Kimi Raikkonen completed one of the most unlikely world title
comebacks of all-time to win a maiden crown in Brazil as Lewis
Hamiltons championship dream evaporated in agonising
fashion.
The Ferrari driver was the outsider of the three title contenders
going into the Interlagos finale, but amazingly ended the race as
world champion after taking victory while the long-time
title-leader hit trouble.
Hamiltons hopes virtually ended after a gearbox glitch on lap
eight lost him 30 seconds and put him down to 18th place.
And despite a spirited fightback, the need to make three stops
ensured he couldnt recover to the fifth place he needed to deny
Kimi the title and had to ultimately settle for seventh
place.
So it is Raikkonen, after two near misses, who finally becomes
world champion in his first year at Ferrari.
And ensures his former team McLaren ends its strong season without
either world championship trophy.
Indeed it was a perfect day for Ferrari as home hero Felipe Massa
ensured a 1-2 finish, after leading the race up until the second
round of stops.
Fernando Alonsos two-year reign as world champion is over after
the Spaniard could do no better than third place
Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish Ferrari 110
2 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 109
3 Fernando Alonso Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 109
4 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 94
5 Nick Heidfeld German BMW 61
6 Robert Kubica Polish BMW 39
7 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Renault 30
8 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 21
9 Nico Rosberg German Williams-Toyota 20
10 David Coulthard British Red Bull-Renault 14
11 Alexander Wurz Austrian Williams-Toyota 13
12 Mark Webber Australian Red Bull-Renault 10
13 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 8
14 Sebastian Vettel German STR-Ferrari 6
15 Jenson Button British Honda 6
16 Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 5
17 Takuma Sato Japanese Super Aguri-Honda 4
18 Vitantonio Liuzzi Italian STR-Ferrari 3
19 Adrian Sutil German Spyker-Ferrari 1
20 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Honda 0
21 Scott Speed USA STR-Ferrari 0
22 Kazuki Nakajima Japanese Williams-Toyota 0
23 Anthony Davidson British Super Aguri-Honda 0
24 Sakon Yamamoto Japanese Spyker-Ferrari 0
25 Christijan Albers Dutch Spyker-Ferrari 0
26 Markus Winkelhock German Spyker-Ferrari 0
