2007 American Grand Prix – Race – Hamilton Makes it 2 in a row…
Posted in Race Results on Jun 18th, 2007 2 Comments »
Lewis Hamilton became the first ever rookie to win 2 back to back races in his rookie season with an inch perfect display at Indianapolis. The Briton was pushed to the finish by his two time world champion teammate, who crossed the chequered flag just 1.5s adrift.
The race was probably won and lost in Q3 in qualification. Hamilton’s perfect lap saw him displace Alonso from the top position and paved way for an all Mc Laren front row. The start saw the two drivers slug it out in corners 1,2 and 3 but Lewis kept his nose ahead and surged forward. Kimi in the Ferrari had a poor start probably something to do with his choice of starting with hard tyres. The choice would comeback to pay dividends later when he made up most in his third stint.
Heikki in the Renault used the opportunity to sneak past Kimi along with Nick Heidfeld. The Finn would drive a consistent race to finish in 5th. Nick on the other hand ran out of luck with a few laps to go.
McLaren chose to call in their drivers a few laps ahead of schedule fearing a safety car. The gap was enough for Lewis to drop in and out of the pits ahead of the Spaniard, a status quo that would stay till the end. There was one notable incident in lap 38 with Alonso lining up Lewis but the Briton held onto his nerves and got the job done.
In the back field, Fisichella spun early and was demoted to the back. The Italian fought hard driving a heavy car and still managed to produce some of the best overtaking at Indy. Liuzzi in the Torro Rosso was a chicane at #11 for most of the race until his retirement at lap 68.
In other retirements Ralf Schumacher ended his race at the first corner after outbreaking himself, Coulthard and Barrichello paid for the accident as it took them out of the race too. Sato spun himself into the kitty litter and beached his car out of the race, but not before he was investigated for overtaking under yellow flags. The Japanese driver will now lose 10 grid positions in France. Rosberg rounded up the unfortunate non finishers after his engine let go with just 4 laps remaining.
The ending part of the race beamed with a brilliant contest between the two Ferrari drivers. Massa held his position to finish ahead of Kimi who had a clear advantage thanks to the tyres. Unfortunately it was too close to the finish and Kimi later revealed that he did not want to stress both his and Massa’s engine before France with an unwarranted move.
Lewis now leads the World Championship with 10 points from his teammate. McLaren are a clear 35pts ahead of Ferrari. This season looks like its shaping up just right for a fight to the finish towards the end…
