2007 Brazilian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads with 107 points, four ahead of Alonso on 103 and seven ahead of Räikkönen on 100. This is the first three-driver title fight at a season finale since the 1986 Australian Grand Prix, when Prost became champion ahead of Mansell and Piquet. Ferrari have already clinched the Constructors’ Championship.

Previous race

Räikkönen won in China, passing Hamilton on lap 28 and taking the lead as Hamilton’s worn tyres gave out; Hamilton subsequently spun off at the wet pit entrance and was unable to continue — his first retirement of his Formula One career. Alonso finished second, Massa third.

Championship permutations

Wikipedia’s race article states the championship decider explicitly: if Alonso won the title, he would become the youngest driver to win three consecutive championships, aged 26 years and 84 days. If Hamilton won, he would be both the first rookie World Champion and the youngest ever, aged 22 years and 287 days. If Räikkönen won, he would become the first Finnish champion since Mika Häkkinen in 1999; he previously missed out in 2003 and 2005.

Entrants

Alexander Wurz retired from Formula One after China. He is replaced at Williams-Toyota by Kazuki Nakajima, son of former F1 driver Satoru Nakajima. His entry means three Japanese drivers start a Grand Prix for the first time since the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix.

Milestones

This is the final race of Ralf Schumacher’s Formula One career before he moves to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. It is also the last Formula One race to feature traction control, which has been permitted for the past seven seasons and is banned from 2008 with the introduction of standardised ECUs.

Track changes

The largest-scale repairs in 35 years have been carried out at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. The circuit was closed for five months while the entire existing asphalt surface was removed and replaced. The pit lane entrance was also enhanced for safety. A new CPTM metro station — Line C, Autódromo — opened on 17 October, improving access from central São Paulo; 7,100 spectators used the new station on race day alone.

Practice

Ferrari top both Friday sessions. Räikkönen leads the first (wet) session. Hamilton leads FP2 as the track improves, heading a McLaren one-two. McLaren, Honda, and Super Aguri are each fined €15,000 by stewards for a tyre rule infringement — Hamilton, Button, and Sato each used two sets of wet tyres in FP1, one set more than permitted. Each driver was also required to surrender a set of wet tyres.