Another delayed review and my second review for the day. This time its for the Japanese Grand Prix 2007. This year, the race was not held at the usual Suzuka circuit. Instead, it took place at Fuji Speedway in the midst of lovely mountains. The weather was always going to play a crucial part in this race and so it did, in a big way. In the process, it left the F1 fans with non-stop entertainment in what could easily be described as the best race so far this season.

Kimi Raikkonen was on a high after his last Grand Prix victory and the McLaren pair had to deliver this time. During the practice sessions and the qualifying, the four top cars were inseparable in terms of performance. At the dying moments, Hamilton snatched the pole and his team-mate, Alonso, stacked in right alongside. Kimi and Massa had to settle for 3rd and 4th place on the grid. This was just the beginning and the real excitement started during the race when the cars had to start behind the safety car. They circled the race track behind the safety car for 19 laps before getting on with the racing.

Ferrari team committed a blunder when they decided to start Kimi and Massa on intermediates when the rest of the grid was on extreme wet weather tires. The FIA forced them to make a change owing to safety regulations and this cost them dear. Hamilton was on a race of his own and finished the race in first place without a hitch, almost. Alonso was not so lucky and ended his race with an accident. The maximum entertainment was provided by the two Ferrari as they clawed back from dead last on the grid to 3rd (Kimi) and 6th (Massa).

Kimi provided some stunning overtakes, the best of them on Coulthard and almost repeated it on Heikki Kovalainen to clinch the second place. However, Heikki was lucky to get his position back. He finished with a well deserved second place. Coulthard and Fisichella finished just ahead of Massa. Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil took the final points on offer. This was a great result for Lewis and he’s almost certain to clinch the driver’s title. The full results from the race are as follows -

1 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 67 - 2:00:34.579
2 - Heikki Kovalainen - Renault - 67 - +8.3 secs
3 - Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 67 - +9.4 secs
4 - David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault - 67 - +20.2 secs
5 - Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault - 67 - +38.8 secs
6 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 67 - +49.0 secs
7 - Robert Kubica - BMW - 67 - +49.2 secs
8 - Adrian Sutil - Spyker-Ferrari - 67 - +60.1 secs

9 - Vitantonio Liuzzi - STR-Ferrari - 67 - +80.6 secs
10 - Rubens Barrichello - Honda - 67 - +88.3 secs
11 - Jenson Button - Honda - 66 - +1 Lap
12 - Sakon Yamamoto - Spyker-Ferrari - 66 - +1 Lap
13 - Jarno Trulli - Toyota - 66 - +1 Lap

Ret - Nick Heidfeld - BMW - 65 - Technical
Ret - Takuma Sato - Super Aguri-Honda - 65 - Collision
Ret - Ralf Schumacher - Toyota - 55 - Puncture
Ret - Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri-Honda - 54 - Throttle Sensor
Ret - Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota - 49 - Electronics
Ret - Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari - 46 - Collision
Ret - Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault - 45 - Collision
Ret - Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Mercedes - 41 - Accident
Ret - Alexander Wurz - Williams-Toyota - 19 - Collision