
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:16.099

For two-thirds of the race it looked like it would be pole-sitter Massa who launched his team's revival, but after shadowing his teammate through the first two stints, Raikkonen unleashed his true pace during the final pit sequence and leapt ahead.

The result was Raikkonen's first win in three months, but he remained in fourth place in the standings, 22 points behind leader Hamilton.

The Briton had immediately lost second to Raikkonen at the start of the race and then lacked the pace to challenge the Ferraris even when running lighter. He had to settle for a distant third.

But that was far better than his teammate Alonso managed after a gearbox failure in Q3 that left him mired on the fifth row with a very light initial fuel load. McLaren's attempts to alter the strategy to Alonso's advantage mid-race failed to pay off, and he had to settle for a frustrating seventh, forced to watch several cars he had passed on-track get back ahead of him in the pits.

Although the result, which left him 14 points adrift of Hamilton, was disappointing for Alonso, along the way he produced one of the overtaking moves of the year by thrusting his way past Heidfeld at the ultra-fast entry to the Imola corners.

Kubica announced his return to the field with a superb run to fourth, ahead of Heidfeld and Fisichella, whose teammate Kovalainen's chance of a third consecutive points finish was ended by an opening lap punt from Trulli.

Honda's dismal year finally began to look brighter as Button extracted some genuine pace from the uncompetitive RA107 chassis and beat Rosberg to the final point.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      64        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     114
 2.  Alonso        50        2.  Ferrari               89
 3.  Massa         47        3.  BMW Sauber            48
 4.  Raikkonen     42        4.  Renault               28
 5.  Heidfeld      30        5.  Williams-Toyota       13
 6.  Kubica        17        6.  Toyota                 9
 7.  Fisichella    16        7.  Red Bull-Renault       6
 8.  Kovalainen    12        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz           8        9.  Honda                  1
10.  Trulli         7
 

Round 9: Britain     Raikkonen marches on

Winner: Raikkonen
Pole time: Hamilton, 1:19.997
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:20.638

Hamilton had used a light fuel load to take a very popular home pole, but lacked race pace and was down to third after the first stops, behind Raikkonen and Alonso, the latter having run furthest and vaulted from third to first.

But Raikkonen, who was on course for pole before running wide at the final corner in qualifying, bided his time and used six extra low fuel laps before his last stop to get past the McLaren and into a lead he would not lose.

After stalling on the grid, Massa hacked through the midfield to get back up to fifth, although fourth-placed Kubica was able to resist enormous pressure from the Ferrari in the closing laps.

Heidfeld and the two Renaults completed the points finishers in a race that was overshadowed by the McLaren/Ferrari spying affair. The controversy had exploded a few days prior to Silverstone, and as more details unfolded during the course of the weekend the race became something of a footnote to the scandal that was dominating the paddock.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      70        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     128
 2.  Alonso        58        2.  Ferrari              103
 3.  Raikkonen     52        3.  BMW Sauber            56
 4.  Massa         51        4.  Renault               31
 5.  Heidfeld      33        5.  Williams-Toyota       13
 6.  Kubica        22        6.  Toyota                 9
 7.  Fisichella    17        7.  Red Bull-Renault       6
 8.  Kovalainen    14        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz           8        9.  Honda                  1
10.  Trulli         7

Round 10: Europe     Alonso charges back into contention

Winner: Alonso
Pole time: Raikkonen, 1:31:450
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:32.453

A cloudburst hit the circuit as the field completed the opening lap, and as Raikkonen led the charge for intermediate tyres, he slid sideways in the pitlane entry and ended up back on the circuit, being forced to complete another lap on slick tyres on an increasingly sodden track.

Debutant Markus Winkelhock - making a stop-gap appearance for Spyker between the disappointing Christijan Albers' departure and the arrival of the better-funded Sakon Yamamoto - was the only man to start on intermediates, and incredulously found himself with a 20-second lead.

