The 2007 season of Formula One, which started way back in March in Australia finally drew to a close with the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend.

Friday’s first practice session started at 10am to light rain. As a result, both Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli elected to start on standard wet tyres, with Ralf completing 22 laps to finish in sixth position. Trulli had some problems with balance in his rear tyres and went on to clock up 26 laps to finish the 90 minute session in ninth.

The rain cleared ahead of the afternoon’s practice session which was run under dry conditions from just after the start. The Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers both waited about 30 minutes after the session started for the track condition to improve before starting their runs in earnest. In contrast to Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli found himself struggling to keep the rear end of his machine under control during braking. All the same, his time of 1’14”179 was just 0.3 seconds behind his team mate, but finished in a disappointing 16th.

Leading the field heading into day two was Louis Hamilton (McLaren) with a time of 1’12”767.

In contrast to day one, the weather on the second day of the Brazilian Grand Prix was fine and perfect for racing. After feeling something was not quite right with his machine during practice on Friday, Jarno Trulli decided later that night to switch to the T-car. As a result, he focussed on his settings during Saturday morning’s practice. His tactic reaped results, leading to a fifth-position finish ahead of qualifying.

Ralf Schumacher’s morning proved to be totally in contrast with his team mate – after a smooth run on the previous day, he suddenly found his machine difficult to handle. As a result, he finished the morning’s session in 14th.

The afternoon’s qualifying got underway to mid-summer temperatures of 30 (ambient) and 47 degrees C (track). Both drivers passed through to the second period; however, a 15th-position finish in the second period brought Ralf’s qualifying effort to an end. Jarno Trulli was a different story, however, finishing in eighth in the second period to make it through to the final period for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix (three races previous).

Trulli’s trouble-free run continued in the final session, enabling him to put in a strong performance to finish in eighth and give the team its first good chance at a points finish since the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa (Ferrari) clinched his sixth pole for the season to take his career total to nine. His time: 1’11”931.

The 17-race Formula One season came to a conclusion with the main race of the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. Conditions were torridly hot from morning at Interlagos, with ambient and track temperatures rising to 35 and 53 degrees C, respectively. After securing eighth position on the grid in the previous day’s qualifying, Jarno Trulli got off to a solid start, holding his position through the push and shove of the first corner and into the back straight. In the eighth lap, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) struck problems, leaving seventh position open for Trulli to move into. Then, in the 15th lap, fifth-positioned Mark Webber’s (Red Bull) retirement enabled him to move up into sixth position.

Completing his first pit stop in the 22nd lap, Trulli worked his timing well and came out ahead of Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) to move up the field even further to fifth. He pitted for the second time in the 43rd lap, at which point he elected to stay with the harder soft tyres for his third stint and work on putting in safe but solid lap times. Unfortunately though, he suddenly found the front runners on his tail and had to let them through, losing the advantage of his three-stop strategy.

As a result, he lost positions to Nico Rosberg (Williams), who was on a two-stop strategy, and then to Hamilton during his third pit stop. Even still, he fought on solidly to the end to cross the line in eighth and take home his first points for the drivers’ championship since the American Grand Prix. His finish also added to the team’s total for the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix, enabling them to finish their sixth year in Formula One on somewhat of a positive note.

In his last race with Panasonic Toyota Racing, Ralf Schumacher went on to finish the race in 11th, despite losing positions and aerodynamics parts in the congestion of the first corner.

Result:
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) claimed victory from a third-position grid position for his sixth win of the season and 15th to date, to snatch the drivers’ championship by one point at the last hour.