Felipe Massa did what he had to do; take pole for his home grand prix in Brazil.His pace this weekend, bolstered by an unbelievable crowd, has been very fast and he put his stamp on the Grand Prix. With Jarno Trulli and teammate Kimi Raikkonen between Felipe and Lewis Hamilton; Ferrari are now just waiting for a mistake or mechanical failure from the McLaren driver to claim the title. Like last year, Ferrari were betting on a mistake from Lewis or a failure to claim their title. This ultimately happened and Kimi won the title. Thi year is no different. If Lewis finishes in 4th or 5th, the title is his so the best Ferrari can hope for is a problem for the young Brit.
Speed TV’s coverage had Peter Windsor asking many F1 people about the strategy Lewis should employ during qualifying and most suggested a light fuel run but with Lewis in 4th, this may not have been the tactic chosen my McLaren. Ron and the boys know that sitting fourth and finishing fourth is a victory for them and with his teammate as protection in 5th, it may be a safe strategy after all.
The one random factor is the weather. It has been predicted to rain during the race and as we all have seen, this can be a game changer of epic proportions. In the end, McLaren are probably sitting just fine. It is not a case of Ferrari winning the title with pure performance only. Something bad has to happen at McLaren and you can bet they have covered all the angles as best they can. When you need failure, errors or accidents to win the title, the destiny is not really in your hands so Ferrari must wait and McLaren must finish respectably in 5th or higher. Should be entertaining no less.
1. Massa Ferrari 1:12.368
2. Trulli Toyota 1:12.737
3. Raikkonen 1:12.825
4. Hamilton 1:12.830
5. Kovalainen 1:12.917
6. Alonso 1:12.967
7. Vettel 1:13.082
8. Heidfeld 1:13.297
9. Bourdais 1:14.105
10. Glock 1:14.230
11. Piquet
12. Webber
13. Kubica
14. Coulthard
15. Barrichello
16. Nakajima
17. Button
18. Rosberg
19. Fisichella
20. Sutil