But it was nullified by a red flag, as the severity of the downpour was such that Turn 1 resembled a pond. Six cars aquaplaned helplessly into the gravel there, most notably Button - who had demonstrated sublime wet weather skills by surging from 17th to fourth in three laps - and Hamilton.

The championship leader was enduring his first truly difficult F1 weekend. A loose wheel caused a fierce impact with the tyre wall in qualifying, leaving Hamilton 10th on the grid. He immediately leapt to fourth at the start, only to suffer a puncture when clipped by the spinning Kubica, who had just been nudged by teammate Heidfeld.

Hamilton then joined the crowd of cars in the Turn 1 gravel, but was the only driver to stoically remain in his seat with the engine running. He was controversially lifted back onto the track by a recovery tractor and allowed to rejoin the race.

When the restart eventually came, Winkelhock swiftly fell back while Hamilton gambled on a premature switch to dry tyres and lost even more time.

Massa established himself in the lead, ahead of Alonso, with Raikkonen running third until hydraulic failure halted him.

Just when the race looked set for an uneventful ending, the rain returned and sent the field scurrying for intermediates again. This revived Alonso's challenge, and he rapidly closed in on Massa before passing him around the outside of Turn 5, the two cars banging wheels in the process.

The result was a massive boost to Alonso's title campaign, as Hamilton had again gambled wrongly on the weather and tried to stay out too long on dries in the second shower. He finished outside the points in ninth, allowing Alonso to close to within two points.

Webber fended off Wurz for the final podium spot, with Coulthard completing a fine day for Red Bull in fifth, ahead of the delayed BMWs.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      70        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     138
 2.  Alonso        68        2.  Ferrari              111
 3.  Massa         59        3.  BMW Sauber            61
 4.  Raikkonen     52        4.  Renault               32
 5.  Heidfeld      36        5.  Williams-Toyota       18
 6.  Kubica        24        6.  Red Bull-Renault      16
 7.  Fisichella    17        7.  Toyota                 9
 8.  Kovalainen    15        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz          13        9.  Honda                  1
10.  Webber         8

Round 11: Hungary     The McLaren battle takes a nasty turn

Winner: Hamilton
Pole time: Hamilton, 1:19.781 (Alonso originally took pole on a 1:19.674 but was demoted to sixth for impeding Hamilton)
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:20.047

The nightmare worsened in qualifying. McLaren dominated the session, but only after a catastrophic falling out between their drivers. Hamilton refused to allow Alonso past as planned during the early part of Q3, and the Spaniard retaliated by lingering in the pit box for long enough to prevent Hamilton from getting out for his flying lap before the chequered flag fell.

Alonso duly used his extra lap to beat Hamilton to pole, only for the stewards to intervene and ultimately demote him to sixth. More controversially, they deemed that McLaren should not take any constructors' points from the race, and later banned team representatives from the podium.

A month later it would emerge that amid the subsequent internal rows at McLaren, Alonso threatened to supply the FIA with compromising evidence in the spying affair, triggering the chain of events that would lead to the second, more damaging, FIA hearing.

The race was comparatively uneventful. Hamilton led throughout, with Raikkonen putting him under pressure in the second half of the race without success.

The win restored Hamilton's points advantage as Alonso could only reach fourth, behind Heidfeld.

Massa had an even worse weekend. He had to be pulled back to the Ferrari pit in Q2 after being dispatched without sufficient fuel, then only managed 14th on a messy subsequent flying lap on cooled tyres. Trapped in traffic on Sunday, he gained just one place by the flag.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      80        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     138
 2.  Alonso        73        2.  Ferrari              119
 3.  Raikkonen     60        3.  BMW Sauber            71
 4.  Massa         59        4.  Renault               33
 5.  Heidfeld      42        5.  Williams-Toyota       20
 6.  Kubica        28        6.  Red Bull-Renault      16
 7.  Fisichella    17        7.  Toyota                12
 8.  Kovalainen    16        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz          13        9.  Honda                  1
10.  Coulthard      8

Round 12: Turkey     Massa rediscovers winning form

Winner: Massa
Pole time: Massa, 1:27.329
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:27.295

Raikkonen had arguably been the faster of the pair, but was only third on the grid thanks to a scruffy final qualifying lap, and with his pitstops all a lap earlier than Massa's, he had no chance to get ahead in the race.

