The GROAT - Semi-Final - 1979 Dijon vs 2008 Interlagos

[crmalcolm]

1979 Dijon
Renault would start the weekend in a rather dominant mood, with Jabouille edging out teammate René Arnoux to grab pole as the yellow-black cars locked out the front row. Gilles Villeneuve in the #12 Ferrari was their closest challenger, with Nelson Piquet the best of those on Goodyear tyres in fourth.

Things would not go Renault's way at the start of the race, however, for Villeneuve would charge past the two yellow-black cars to claim the lead into turn one. Jabouille would go sprinting after the Canadian in second, while a miserable start for Arnoux saw the #16 Renault tumble to ninth.

The early stages would soon come to be dominated by Arnoux's recovery through the field, with the Frenchman weaving back up to third by lap fifteen. By that stage Villeneuve and Jabouille had disappeared into the distance, with Arnoux himself soon on his to leave Jody Scheckter to defend fourth from Piquet.

Villeneuve's time in the lead would come to an end shortly after the halfway point, the Canadian having burned through the best of his tyres early on. Jabouille duly went screaming past and disappeared into the distance, while Villeneuve began a slow tumble back towards Arnoux.

Arnoux would catch the Canadian with a handful of laps to go, and duly went charging through with three laps to run, only for an engine issue on the penultimate tour to gift second back to Villeneuve. The duo subsequently engaged in a thrilling duel across the entire final lap, with Villeneuve just hanging onto second by two tenths.

Out front, meanwhile, Jabouille secured an imperious maiden victory for himself and Renault, fifteen seconds clear of the fight behind him. Elsewhere, Alan Jones would inherit fourth after Piquet and Scheckter hit trouble, with Jean-Pierre Jarier and Clay Regazzoni completing the scorers list.


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.