[Race] The GROAT - Round 4 - 1989 Suzuka vs 2008 Interlagos

[crmalcolm]

1989 Suzuka
Qualifying would see Senna claim his twelfth pole position of the season, while Prost secured second alongside. Behind them came the two Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Nigel Mansell, while Riccardo Patrese and Alessandro Nannini shared the third row.

However, while Senna won the battle in qualifying, it was Prost who won the battle of the start, easing ahead of the Brazilian into the first corner. They both managed to pull clear of the Ferraris during the opening tour, with Berger and Mansell fighting with Nannini.

All of the attention would be on the battle of the McLarens out front, for Senna had to win the race just to keep his title hopes alive. At half-distance it seemed as if Prost was destined to win the battle, having established a five second lead, only for Senna to inch his way back towards him as the race wore on.

By lap 40 the Brazilian was right on the Frenchman's tail, but was unable to pull off a move, for Prost was quicker down the straights. Indeed, it was going to take a lunge from Senna to claim the lead, with the Brazilian making several sighting moves into the chicane.

At the end of lap 46 Senna finally made his move, slinging his McLaren inside Prost's car as they braked for the chicane. A huge smack between the two left Prost with suspension damage and a stalled engine, while Senna was left with wing damage and a stalled Honda unit.

However, while Prost abandoned his car, Senna would be able to bump start his car, having been pushed twice by the marshals. He subsequently cut across the chicane, entered the pits for a fresh front wing and rejoined, before hunting down Nannini in the closing stages.

With three laps to go the Brazilian scythed past the Benetton-Ford Cosworth to reclaim the lead, before sprinting away to claim victory. However, immediately after the race the officials opted to disqualify Senna for missing the chicane, with the Brazilian also hit with a six month ban (albeit suspended) and a $100,000 fine.

Nannini was hence declared the victor of the Japanese Grand Prix, while Prost was declared as the winner of the Championship with a race to spare. Elsewhere, Patrese beat Thierry Boutsen to second, while Nelson Piquet, Martin Brundle and Derek Warwick claimed the remaining points.


2008 Interlagos
Arriving in Brazil it was Hamilton who held the advantage in the Championship, holding a seven point lead over Massa. Likewise, they're teams McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari would arrive with the Constructors Championship to fight for, with the latter starting the finale on the upper-hand with eleven points in hand.

Qualifying for the finale saw Massa gain an advantage, as he claimed pole position ahead of Jarno Trulli. Hamilton would manage to secure fourth behind Massa's teammate Kimi Räikkönen, with the Brit knowing that fifth place in the race, regardless of Massa's finishing position, would get him the title.

Rain would plague race day, with a late-shower resulting in everyone bar Robert Kubica changing their tyres to intermediates on the grid. The Polish racer instead gambled on slicks, although he would dive into the pits at the end of the formation lap having found the conditions too tricky, meaning he started from the pitlane.

The start saw Massa sprint into an early lead, with the rest of the field getting away in grid order to leave Hamilton in fourth behind Räikkönen. At the back, meanwhile, David Coulthard's final race ended at the second corner when he was tapped into a spin by Nico Rosberg, which pushed him into Kazuki Nakajima and broke his suspension.

Nelson Piquet, Jr. then had an accident all on his own at turn three to bring out the Safety Car, with the circuit already drying enough for some to gamble on slicks even behind the SC. When the race resumed on lap five Massa retained the lead from Trulli, Räikkönen and Hamilton, while Rosberg and Jenson Button made early stops for slicks a lap later.

The latter duo's strong pace soon saw the rest of the field flood into the pits, although there would be some major changes to the order. Indeed, while Massa had retained the lead, Sebastian Vettel had leapt into second, Fernando Alonso had jumped to third, Räikkönen moved ahead of Trulli but dropped to fourth and Giancarlo Fisichella streaked up from last to fifth, and was harassing Räikkönen having been the first to stop.

Massa and Vettel exchanged several fastest laps at the head of the field, as Hamilton found himself stuck in sixth behind Fisichella. Indeed, it was only on lap eighteen that the Brit finally elbowed his way through, before being promoted an additional place when a low-fuelled Vettel stopped on lap 27.

The order settled after that, with the second round of stops seeing Massa retain the lead ahead of Alonso, while Räikkönen remained in third ahead of Hamilton. That order would hence give Hamilton the Championship title, and even a charging Vettel could do little to affect the title picture.

However, the skies over São Paulo were darkening, and on lap 63 the rain returned, prompting Heidfeld to dive in for inters very early. The rain increased and Alonso and Räikkönen dived in on lap 65, with Hamilton and Vettel following in a lap later, while Massa remained out until lap 67.

Timo Glock was the only driver to remain on slicks, and hence jumped to fourth in the field as the rain intensified in the final two laps. Hamilton, meanwhile, had slipped to sixth as Vettel had elbowed his way ahead of him, and hence started the final lap looking as though he would miss-out on the title for a second season.

Massa duly crossed the line to claim the race victory, while Alonso and Räikkönen completed the podium. Hamilton, meanwhile, would remain in sixth, until he and Vettel passed a very slow Glock, whose pace had collapsed on the final lap, at the final corner, promoting the Brit to fifth. That simultaneously made Hamilton the World Champion by a single point, and broke the hearts of Massa, Ferrari and the 80,000 strong home crowd.

[S griffin]

Has to be Brazil 2008. Kept you tense throughout and had a fairytale ending. Also didn't end in controversy like Suzuka 1989

[crmalcolm]

Deciding vote time again - 2008 Interlagos

[Aysedasi]

Harrumph......