2007 Japanese GP: Hamilton masters the Fuji rain battle

Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 Japanese GP at Fuji Speedway from pole position. He crossed the line ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in the Renault and Kimi Räikkönen in the Ferrari. The race was decided on lap 42: Hamilton drove for McLaren, and that was where his teammate and title rival Fernando Alonso went off in the relentless rain. Hamilton also set the fastest lap of the race.

With rain pouring down and fog hanging over the circuit, the race started behind the Safety Car. Bernd Mayländer led the field for 19 laps. Race Control had mandated extreme wet tyres. Only Ferrari sent Räikkönen and Felipe Massa out on softer wet tyres. Ferrari team principal Jean Todt later said the team had not been informed of the tyre requirement in the same way as the others. Both Ferraris had to pit early and dropped to the back of the field. On top of that, Massa was handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking under yellow flags.

There was trouble right at the restart: Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber and Jenson Button in the Honda collided, and Button lost his front wing. That played into the hands of Sebastian Vettel: 8th on the grid had already been the Toro Rosso team's best qualifying, and he now ran third behind the two McLarens. At the very first corner after the restart, Alexander Wurz spun his Williams, slid into Massa and was out after 19 laps.

Hamilton led up to and including lap 28. When the front-runners pitted, drivers on different strategies moved to the front. Vettel led from lap 29, making him, at 20 years and 89 days, the youngest leader in Formula 1 history. After Vettel's only stop, Mark Webber took over in the Red Bull from lap 32. Webber was still battling the after-effects of food poisoning. Kovalainen (from lap 37) and Giancarlo Fisichella (from lap 40) then led briefly before Hamilton was back in front from lap 41.

This phase was frantic. According to grandprix.com, Robert Kubica and Hamilton collided on lap 34 and both spun. Kubica received a drive-through penalty for it. A lap later Alonso and Vettel made contact; the Spaniard spun as well but was able to continue.

An error from Alonso then decided the race. According to crash.net, he lost control at Turn five on lap 42 and hit the wall hard. Alonso himself blamed aquaplaning. He climbed out unhurt, but for the first time this season a McLaren failed to reach the finish. The Safety Car came back out.

Behind the Safety Car came the second shock. Webber was running second with Vettel right behind him. On lap 46, on the wet track, Vettel ran into the back of the Red Bull. Webber was out on the spot, while Vettel limped back to the pits and retired too. Both lost a possible podium. Vettel took the blame and was initially handed a ten-place grid penalty for the Chinese GP. After new evidence emerged, the FIA later reduced the penalty to a reprimand. The FIA then looked into Hamilton's driving behind the Safety Car, as he was alleged to have braked suddenly and forced Webber to brake. Hamilton was not penalised.

The crash promoted Kovalainen to second. Räikkönen had fought his way through the entire field after Ferrari's botched start and passed David Coulthard on lap 57. He then hunted down Kovalainen and attacked him repeatedly in the closing laps. Kovalainen countered every time and, according to grandprix.com, finished around 1.1 seconds ahead of his compatriot. It was the first podium of Kovalainen's career, and also the first time two Finns had stood on the podium together. Hamilton won by 8.377 seconds; his fastest lap was a 1:28.193 on lap 27.

Further back there was a duel right to the final corner: Massa and Kubica swapped places several times on the last lap. In the end, according to crash.net, Massa was two tenths ahead and finished sixth.

Adrian Sutil gained the most places. He started 20th and finished eighth. Vitantonio Liuzzi had actually crossed the line ahead of him, but was given a 25-second time penalty for passing Sutil under yellow flags. That gave Sutil his first championship point and the first for Spyker. *Context: it would remain the team's only point.* Other winners were Kovalainen (from 11th to 2nd), Coulthard (from 12th to 4th) and Rubens Barrichello, who went from 17th to tenth.

Retirements according to the official classification:

• Alexander Wurz (Williams): after 19 laps, collision
• Fernando Alonso (McLaren): after 41 laps, accident
• Mark Webber (Red Bull): after 45 laps, collision
• Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso): after 46 laps, collision
• Nico Rosberg (Williams): after 49 laps, electronics
• Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri): after 54 laps, throttle
• Ralf Schumacher (Toyota): after 55 laps, puncture
• Takuma Sato (Super Aguri): after 65 laps, collision, classified 15th
• Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber): after 65 laps, technical failure, classified 14th
• Jenson Button (Honda): after 66 laps, suspension, classified 11th

The biggest loser was Alonso. He retired from 2nd on the grid and lost valuable ground in the title race.

With two races to go, Hamilton led the 2007 standings on 107 points. That put him 12 points clear of Alonso (95) and 17 ahead of Räikkönen (90). Thanks to his third place, the Ferrari driver was still mathematically in title contention. Massa followed on 80 points, ahead of Heidfeld (56) and Kubica (35). In the constructors' standings, Ferrari led comfortably on 170 points from BMW Sauber (92) and Renault (51).

It was Hamilton's fourth win of the season. He had survived the Fuji chaos despite his spin after the contact with Kubica, and after this rain battle the world title seemed within reach in his rookie season. Next up was the Chinese GP.