Top Ten Formula One Races of the Decade – Part II
5. 2008 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2008 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps was full of drama and controversy as title rivals Massa and Hamilton fought out the season until the very end. The drivers’ championship lead kept swinging from one to the other for the best part of the season. Under such intense conditions, both drivers attained the front row of the grid after the qualifying. In only the second lap of the race, Hamilton made a mistake allowing Raikkonen to take the lead. Raikkonen led the race until the very end before it started to rain. Under wet conditions, Hamilton was clearly faster than Raikkonen who started to gain ground on him. He made an overtaking manoeuvre on the Finn at the Bus Stop Chicane but was forced wide to cut across the corner. To avoid any unfair advantage, Hamilton gave the track position back to Kimi and instantly overtook him. Kimi tried to get the lead back but soon crashed into the barriers. Hamilton was the first person to cross the finish line while Massa finished second by some distance. After the race, the stewards investigated the overtaking move and handed Hamilton a 25-second penalty which classified him in the third place after Massa and Heidfeld. Hamilton, before the penalty which drew criticism from around the globe, opened up a gap of 8 points to Massa in the championship, but the final standings made his lead shrink to 2 points.
4. 2000 Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian GP in 2000 started under the safety car due to extremely wet conditions. Mika Hakkinen who was the pole sitter easily started to pull away after the race started while Schumacher was stuck in 4th behind the slow cars of Trulli and Button. Both Button and Trulli collided and it opened the door for Schumacher to move right behind Mika. With rain disappearing, Hakkinen made the wrong choice of shifting to dry tyres right away and a spin in the puddle allowed the German to take the lead. With a few laps remaining in the 44th lap, Hakkinen found his pace again and started to gain on Schumacher. With 5 laps to go, he tried to overtake Schumacher and went side-by-side before he was pushed into grass at the Kemmel Straight approaching Les Combes. In the very next lap at the same spot, Hakkinen was on to it again. As Schumacher was about to lap Ricardo Zonta’s B.A.R, Hakkinen shifted to the left behind Schumacher in a dummy move and the German went around Zonta. He believed that the Finn would follow him around Zonta. But instead, Mika Hakkinen took the inside of the backmarker all of a sudden to surprise Schumacher as he out-braked him to take the lead. This audacious overtaking move from Mika is still considered to be the best in Formula One history.
3. 2005 Japanese Grand Prix
It was the McLaren and Renault teams that locked horns in the 2005 season. The wet conditions in Suzuka didn’t help the front runners as most of the familiar faces started at the back of the grid. Ralf Schumacher, who was on pole position, couldn’t maintain his lead after the first pit stop and fell to 8th position as Fisichella now led the race. Alonso, the championship leader moved up the order from 16th to 8th place after the end of the first lap. Raikkonen started the race at 17th and went further back after he ran wide at the start of the race. A couple of accident on the track allowed drivers to move up and soon Alonso and Raikkonen found themselves at the back of Michael Schumacher in the middle of the field. Alonso passed Schumacher and made a pit stop. Raikkonen and Schumacher both pitted after a few laps and emerged in front of Alonso. After the second round of pit stops, Raikkonen found himself behind Fisichella who kept piling up the pressure for the Italian. On the last lap of the race, Kimi was close enough to make a move on the Renault. He took the outside of Fisichella on the casino triangle and slid past him as Fisichella helplessly watched. Moments later, Raikkonen passed the finished line and claimed the victory from the 17th position on the grid.
2. Brazilian Grand Prix 2007
Lewis Hamilton entered the last race of the season leading the championship with just 4 points. He locked the second position on the grid with his closest rivals Alonso and Raikkonen right behind him. At the start of the race, both his rivals passed Hamilton with ease. Soon afterwards, a temporary problem with Hamilton’s gearbox dropped him to the 18th position. The two Ferraris on the front pulled away from Alonso in the third place. Hamilton, who needed to finish in the 5th position regardless of what Raikkonen did, started to move up the pack gradually. At the second stop, Kimi Raikkonen gained the race lead and looked good for the victory. Hamilton, who was lapped, could only manage the 7th place at the end of the race. Raikkonen won the championship by a single point from Alonso and Hamilton.
1. Brazilian Grand Prix 2008
Arguably the best season finale of the Formula One history was decided by a margin of few seconds. Lewis Hamilton, who was at the 4th place at the start of the race, was leading the championship with 7 points from pole sitter Massa. Hamilton needed to finish the race at the 5th place to earn his first drivers’ crown. All was well for the Brit until it started to rain on lap 61 of the race which saw all front runners, with the exception of Glock, to switch to intermediate tyres. Hamilton dropped a place due to this pit stop. As rain became heavier in lap 66, Hamilton was challenged for his position by Vettel who soon overtook him and placed Massa in a position to win the championship. Massa finished the race and the entire Ferrari camp went into jubilation before Hamilton crossed the line. On the last corner of the race, both Vettel and Hamilton passed Timo Glock, who was still on dry tyres and was extremely slow. This allowed Hamilton to gain a track position and subsequently win the championship after an epic race. As a result, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest world champion in Formula One history.
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