Although Hamilton lost second to Raikkonen at the start, he remained on course for third - not far behind the Ferraris - until a tyre failure dropped him to fifth. The flailing rubber had damaged his McLaren and meant that rather than chasing down fourth-placed Heidfeld, he had to fight to resist sixth-placed Kovalainen.

Alonso benefited from the incident to pick up third place and close the championship gap again. This had looked unlikely when he took a low key fourth in qualifying and then lost two places off the line, but he was able to get around the two BMWs during the first stops.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      84        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     148
 2.  Alonso        79        2.  Ferrari              137
 3.  Massa         69        3.  BMW Sauber            77
 4.  Raikkonen     68        4.  Renault               36
 5.  Heidfeld      47        5.  Williams-Toyota       22
 6.  Kubica        29        6.  Red Bull-Renault      16
 7.  Kovalainen    19        7.  Toyota                12
 8.  Fisichella    17        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz          13        9.  Honda                  1
10.  Rosberg        9

Round 13: Italy     Alonso strikes back

Winner: Alonso
Pole time: Alonso, 1:21.997
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:22.871

But amid that backdrop, the team delivered a crushing one-two on the circuit. Alonso beat Hamilton to pole and then dominated the race, reducing the Briton's championship lead to three points.

The gap could easily have been just one, as Hamilton failed to build a sufficient lead over third-placed Raikkonen before his second pitstop. The Finn had escaped a massive practice accident without injury, then qualified fifth on a heavy, one-stop, fuel load. He was unable to threaten Alonso, but did lead Hamilton after the final stops.

However when the McLaren dived down the inside under braking for the first chicane, Raikkonen was powerless to resist and had to settle for third.

His teammate Massa dropped further away from title contention by retiring early with a rear suspension problem. Until then he had held third, having come off second-best in a spirited opening lap dice with Hamilton.

After flying at Monza in 2006, BMW were expected to be a real threat for victory at this race, but only managed fourth and fifth, with Heidfeld ahead and Kubica producing an aggressive recovery drive having fallen from his jacks at his first pitstop.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      92        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     166
 2.  Alonso        89        2.  Ferrari              143
 3.  Raikkonen     74        3.  BMW Sauber            86
 4.  Massa         69        4.  Renault               38
 5.  Heidfeld      52        5.  Williams-Toyota       25
 6.  Kubica        33        6.  Red Bull-Renault      16
 7.  Kovalainen    21        7.  Toyota                12
 8.  Fisichella    17        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz          13        9.  Honda                  2
10.  Rosberg       12

Round 14: Belgium     Ferrari add to McLaren's agony

Winner: Raikkonen
Pole time: Raikkonen, 1:45.994
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:48.036

The fine and loss of constructors' points got McLaren's weekend off to a bad start, and the race did not improve their mood.

Ferrari proved dominant, with Raikkonen taking pole and a comfortable win ahead of Massa. The McLarens could only manage third and fourth, and there was more inter-team controversy after Alonso edged Hamilton wide at the first corner.

The rookie looked like he would still come out ahead, but Alonso would not be denied and swept around the outside at Eau Rouge. He then edged away from Hamilton to secure third.

Heidfeld filled his habitual 'best of the rest' position in fifth, ahead of Rosberg and Webber.

An engine change before qualifying cost Heidfeld's BMW teammate Kubica ten grid places. He raced hard but could not separate Kovalainen from the final point.

The return to Spa was widely welcomed and apart from the narrow pit entry, the track revisions proved popular. But the race itself was possibly the least exciting of the season.

