ALONSO SET UP FOR TITLE
(Image taken from Yahoo)
Unlike last year the F1 circus came into Japan with the title not only still up for grabs but both Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher level on points at the top of the table. Schumacher had the edge due to more wins this season than Alonso but even he needed to win the race and the Spaniard to come out of Susuka empty handed to claim the title here! In the meantime, Midland had completed their transformation into Spyker and I had my earliest wake up for ages to watch the race.
Well DC was one of the early victims in qualifying, the Scot would start 17th with Albers making it into round 2. Of course the Dutchman was going to get toasted at that point but no one had counted on neither McLaren making the top ten. Jenson made the final session though it was Trulli who got the jump on everyone on Toyota's home turf to get the first provisional pole though he'd only line up fourth behind teammate Ralf in third. Michael then beat Trulli's time only to be pipped to pole by Massa, Alonso forced to start fifth behind the Toyotas and Button 7th.
In the race itself, Well DC wound up not doing too badly, though yet again he spent too much time duelling with Toro Rossos but he was soon up from his low grid slot to respectable midtable and at one point was in the points only for his race to come to an end with 18 laps to go due to gearbox trouble. The Scot hadn't failed to finish a race since the European Grand Prix but the year has been dissapointing but still...with Adrian Newey designing the '07 Red Bull...who knows.
In the meantime, Jenson was making his way up through the field and had gotten as far as third before a longish pit stop sent him out of the points for a while but after everyone else had done their stops he'd made it up to fifth only for Michael's engine to conk out and give him fourth. From there the podium was still unworkable and Raikonen was hot on his heels...but the Finn was dealt with after the last batch of pit stops and Jenson picked up another fourth place(though a top five place in the championship isn't workable, he's still garunteed better than last year's ninth place).
As far as the fight at the front was concerned though, it was Massa who went away at the start...but Michael was always going to overtake him before long...and from there it was just a case of what could Alonso do? Answer, he made his way through the field and took Massa for second. Still, it was always going to be Michael to take the win right...well as Murray Walker would have said "to finish first, first you have to finish". Alonso wouldn't have complained though, Massa could have tried to take the lead for himself in the name of Ferrari damage limitation but was restrained to take second and Fisichella got third.
So that leaves the championship looking like this with one race to go: Alonso leading with 126 points, Michael in 2nd with 116, Massa up to 3rd with 70 points, Fisichella down to 4th with 69, Raikonen in 5th with 61, Jenson in 6th with 50 and DC down in 13th with 14.
As much as I'd like to give Alonso the title right now though, another old Murrism comes to mind "anything can happen in Formula 1, and it usually does".
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