74 replies to this topic

[Jejking]

Oh boy, I didn't read the OP properly...

 

 

...schoolgirl error!

Haha, it can happen, what was your thought process while you stumbled upon this thread?

[Laura23]

Haha, it can happen, what was your thought process while you stumbled upon this thread?

 I basically write the OP's account for 2003 word for word! 

[Jackmancer]

1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, total cringe-fest.

 

Michael Schumacher simply has to score more points than Villeneuve to take the title, but faces an uphill battle after qualifying fifth on the grid. Yet if anyone can do it, it's 'Schumi', especially on his hometrack in Germany. Yet in the notorious first corner on the first lap of the race, it's his own brother Ralf who tangles with Jordan-teammate Fisichella, who crashes into Michael, braking the Ferrari's front suspension. Villeneuve goes on to win the race and the championship.

[sopa]

1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, total cringe-fest.

 

Michael Schumacher simply has to score more points than Villeneuve to take the title, but faces an uphill battle after qualifying fifth on the grid. Yet if anyone can do it, it's 'Schumi', especially on his hometrack in Germany. Yet in the notorious first corner on the first lap of the race, it's his own brother Ralf who tangles with Jordan-teammate Fisichella, who crashes into Michael, braking the Ferrari's front suspension. Villeneuve goes on to win the race and the championship.

 

Villeneuve would win only after the McLaren double-breakdown, making it even more dramatic!

[LORDBYRON]

I think it's safe to assume that Botas has the seat

[PayasYouRace]

Wrong thread Lord?

[Radoye]

2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

 

The two teammate title rivals are coming into the seasons finale with 5 points advantage for Rosberg. A win for Hamilton secures him the title. On Saturday, Hamilton duly puts it on the pole, with Rosberg lining up in second.

 

Come Sunday, disaster strikes for Hamilton - he botches the start and Rosberg is running away with it. Hamilton goes for a desperate move into turn 4, which is ruthlessly blocked by Rosberg. Hamilton is off on the grass, he spins and collects Rosberg ending their both races. Rosberg is crowned a Champion, Toto has a heart attack and the internet implodes.

 

The 2016 season is forever remembered as one of the most controversial in the history of F1.

[Jackmancer]

Wrong thread Lord?

 

Maybe he means the 2017 title finale, which takes place ahead of the season. Hamilton to slip in the shower, Montoya-esque, and whoever takes the second Merc seat wins the championship.

[markelov74]

Canada 2014 as the finale

Before this race the order looks like this (a bit random I know)

Hamilton 280
Rosberg 274
Perez 274
Massa 274
Vettel 274
Ricciardo 268


So Rosberg takes pole ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. Massa is fifth, Ricciardo is only sixth and Perez is way down in 13th. At the race start Rosberg and Hamilton make slight contact and Hamilton drops to third but passes Vettel. Hamilton chases Rosberg and Rosberg cuts the chicane but avoids penalty. Halfway through Rosberg leds Hamilton, Perez, Vettel, Massa and Ricciardo. For the championship this means Rosberg has 299, Hamilton 298, Perez 289, Vettel 286, Massa 284 and Ricciardo 276, Ricciardo 22 points behind. However the next lap Vettel pits and comes behind Vergne and Ricciardo comes out ahead of him. Mercedes hit trouble but Hamilton beats Rosberg in the pits but Massa takes the championshipnlead. However Hamilton is out with a brake issue losing him a shot at the championship. Rosberg also suffers from the same problem. Rosberg leads Perez and Ricciardo after Massa pits and comes out eighth and now Rosberg takes back the lead. If Perez can pass him he will win. Ricciardo passes Perez and so does Vettel. Massa is up to fourth. Ricciardo is now 13 behind Rosberg. However a late pass for the lead moves him one clear! But Perez and Massa end fheir chances and crash on the last lap! Ricciardo somehow wins the championship with 293, Rosberg gets 292, Vettel 289, Hamilton 280 and Persz and Massa 274.

[Laura23]

Australia 2003.

 

Schumacher leads the championship on 88 points, Raikkonen is on 85.

 

Schumacher grabs pole, Raikkonen is down in 15th. Raikkonen pulls into pits at end of formation lap to top up with fuel and change to slick tyres.

 

Schumacher leads but Ferrari bring him in for slicks at wrong time. He falls behind Raikkonen and Montoya.