Sutil relieved some of the tedium by making the most of the revised Spyker and a two-stop strategy to charge to the brink of the top ten in the early laps.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton      97        1.  Ferrari              161
 2.  Alonso        95        2.  BMW Sauber            90
 3.  Raikkonen     84        3.  Renault               39
 4.  Massa         77        4.  Williams-Toyota       28
 5.  Heidfeld      56        5.  Red Bull-Renault      18
 6.  Kubica        33        6.  Toyota                12
 7.  Kovalainen    22        7.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 8.  Fisichella    17        8.  Honda                  2
 9.  Rosberg       15
10.  Wurz          13

Round 15: Japan     Hamilton conquers Fuji

Winner: Hamilton
Pole time: Hamilton, 1:25.368
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:28.193

Hamilton's win proved doubly significant as his title rivals all had bad afternoons. Alonso fared worst. He ran second to his teammate initially but fell back into traffic after pitting, lost more time tangling with Vettel (who had replaced Scott Speed at Toro Rosso in August), and then crashed heavily on standing water when fourth.

Conditions at the outset had been so bad that the first 19 laps were run behind the safety car and the stewards mandated the use of extreme wet tyres. This communication failed to reach Ferrari, who started both cars on intermediates and fell to the back when ordered to pit during the caution.

Raikkonen made the best recovery, reaching third and only just failing to get around Kovalainen for second, as Renault's Finn celebrated his first podium.

But for a long time it looked like an even less experienced rookie would be on the podium. Vettel had revelled in the rain to qualify eighth and then leapt to third at the start, benefiting from a tangle between third row qualifiers Heidfeld and Button.

The young German held his own amongst the front-runners and even led after the McLarens' stops. But then his race came to a painful end when he ran into the back of Red Bull stablemate Webber - who had jumped him for second during the pit sequence - while running behind the safety car following Alonso's destructive crash.

Coulthard salvaged some points with Red Bull with a season-best fourth, ahead of Fisichella.

After a number of trips off the road, and despite taking a hard hit from Wurz's spinning Williams at the start, Massa made it back to sixth place, winning an amazing wheel-banging contest with Kubica on the final lap.

Toro Rosso thought they had at least managed one point when Tonio Liuzzi beat Sutil to eighth, but the position was later taken away when Liuzzi was judged to have passed the Spyker under yellow.

The result gave Hamilton a very healthy 12-point lead over Alonso with just two rounds to go. Ferrari's hopes seemed all-but-dashed, with Raikkonen 17 points adrift and Massa now mathematically out of contention.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton     107        1.  Ferrari              170
 2.  Alonso        95        2.  BMW Sauber            92
 3.  Raikkonen     90        3.  Renault               51
 4.  Massa         80        4.  Williams-Toyota       28
 5.  Heidfeld      56        5.  Red Bull-Renault      23
 6.  Kubica        35        6.  Toyota                12
 7.  Kovalainen    30        7.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 8.  Fisichella    21        8.  Honda                  2
 9.  Rosberg       15        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1
10.  Coulthard     13

Round 16: China     Raikkonen pounces as Hamilton stumbles

Winner: Raikkonen
Pole time: Hamilton, 1:35.908
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:37.454

He was ultimately exonerated late on Friday night, and having confessed to being distracted by the furore during practice, he regained his focus to beat Raikkonen to pole.

Alonso was aghast to be three places and 0.6s behind his teammate, and reacted angrily to the result - escalating his criticisms of McLaren in his media briefing.

As Hamilton pulled away from the field in the damp conditions of the opening laps he looked certain to leave China as F1's first rookie champion. But when the track dried, his intermediate tyres wilted more dramatically than his pursuers' rubber. Expecting another shower, McLaren chose not to pit him, allowing Raikkonen to catch up and take the lead.

By now lapping eight seconds off the pace and under pressure from Alonso - who had been trapped behind Massa for most of the first half of the race - Hamilton finally came in for dries only to lose control in the pit entry and slide into the gravel, where he would retire from a race for the first time.

Some amazing laps on dry tyres in the still damp conditions allowed Kubica to emerge in the lead while once everyone had switched to slicks. But his moment of glory lasted just one lap before a hydraulic failure struck.

