Hamilton edges closer to F1 title
Hamilton is now one race away from securing the world title
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Sunday, 30, Sep 2007 09:54
Lewis Hamilton's hopes of winning the world championship have improved significantly following his victory in the Japanese grand prix in which rival Fernando Alonso crashed out.
The race began under the safety car as wet conditions were deemed too dangerous to allow a traditional start. Indeed the weather was so bad it almost stopped the race from taking place altogether.
After 19 laps behind the safety car the track was dry enough for racing to commence. Hamilton stretched out a three-second lead ahead of Alonso before the first round of pit stops.
The Spaniard pitted first and came out in sixth place. Hamilton stopped a lap later and was able to come out ahead in third.
Conditions were still treacherous and while caught in among the pack of cars both Hamilton and Alonso suffered collisions with other drivers.
Alonso was hit by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel which seemed to cause some damage to the McLaren's bodywork.
Crucially Alonso crashed out five laps later. After exiting the fast turn five his car slid at the entry to turn six and went straight into the wall.
This brought the safety car out again with Hamilton in the lead after the rest of the field had pitted. Despite being behind the safety car Vettel crashed into the back of Mark Webber, who was second at the time, leaving the Australian incandescent.
That incident put Renault's Heikki Kovalainen in second place ahead of Felipe Massa, David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen eventually fought his way past Coulthard with 11 laps remaining and, when he caught team-mate Massa, Ferrari called the Brazilian into the pits. This allowed the Finn to take third place on the podium behind Kovalainen.
At the head of the field Hamilton calmly ushered his McLaren around the course until the chequered flag came out on lap 67.
The victory puts him 12 points ahead of Alonso with two races remaining. Raikkonen is 17 points behind the Briton and retains only a slim chance of taking the world crown.