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Formula 1 Features & Interviews
Special Column - Why Tyre Tactics Put Raikkonen Ahead
23/11/2007
Thank goodness for Bridgestone. They were the sole tyre supplier in Formula 1 this year, yet they still played a crucial role in keeping the Drivers' World Championship alive until the final round in Brazil.
They did nothing out of the norm; they continued to produce brilliantly consistent racing tyres and it was the failure of the teams and drivers to optimise the performance of their rubber that proved decisive. Despite the advanced simulation techniques and computer software available to the teams, many of them arrived in Melbourne unprepared for the first race, and all but one of the front-running drivers had to re-think their driving styles.
Only Lewis Hamilton, who had no previous experience of F1 rubber to meddle with his natural instincts, took to the rubber seamlessly. He was quick in winter testing and if it wasn't for his inexperience in the early races, he would have opened up an unassailable lead over Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in the championship table, both of whom were found wanting on the new tyres.
Hamilton knocked up nine consecutive podiums, but only two of those were race wins. As the championship arrived at Magny Cours, the Briton led Alonso by 10 points and Raikkonen by 26. It was still possible for F1's big guns to catch him. Just.
After winning the first race, Raikkonen endured a slump and had to wait until Magny Cours to win again. Still we weren't convinced and it was only when he won at Silverstone a week later that we knew he was a genuine title contender.
There were flashes of brilliance from Alonso at the Nurburgring and Monza, but he never looked comfortable in the McLaren. He lacked confidence and it was only when Hamilton made some costly mistakes in the closing stages of the championship that he was back in the hunt for the title.
So we went to Brazil with a thrilling three-way battle for the title, Hamilton leading Alonso and Raikkonen. Unsurprisingly, the race enjoyed its biggest ever global audience, partly due to the title battle and partly due to the sport's elevated status in the public conscience due to the off-track headlines it had attracted during the preceding two months. Any publicity is clearly good publicity.
On the strength of this one race, the right man - Raikkonen - won. Alonso was out of sorts at Interlagos and never able to match Hamilton on pace. The Briton made some crucial mistakes, but it wasn't the magnitude of the occasion that got to him; it was Raikkonen.
The Ferrari star got the jump on Hamilton into Turn 1 and just as Lewis was getting back on the power at the exit of the corner, Raikkonen brake-tested him, which discombobulated him and allowed Alonso passed. The race and the title belonged to Raikkonen.
The Iceman had stepped up to the plate and taken the biggest prize in world motorsport. Having come close to the title in 2003 and '05, few people in the F1 paddock begrudged him his success. It was just lucky that he sussed how to optimise his Bridgestones when he did. Good old Bridgestone.
Tom Clarkson has been reporting on motorsport for more than a decade, specialising in Formula 1. After beginning his career at F1 Racing Magazine, he went on to edit Bernie Ecclestone's Formula 1 Magazine, and is now an established and successful freelance writer and broadcaster.
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