2007 China Grand Prix Flashback

Lewis Hamilton took F1 by storm in his 2007 debut season, and entered the Chinese grand prix on the brink of winning the world championship.

The Englishman was stuck in season-long fight with his McLaren team-mate, Fernando Alonso, and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, and claimed four wins during the season.

His consistency saw him lead Alonso by 12 points and Raikkonen by 17 heading into the penultimate race of the season.
If he finished ahead of both of them, or within one point of Alonso and six points of Raikkonen then he would become champion.

His weekend got off to a perfect start when he qualified on pole, and the wet conditions on Sunday looked like giving him an advantage.

At the start of the race he eased into the lead, leaving Raikkonen, Alonso and Felipe Massa to fight behind.

As the track dried, Hamilton began to suffer severe tyre wear but his team opted against changing them at his first stop as more rain was forecast.

With Raikkonen closing fast, Hamilton began to make mistakes as the tread on his tyres continued to dwindle.
When he was finally called into the pits, he ran wide into the gravel trap on his way in and beached his car, forcing him into retirement.

Raikkonen went on to win the race, cutting Hamilton’s championship lead to seven points. In the final grand prix of the season, Raikkonen won in Brazil and claimed the championship after Hamilton suffered mechanical issues.
2007 was a vintage season, and China was a classic race.

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