Formula 1 News

Kimi Raikkonen confirmed as 2007 Drivers’ Championship winner 

Kimi Raikkonen was confirmed late Sunday as the 2007 Formula One drivers’ world champion when the Brazilian Grand Prix race stewards chose not to penalize two teams for having irregular fuel. A statement from the stewards at Interlagos nearly six hours after the end of the showdown race, won by Raikkonen in a Ferrari, confirmed the original result of the event.

A technical report said that fuel samples taken from the BMW Sauber and Williams teams showed clear discrepancies in temperatures to those permitted, but the stewards did not punish them. If they had done so, then three drivers may have been excluded from the race result and Briton Lewis Hamilton, who finished seventh, could have been lifted to fourth and therefore taken enough points to edge Raikkonen for the world title.

Article 6.5.5 of the Formula One technical regulations states: “No fuel on board the car may be more than 10 degrees centigrade below ambient temperature.” FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer said all fuel samples from the four cars showed temperature of 12 to 14 degrees centigrate lower than the ambient temperature at the time. Nico Rosberg of Williams finished fourth ahead of the two BMW Sauber drivers Pole Robert Kubica and German Nick Heidfeld with Hamilton seventh. No official spokesmen for teams or the ruling body, the FIA, were able to make any comment. Hamilton began the day four points ahead of his teammate, defending double world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain, and seven ahead of Raikkonen. Hamilton was long gone from the track when the drama began.