 

Eventually Raikkonen takes over the lead of the race with Schumacher chasing him down in second. 

 

The leaders put and rejoin back in wheel-to-wheel combat, Raikkonen being one of the fastest men on track. He holds off Schumacher forcefully and a trip across the grass at T1 dislodges the F2002's bargeboards. Schumacher is now on the back foot. Raikkonen just needs to pass Montoya to win.

 

But, Raikkonen broke the speed limit at his second stop. He must serve a drive through. He falls down the field momentarily.

 

But, Schumacher gets the black and orange flag for a damaged car. He must stop for immediate repairs. He falls down the field momentarily.

 

Then there's drama as Montoya spins out of the lead, will he drop behind Coulthard? Yes. Raikkonen? No. If he had dropped behind Kimi I do wonder if Ron Dennis would have ordered Coulthard to slow down and let Raikkonen win the race, after all a Raikkonen win with Schumacher in 4th would have been enough to win title comfortably. 

 

In the end Raikkonen finishes 3rd, Schumacher 4th and the German wins his 6th title by just two points. But Raikkonen's pit-lane mistake may have cost the Finn his first title...

[Anderis]

Canada 2014 as the finale

Before this race the order looks like this (a bit random I know)

Hamilton 280
Rosberg 274
Perez 274
Massa 274
Vettel 274
Ricciardo 268


So Rosberg takes pole ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. Massa is fifth, Ricciardo is only sixth and Perez is way down in 13th. At the race start Rosberg and Hamilton make slight contact and Hamilton drops to third but passes Vettel. Hamilton chases Rosberg and Rosberg cuts the chicane but avoids penalty. Halfway through Rosberg leds Hamilton, Perez, Vettel, Massa and Ricciardo. For the championship this means Rosberg has 299, Hamilton 298, Perez 289, Vettel 286, Massa 284 and Ricciardo 276, Ricciardo 22 points behind. However the next lap Vettel pits and comes behind Vergne and Ricciardo comes out ahead of him. Mercedes hit trouble but Hamilton beats Rosberg in the pits but Massa takes the championshipnlead. However Hamilton is out with a brake issue losing him a shot at the championship. Rosberg also suffers from the same problem. Rosberg leads Perez and Ricciardo after Massa pits and comes out eighth and now Rosberg takes back the lead. If Perez can pass him he will win. Ricciardo passes Perez and so does Vettel. Massa is up to fourth. Ricciardo is now 13 behind Rosberg. However a late pass for the lead moves him one clear! But Perez and Massa end fheir chances and crash on the last lap! Ricciardo somehow wins the championship with 293, Rosberg gets 292, Vettel 289, Hamilton 280 and Persz and Massa 274.

I think this is not how this thread is supposed to work. You are supposed to move one race to the end of the season with results of the other races remaining unchanged, so your order before the race is way off. That way Canada is not interesting, because WDC is already decided even if we include the double points race switch, because the order before the race is:

Hamilton 359 (384 - 25 doubled points for Abu Dhabi - 0 for Canada as he DNF-ed there)

Rosberg 299 (317 - 18 points scored in Canada that year - 0 doubled points for Abu Dhabi, as he DNF-ed there)

 

I don't want to be pesky, I just explain in case someone didn't realise it.

[TheHoneyBadger3]

You can also create something interesting for 2010: Assume Barcelona was the title final, the championship before this race would be

1. Vettel 241
2. Hamilton 240
3. Alonso 234
4. Webber 217

Before the last lap of the race Webber is leading ahead of Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel. The championship standings just over one lap before the end of the race...

1. Hamilton 258
2. Vettel 253
3. Alonso 249
4. Webber 242

And then...

That would have been so epic

[Yamamoto]

2007 would be completely incomprehensible in quite a number of cases. Starting with Australia as the last race: Alonso just has to let Hamilton by to give him the championship. Same thing for Malaysia. And Monaco (!). And Monza.

 

And what about Montreal 2007 as a final race with Raikkonen scoring crucial points after a seemingly sub par race while championship leader (by 1 point) Alonso even gets passed by Sato in a Super Aguri in the final stages..... and all that after two long SC car periods, drivers red flagged and that hefty Kubica crash   

 

How about Hungary:

 

Going into the final race, Alonso has 104, Raikkonen 102 and Hamilton 99. Mclaren expect to have the car advantage, but Alonso is desperate to be on pole because he fears the possibility of Raikkonen starting third on the clean side of the grid - in that hypothetical, once Raikkonen is ahead he is set to be champion on countback. So to avoid such a dilemma, Alonso seeks to gain the advantage of pole position...

