Bridgestone motorsport wrap for 7th October 2007

Kimi Raikkonen steals Shanghai showdown

After a disastrous day out in China for McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One Driver's Championship will now be decided in a three-way battle on the final day of the season.

Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

With a healthy 12-point gap on his rivals, Hamilton was leading the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai until it started to rain mid-race and he slid into the gravel on the entry to pit lane.

His exit opened the way for Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen who won the race and collected 10 crucial points, with Hamilton's arch-rival and team mate Fernando Alonso in second and Ferrari's Felipe Massa in third.

All the cars started on the Bridgestone Potenza standard wet-weather tyres, but the McLarens are harder on their rubber than the Ferraris and it made all the difference to the young Englishman.

However, his misfortune has set up a thrilling championship finale in Brazil in a fortnight, with Hamilton on 107 points, only four ahead of Alonso and seven clear of Raikkonen.

The Finn�s victory was the 120th Grand Prix win for Bridgestone Potenza tyres, and a memorable one for the driver.

"I am very happy! It is a really great result for me and the whole team, who have done a truly excellent job. We needed this win and we got it," Raikkonen said.

"The situation in the drivers" classification is still difficult, but I will try everything to win in Brazil, even if the final outcome does not just depend on what we do. It should be a great battle, very hard to predict and interesting."

Raikkonen used the same set of wets for his first two stints, before changing to the medium dry tyre to take the chequered flag.

The Brazilian Grand Prix - the final race of the year - will take place from 19th -21st October at Interlagos in Sao Paulo.

Meanwhile in GP2 news, the new GP2 / 08 car, which will form the basis of competition for the series for the next four years, successfully passed the final test of the F1 2007 safety homologation process.

The GP2 / 08, designed by Dallara, is now the only racing car in the world outside Formula One, which matches every aspect of the very latest 2007 F1 FIA safety standards.