That elevated Raikkonen back to first, and despite Alonso initially closing in on him, the Finn was able to maintain his lead and haul himself back into title contention with victory.

Second place, comfortably ahead of Massa, also threw Alonso a title lifeline, although he remained pessimistic.

Toro Rosso made up for the agony of Fuji by taking a best-ever fourth and sixth with Vettel and Liuzzi. They were split by Button, who also atoned for a missed opportunity in Japan by tearing through the pack on slicks in the damp at an even faster rate than Kubica.

Red Bull handled the conditions less adeptly and Coulthard and Webber's strong fifth and seventh in qualifying became a frustrating eighth and 10th in the race, while Heidfeld's seventh place was BMW's only consolation in a race that could have seen their first win.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Hamilton     107        1.  Ferrari              186
 2.  Alonso       103        2.  BMW Sauber            94
 3.  Raikkonen    100        3.  Renault               51
 4.  Massa         86        4.  Williams-Toyota       28
 5.  Heidfeld      58        5.  Red Bull-Renault      24
 6.  Kubica        35        6.  Toyota                12
 7.  Kovalainen    30        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari     8
 8.  Fisichella    21        8.  Honda                  6
 9.  Rosberg       15        9.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
10.  Coulthard     14       10.  Spyker-Ferrari         1

Round 17: Brazil     Raikkonen completes a miracle

Winner: Raikkonen
Pole time: Massa, 1:11.931
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:12.445

He had another scare in practice when McLaren accidentally used an illegal additional set of wet tyres in the damp first practice session, but the error was punished by a fine and Hamilton was free to qualify second on the grid - behind popular home pole winner Massa but ahead of both his title rivals.

However he did not stay in front of them long when the race began. Raikkonen passed Hamilton off the line, and Alonso snuck through on the inside at the first corner. Hamilton immediately tried to re-pass his teammate, only to out-brake himself and fall to ninth after a trip through the run-off.

Worse was to follow as a gearbox glitch left him coasting in neutral for 40 seconds a few laps later. By the time the McLaren regained momentum, Hamilton was down to 18th.

Alonso's title prospects were also fading as he failed to keep pace with the Ferraris. Massa continued to lead, but inevitably the order changed at the second pitstops and Raikkonen gained the first position he required to snatch the title.

While the Ferraris cruised to a commanding one-two, a minute clear of the muted Alonso, Hamilton strove in vain to get back to the fifth place that would make him world champion.

But despite gambling on a switch to a three-stop strategy, and some bold passes in the midfield, the Briton only reached seventh and had to watch as Raikkonen celebrated an unlikely last-gasp championship victory.

A question mark would remain over the result, however, thanks to the revelation that sensor readings from the Williams and BMW fuel rigs suggested their fuel temperatures were below the permitted level.

With Rosberg having beaten Kubica and Heidfeld to fourth, after a spectacular late-race dice, any penalty for the trio would have potentially handed Hamilton the positions he required to claim a championship that Raikkonen was already celebrating.

The race stewards decided that there was no proof of illegality, but McLaren lodged an appeal. It will not be heard until mid-November, bringing this eventful but tarnished season to an appropriately awkward and uncertain conclusion.

Drivers:                    Constructors:
 1.  Raikkonen    110        1.  Ferrari              204
 2.  Hamilton     109        2.  BMW Sauber           101
 3.  Alonso       109        3.  Renault               51
 4.  Massa         94        4.  Williams-Toyota       33
 5.  Heidfeld      61        5.  Red Bull-Renault      24
 6.  Kubica        39        6.  Toyota                13
 7.  Kovalainen    30        7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari     8
 8.  Fisichella    21        8.  Honda                  6
 9.  Rosberg       20        9.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
10.  Coulthard     14       10.  Spyker-Ferrari         1
11.  Wurz          13       11.  McLaren-Mercedes       -
12.  Webber        10
13.  Trulli         8
14.  Vettel         6
15.  Button         6
16.  R.Schumacher   5
17.  Sato           4
18.  Liuzzi         3
19.  Sutil          1