Kimi Raikkonen clinches Formula 1 championship

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Kimi Raikkonen kept his cool better than Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, winning the Brazilian Grand Prix and clinching the Formula One title in the tightest race for the championship in 21 years.Raikkonen won his first F1 crown by taking advantage of Hamilton's mistake on the first lap and a subsequent gear box problem with his McLaren, combined with Alonso's disappointing run.The Ferrari driver took the lead with 21 laps to go, coming from third in the drivers' standings to win the closest title race since 1986. Teammate Felipe Massa was second in Sunday's race.Hamilton, trying to become the first rookie to win the title and F1's youngest champion, went off the track on the first lap and couldn't recover from car problems to finish seventh. Alonso could not keep up with the pace of the leaders and finished third.''I went into the race and said to myself, 'Whatever happens today, it's been a phenomenal year,''' Hamilton said. ''Who would've thought I would be leading the world championship during the last races? It's a great feeling being in that position. The team did a phenomenal job all year.''Alonso would have had to finish second and Hamilton fifth to keep Raikkonen from winning the drivers' championship after his victory.More than two hours after the race, Formula One's governing body – FIA – called a meeting involving representatives from BMW Sauber and Williams, whose drivers finished fourth, fifth and sixth. If at least two of them are punished, Hamilton could move up to fifth. FIA did not say what the meeting was about.Raikkonen erased a seven-point gap from Hamilton coming into the race to finish with 110 points, one more than Hamilton and Alonso.''This is a great feeling,'' Raikkonen said. ''We had some hard times, some reliability problems and lost some points. A lot of people didn't believe in us, but we showed that they were wrong and we were able to come back. It was a great season.''The Finn, known as ''The Iceman'' for his cool style, was reserved in his celebrations on the podium, waving his cap to the crowd before briefly throwing his arms in the air.He finished the race on the 4.3-kilometer (2.6-mile) Interlagos track in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 15.270 seconds – 1.493 seconds ahead of Massa and 57.019 ahead of Alonso.Raikkonen – who had finished runner-up in the drivers' championship in 2003 and '05 – became only the third Finn to win the F1 title, and the first since two-time winner Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and '99. The first Finn champion was Keke Rosberg in 1982.It was a hectic start for the Brazilian GP.Hamilton, who started in the front row beside pole-sitter Massa, was passed by Raikkonen and Alonso on the first turn. He then made a mistake trying to recover the position from Alonso three turns later to drop to eighth spot after the first lap was completed.''I locked up behind Fernando to avoid hitting him and I went a bit wide,'' Hamilton said.''When I saw Hamilton going off, I knew that maybe we had some chances,'' Raikkonen said. ''I wasn't 100 percent sure, I was really just waiting. It took a long time to hear that we had finally won it.''The Englishman moved back to sixth place after six laps, but his car slowed dramatically with a gear box problem two laps later and he seemed on the verge of retiring from the race. His car suddenly picked up pace again, but he had already dropped to 18th.''Lewis has enjoyed phenomenal reliability from his car this year,'' McLaren team chief Ron Dennis told British television. ''It was just a default in the gear box which selected neutral for a period of time, but then sorted itself out.''Hamilton's car seemed to be without problems for the rest of the race as he moved past the slower cars with ease. By lap 18 of 71, Hamilton was 11th, but he couldn't manage to move up past seventh.He had needed a top-two finish to guarantee the title on Sunday without depending on other drivers.''It has been an incredible season,'' Hamilton said. ''Under extremely difficult conditions, I beat the two-time world champion, which was my objective from the very beginning.''Massa and Raikkonen stayed 1-2 from the start. Raikkonen took the lead after a final pit stop, coming ahead of Massa as the Brazilian apparently slowed his pace.''We had the perfect team work,'' Raikkonen said. ''Felipe worked hard ... he's been a big help.''Massa, who had won four times in the previous five races he started from the pole, had an emotional victory in Interlagos last year as he became the first Brazilian to win at home since the late Ayrton Senna in 1993.Spyker's Sakon Yamamoto crashed with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella on the first lap, and both were forced to retire.Kovaleinen crashed hard in the 38th lap at the third turn. He was on his feet for several minutes, but later was preventively transported to the medical center.Two Williams mechanics received minor injuries after Kazuki Nakajima, debuting in F1, failed to hit his pit marks and ran over the pair.Alonso was trying to become only the third driver to win three consecutive titles in the history of F1, along with Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.''I knew it was going to be a difficult situation for me,'' Alonso said. ''It was impossible to keep the pace from Ferrari. I was just waiting for something.''Alonso was the only driver using an older engine because of his crash at the Japanese GP three weeks ago. Drivers must use the same engine in two consecutive races, and Alonso had a new one in China and was using it again in Brazil.The Brazilian GP marked the end of one of the most thrilling and turbulent F1 seasons in decades.It was the first time since 1986 that three drivers reached the final race in contention for the title. It hadn't happened since Alain Prost edged Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet to win that year's championship.The season – the first without the great Michael Schumacher – was marred by a spying scandal that led to a record US$100 million (€70 million) fine for McLaren, which was found guilty of using leaked data from Ferrari. The British team was kicked out of the manufacturers' championship, which was easily clinched by Ferrari.There was also a heated internal dispute in the McLaren team, with Hamilton and Alonso trading accusations during most of the season.Alonso complained he deserved more respect as a two-time world champion, and hinted McLaren was favoring the English rookie. Alonso and McLaren team chief Ron Dennis didn't speak to each other for a long period, and FIA was forced to summon an official to oversee the team at the Brazilian GP to make sure all drivers were treated equally.The controversy led to speculations that Alonso would leave McLaren next season, sparking rumors about his future. Renault, the Spaniard's home when he won the last two championships, said it would welcome his return, and even Ferrari was thrown into the mix.The parity on the track also was refreshing, with at least four drivers in contention in almost all races. McLaren and Ferrari dominated and traded wins from the beginning. Both teams arrived at the season finale with eight victories each.It was the third year in a row the F1 season was decided at the Brazilian GP. Alonso won both of his titles at the Interlagos track in 2005 and '06.