[encircled]

Hungary 2008 GP

Point standings before the race.

Massa 97
Hamilton 94

Hamilton took pole while Massa is in 3rd place, which is the result that Hamilton needs to secure the title.

However, after the race begun, Massa had a great start and made a championship defining moment move to take the lead against Hamilton.



And to make matters worse for Hamilton, he had a tire problem on lap 40 and fell down to 10th place. He makes a recovery drive to 6th.

Then with 3 laps to go...



Thus promoting Heikki Kovalainen to his first ever career victory and more importantly, Hamilton to a much needed 5th place to secure the title.

Edited by encircled, 25 December 2016 - 06:24.

[sopa]

In closely contested seasons plenty of races would have made an interesting finale.

 

Here some more from 2003.

 

Malaysian GP.

Points before the race: MS - 90, JPM - 82, KR - 81. Not too dissimilar to pre-Suzuka actually, with Kimi needing to win, and Schumacher needing an 8th (or 7th, if JPM wins).

 

Qualifying creates a surprise of Renault snatching the front row, but Schumacher is 3rd and in perfect position to clinch the title. Only... to make an uncharacteristic mistake of losing his front wing against Trulli and getting a drive-through penalty. Montoya immediately loses rear wing, so he is out of it. Raikkonen has never won a race before... he duly delivers and takes his first GP win. But it is not enough for the title. Schumacher recovers to 6th.

 

Austrian GP.

Points before the race: MS - 83, KR - 83, JPM - 82.

 

Three title contenders almost even on points! Schumacher and Raikkonen on the front row. Schumacher leads away, but Kimi gets a poor start, and drops behind Montoya. Then a scare of rain, but it doesn't last long. Then the scare in the pits - Schumacher's car is on fire!! But he gets away after a slight delay. Montoya leads and is in position to win the title... Oh no, the engine has blown up. Meanwhile Schumacher passes Raikkonen to re-take the lead, and the championship.

 

Canadian GP.

Points before the race: KR - 88, MS - 83. (Montoya already out of it - 76).

 

Raikkonen needs to finish on the podium if Schumacher wins. But... Kimi spins in qualifying, and makes his job very tough. 

 

Race. M. Schumacher has a nerve-cracking race, while fending off the Williamses. Montoya spins at one point and loses potential win. Michael gets ahead of Ralf in pitstops, but the Williamses plus Alonso late in the race shadow him all the way. Raikkonen recovers to 6th, but it is not enough. Schumacher delivers under the pressure and keeps the lead till the chequered flag.

[Mendel]

2007 china is last. Hamilton leads the championship by 8 points to Alonso and by 9 points to Räikkönen. But he is not playing it safe, he is racing to win the race! Everything goes great and Hamilton is looking to get the race win and the championship until...

 

 

Kimi of course ends up winning the race, getting 10 points he needed for the championship with Alonso finishing second to get to even points with Hamilton.

 

 

 

Look. Kimi celebrating the championship! This is the closest to a smile he has ever been!

Edited by Mendel, 25 December 2016 - 11:15.

[ensign14]

1982 Swiss Grand Prix. If it were not for the farcical nature of a Grand Prix named after somewhere where it's banned (that's democracy for you), then it would have been one of the most bizarre finishes to a season anywhere. At the top of the standings was a driver who was still seriously ill in hospital and unable to defend his championship lead. But Didier Pironi could still become champion with the desperate total of 39 points. He led the Championship race on countback from John Watson, on the basis of two 3rd places to Wattie's one. But a top six will put the Northern Irishman ahead.

 

It's down to those two. Because the only other driver with a chance of the title is Keke Rosberg. He's on 35 but hasn't a single Grand Prix win to his name. What are the chances of him getting that on a power circuit that is going to lie down and surrender to the turbos?

 

The grid showed that. Turbo 1-2-3. An all-French front row for the delight of the "Swiss" crowd. Lauda with an heroic effort for 4th. Watson was playing it safe and down in 11th. No biggie, he's the best overtaker in the business. But are nerves showing? He went off in the warm-up.

 

And Rosberg, well, out-qualified by Derek Daly.

 

A measure of just how good the turbos are is that Teo Fabi, the man too slow to finish within 10% at San Marino, has out-qualified Nigel Mansell. Mind you, so did Rupert Keegan. Problems chez Lotus? Certainly problems chez Mansell - he's had a punch-up with Brian Henton after Superhen left him in the fencing...

 

A Renault 1-2 would suit Watson, if he could get into the top six. Indeed the Renaults ran 1-2 from the start, with Brabhams chasing, but needing to stop. Patrese was back to his old blocker self as he held up Lauda significantly.

 

But he couldn't block Watson.

 

Lap 19.  Watson has overtaken his way to 6th and the title.  Wattie is just getting warmed up.  It's a question of how far he will go.  If he wants to.

 

Lap 20. A quarter of the way through.

 

Watson is no longer heading for the title. Instead he is heading for the pits.

 

That little off in the warm-up had damaged his sidepod skirt. Somewhere on the lap it had peeled away. The repairs took a time and he was down amongst the dead men. 24th and last. No chance of points. The title is gone.

 

So, Pironi's then.

 

No.

 

This is now bringing Rosberg into play. Suddenly a 2nd gives him the title. And he has left Daly for dead right from the off. He is up into 4th by now.

 

Two more places for the Championship.

 

Piquet is yet to stop. Will that make it 3rd? Half-distance and Piquet comes in. And yes, it will make it 3rd. Nelson is down to 5th - and he cannot catch back up.

 

So.

 

Rosberg only behind the Renaults. Whose reliability has been wafer-thin.

 

When will they blow up?

 

Hang on, can Rosberg CATCH them up? He's got Lauda up his chuff but he is carving chunks out of them. Suddenly he is six seconds off Prost in the lead. And right behind Arnoux. RIGHT behind him. One more overtake for the title.

 

De Cesaris.

 

Ah. De Cesaris.

 

1981 saw de Cesaris have more crashes than races.  He missed one Grand Prix because he had run McLaren out of cars, spare parts and patience.  Watson was up front winning races; Andrea finished the season with one point.  The same as Theodore.  

 

He already has Mansell's vertebra as a trophy.  This ought to have been his final season in F1.  But Daddy is a Big Wheel at Marlboro Italy.  McLaren asked for a hundred million billion pounds in sponsorship for the repair bills.  So Marlboro moved de Crasheris to Alfa.

 

Andrea had a good qualifying.  Fifth.  To be fair, he has always been fast.  Just moronic.

 

But in the race he is back to Classic De Cesaris. The Renaults have already lapped him, and with Rosberg ready to follow suit, it is time for Andrea to show what he could do.

 

Namely, drive like a wankerous ****.

 

He's weaving all over the place, cutting Rosberg off. And then blasting a little gap on the straight so Rosberg cannot capitalize.

 

In one lap alone Rosberg and Lauda lose four seconds to the Renaults. Has de Cesaris been paid off?

 

Finally, with just over 20 to go, Rosberg ekes his way past. Lauda cannot do so. By the time he does, Rosberg is seven seconds up the road.

 

Rosberg had been a second behind Arnoux. He is now 14 behind. Andrea doesn't just damage cars.  

 

But he has put Keke's dander well up.  In  a dozen laps he gets to within four seconds of Arnoux.

 

Who is catching Prost hand over fist. The number 15 has lost part of a skirt and with it significant grip.

 

Rosberg only needs to pass one for the title; can he pass the two?

 

The crowd is desperate. There has never been a French world champion before. They have an elect lying in a hospital bed. And now it is only the French cars keeping the Frenchman on the top step.

 

There are eight laps to go.

 

Prost. Arnoux. Rosberg. Blat-blat-blat.

 

Prost. Rosberg. Arnoux. Blat-blat-poot.

 

Addio, campeonato.

 

The crowd whistles as Arnoux is pitting. Fuel. There are seven to go. He cannot be out of fuel, surely? He isn't. He is out of electricity. Back out of the pits, first corner, Arnoux is out. For good.

 

Rosberg is the champion. The winless champion. Because a disgusted flagman decides to flag the race off early. If France cannot have the world champion, it can at least have the Grand Prix winner. Allez, Alain!

 

Peter Collins spots this from the Williams pit. M'sieu, s'il vous plait. The official grudgingly puts the flag down again. Two to go and Rosberg is not going to be a winless champion. He passes Prost. To the delight of the patriotic Williams. He can ban the French media again.

 

Maybe in hope of a late twist the official refuses to flag Rosberg as a winner. Doesn't really matter. The vodka is already flowing with the significant Suomi contingent in the crowd.  Rosberg has gone from zero to hero.          

[Collombin]

Not sure Daly outqualified Rosberg really, didn't he take a shortcut along Harry Schell Avenue?

[Afterburner]

Reading Collombin’s cut-and-shut championship thread reminded me of this one. I don’t know if there are any seasons in any series in the intervening years that would fit, but I’m sure we could have some fun with 2021… French GP as the final race perhaps?

For the sake of the topic’s health, I’m banning Monza 2021 and Silverstone 2021 from the discussion!

[John B]

Among the many oddities and possibilities of 1982 if the Swiss GP occurred at the end I believe Pironi would have had a chance to win the title without Rosberg, who started 8th finishing P1 or 2, and Rosberg could have been a winless WDC as there would have been no need to pass Prost at the end (and trigger the checkered flag antics).

[NewMrMe]

A couple I can think of.

 

1983 - Europe

For the fact it would have been a winner takes all three way last race decider. The top 3 going into the last race would have been Prost 51, Piquet 50, Arnoux 49.

 

1990 - Portugal

The points going into the last race would be Senna 72, Prost 69. Prost though had already scored points in 11 races and under the rules at the time you could only count your best 11 scores. Prost would therefore be dropping his 5th place finish from Canada if he bettered it. Going into the race Senna had 6 wins to Prost's 5 but Prost had 2 second places to Senna's 1. This meant that if Prost won with Senna 3rd they would tie on points but Prost would take the title on countback.

 

Can Prost's teammate, Nigel Mansell beat Senna and help Prost win the championship? It looks good after qualifying as the Ferraris take the front row with Mansell on pole.The McLarens of Senna and Gerhard Berger line up 3rd and 4th.

The start though is a disaster for Ferrari. Senna takes the lead from Berger and Mansell with Prost now down in 5th behind Nelson Piquet.

After 12 laps Prost dispatches Piquet and later Mansell. The race is shaping up to be a battle between the two McLarens and two Ferraris. A great battle to decide the championship, Will the teammates be able to influence the results?

On lap 29 Senna and Mansell are the first of the frontrunners to pit. The earlier stop proves to be the correct option as Mansell leapfrogs both Berger and Prost when they pit to move up to second.

On lap 50, with the top 4 still only covered by a few seconds Mansell takes the lead from Senna. Can Mansell now be the spoiler Ferrari needs.

On lap 59 Prost overtakes Berger for third. Is it now an on track fight between Senna and Prost for the title as Mansell will surely move over if Alain can get ahead.

 

Now for the anti-climatic championship deciding moment.

After 61 of the scheduled 71 laps has been completed Aguri Suzuki and Alex Caffi crash heavily at turn 2 resulting in the race being red flagged. The rules at time were that if a race was red flagged and more than 75% of the race distance had been completed it would not be restarted and would be declared a result with the positions from the end of the last completed lap. Mansell wins the race and Senna the championship.

[Rediscoveryx]

Monaco 1984 would be an interesting one. Prost is 5 points behind Lauda, and with Lauda out, he needs a first or second. He's leading but then inexplicably calls for the race to be stopped, which then happens and he's only awarded 4.5 points for his efforts. He's then certified insane and lives out his days in an asylum, destined never to be world champion.

But other than that particular scenario, that would be quite an interesting one. Would they have still stopped the race? Arguably not.

Is the race directed by Ickx or Masi in this scenario?

[MJB5990]

Baku 2021.

Leclerc on pole, Lewis 2nd, Max 3rd. The Ferrari is passed by the championship contenders early because a sloppy Mercedes pit stop ends up with Lewis stuck behind Perez.

Max is cruising to his first WDC, with Perez keeping Lewis well back from the champion in waiting. Then Pirelli happens, red flag and Lewis is WDC with two laps to go. He restarts P2 and only needs P6, until ...

Brake magic.

[NewMrMe]

Another one that could have had interesting implications had it been the last race.

 

France 1999

 

Points going into the race Irvine 73 Hakkinen 70

 

The actual top 6 in the results were

1 Frentzen

2 Hakkinen

3 Barrichelllo

4 R Schumacher

5 M Schumacher

6 Irvine

 

Which makes the final points Hakkinen 76, Irvine 74.

 

As well as being a wet race with wet qualifying and an usual race another notable feature of this race was that Michael Schumacher was strangely nowhere on pace. Irvine was the quickest Ferrari by some margin here, his best lap was 0.75 better than Schumacher's.  Schumacher started from 6th on the grid whilst Irvine was down in 17th. Irvine fought through the field though and did catch Schumacher, as this was pre-Silverstone accident though Irvine just sat behind Schumacher and didn't challenge him even though he was quicker. Had this been the last race the Ferrari team orders would have swtiched around and Schumacher would have let Irvine through but how much further could Irvine have gone?

 

There is a strong argument to say that Irvine would have been ahead of Ralf Schumacher in fourth. Whilst making his way through the field he caught and passed Ralf. Ralf later caught and passed both Ferraris when Irvine was just sitting on Schumacher's gearbox. A fourth place finish would have meant the points were Hakkinen 76, Irvine 76, with Mika winning the championship on countback.

 

When making that case to say that Irvine would have beaten Ralf Schumacher it is worth noting that Barrichello in third was only another 2 seconds in front. If Irvine could have got ahead of him than Eddie would have been world champion.

Edited by NewMrMe, 16 July 2022 - 10:05.

[HighwayStar]

There are several races from the 2007 season which could have made for a very interesting finale - China has been already mentioned, but I think the Japanese GP would also have provided a fascinating title decider.

 

Championship standings going into the race:

 

Fernando Alonso - 109pts

 

Kimi Raikkonen - 104pts

 

Lewis Hamilton - 99pts

 

Alonso entered the first race at Fuji Speedway since 1977 as strong favourite to win the title and gain his third consecutive world championship, a feat bettered only by Fangio and Schumacher. Lewis Hamilton had looked to be in a strong position to become the first ever rookie world champion, but after scoring just two points in the previous two races in China and Brazil he needed to win the race with Alonso scoring no points to have any chance. The Ferrari driver had brought himself firmly into the championship battle with three consecutive victories, but Alonso would only need to finish third regardless of Raikkonen's result.

 

In qualifying, the top three in the championship occupied the first three grid slots, with Hamilton getting a much needed pole position ahead of Alonso, handily placed in second, with Raikkonen third. Horrendous weather conditions meant the race started behind the safety car, but Ferrari fitted the wrong wet tyres to both cars and were forced to pit Raikkonen and team mate Felipe Massa (out of championship contention) to change to extreme wet tyres, sending them to the back of the field. This left Alonso in a very strong position when racing finally begun in earnest after nearly 20 laps behind the safety car.

 

Raikkonen made good progress fighting through the field and was in tenth place when Hamilton made his first pit stop, but he remained a long shot for the title. Hamilton then experienced a scare when he collided with Robert Kubica, but was able to continue. The situation situation changed dramatically on lap 41 when Alonso spun off and crashed, with Hamilton back in the lead the young Briton was on course to become the first ever rookie champion by having more second place finishes than his team mate (both drivers would finish the season with the same number of points and four wins apiece). Raikkonen was still out of the points positions at this stage, albeit with drivers ahead of him yet to pit, but needed to finish at least fourth to defeat the McLaren drivers. However, the Finn was given a significant boost when Sebastian Vettel, running an impressive third for Toro Rosso, clouted Mark Webber's Red Bull behind the safety car, eliminating both drivers. Hamilton continued to lead the race but Raikkonen was up to fifth after the race resumed and moved up to the fourth place he needed when he passed Coulthard. When team mate Massa pitted, Raikkonen was in third place and held that position to the end, thus beating beating both McLaren drivers to the title by a single point. Despite falling just short, however, Hamilton made an impressive end to his rookie campaign with a superb victory in the horrendous conditions, leading many to speculate that he would go one better in 2008, especially as he would no longer be in direct competition with Alonso. The Spaniard, who knew the Japanese GP would be his final race for McLaren after his acrimonious falling out with the team, was left to rue his costly error, without which he would have returned to Renault with another title to his name. The accolades however ultimately went to Raikkonen, whose victory was achieved by scoring 36 points out of a possible 40 from the final four races.

Edited by HighwayStar, 17 July 2022 - 09:33.