Karma Rewards Ferrari Champion

Kimi Raikkonen celebrating after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix. (Photo by Kerim Okten/European Pressphoto Association) More photos.

When Kimi Raikkonen, racing for Ferrari, won the 2007 Formula One world championship on Sunday, it definitely had the feeling of karma finally coming back around for him — although it took a while to develop. After qualifying on Saturday, Raikkonen sat third, behind Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, who qualified first and second. Fernando Alonso was fourth. At that point, it would’ve been tough to believe in a Raikkonen title.

Then Hamilton made a big mistake. Fighting Alonso for position through the fourth corner, he braked late and ran wide, falling behind and tracking over the cross-grained curb. The two Ferraris pulled away with the lead.

I wasn’t rooting against Hamilton. And I would have been thrilled with a Hamilton win. But deep down I was pulling for Raikkonen (even though I said it was unlikely that he’d take the title). Here’s why:

Formula One is filled with conflicts of social guilt, which could be best illustrated by the fact that the championship came down to two teams that spend a combined $700 million each year – much of that going toward parts used in a single grand prix before being scrapped. By and large, Formula One drivers are coddled like precious show ponies. They spend more time thinking about the scruff of their facial growth and mutton chops than their fans, who shell out hundreds to watch them from afar. They lack emotion, speak only in clichés, and only a few sign autographs (and don’t enjoy it). The ugliness spilled out this season reached a new peak, with the Ferrari-McLaren spy story and courtroom proceedings, backstabbing e-mails and ego wars.

Rooting for one multimillionaire cover-boy zombie over another makes me very self-aware of the indefensible nature of my support. Raikkonen has never been an easy guy to root for. He doesn’t seem care for the history of Formula One. He’s reclusive. And he speaks like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. But he’s also one of the most naturally gifted drivers in the history of the sport. And one of the unluckiest. And deep down in the layers of chance and probability that factor into each sporting event and season, there lurked the slimmest of opportunities for karma to return some of what it took from Raikkonen over the past five years. How could you root against that?

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Though Raikkonen was just two points from the title in 2003, everyone talks about 2004, his third season with McLaren, as the one that best symbolizes the rotten luck that would plague his racing career. Known for producing tremendously reliable racecars, McLaren lost its touch that year, and Raikkonen’s engines kept going kablooey. In the first seven races, he only completed two. At Hockenheim he lost his rear wing while lapping at 180 m.p.h. The wing just detached from the car, a completely freak occurrence, a one-in-a-million malfunction from a team that never leaves its Tag Heuers unsynchronized. But still, it was Michael Schumacher’s year, as he won 15 out of 18 races and clinched the championship with four races remaining.

The following year, on the other hand, was definitely in Raikkonen’s reach.

Slide Show: Highlights of Kimi Raikkonen’s Career

In 2005, Raikkonen had overcome some early misfortunes (bad tire valve, and bad tires in general) to contend for the championship. But while leading the European Grand Prix, he flat-spotted a tire while lapping Jacques Villeneuve. The tire’s irregular shape caused his suspension to vibrate excessively. These were the days of the single-tire rule, and Raikkonen wasn’t allowed to stop for a tire change without suffering a penalty that would put him out of the points. The team decided to take a chance and left him out on the track. It almost worked. But on the final lap, the suspension failed, and he smashed into a tire wall. He lost the championship that year to Alonso by 21 points.

It looked like Raikkonen was on track for a similar outcome this season. His only DNFs were from mechanical problems. Heading into Brazil, he had more career wins than several world champions. Next year, he would have passed Stirling Moss as the driver with the most wins without a title. In other words, he was due for some good luck, but even with a strong start and a fast car, so many other things had to go right:

- First of all, he needed to win — not necessarily a given in Brazil, where he had yet to win a grand prix.

- He needed Hamilton to finish sixth or worse. Hamilton ended the suspense early when he took the long way around turn four, after battling Alonso through the Senna S’s and the back straight. But by the second lap, Hamilton had already reclaimed several lost positions. He was definitely on the charge when his gearbox went on the blink, suddenly shifting to neutral and staying there for several seconds. There are reports that Hamilton says he accidentally thumbed the button for the start sequence (of course, McLaren has denied this), but whatever happened, Hamilton was 18th by the time his car recovered.

- In order for Hamilton to finish with less than four points, Raikkonen needed the BMW Saubers and Nico Rosberg’s Williams-Toyota to stay between Hamilton and the three leaders. This meant that two young second-year drivers (Rosberg and Robert Kubica) needed to drive cleanly while fighting for position throughout the final stint of the race. It also meant that Rosberg’s car had to stay together through an entire race, which didn’t happen much this season.

- Massa had to finish second behind Raikkonen. In the post-race interview, Raikkonen said that the Ferraris were much faster than the rest of the field (and had more speed than they revealed in the race), so it probably wasn’t that difficult for Massa to stay far ahead of Alonso. Even so, he nearly went off a few laps before the final pitstop but managed to recover after losing only several seconds.

(By the way, how upset did Felipe Massa look on the podium and in the post-race interview? If fact, he looked more upset than Raikkonen looked happy. Massa seemed to go out of his way to not congratulate Raikkonen, saying he was happy for the team instead. His lack of tact was made more striking when Fernando Alonso began his first statement by offering his congratulations. I can understand being disappointed, but not enough not to congratulate his teammate.)

- McLaren needs to lose its appeal against the stewards, which should be heard by the F.I.A. in a couple of weeks. At the end of the grand prix in Brazil, the stewards confiscated the two Sauber BMWs and Nico Rosberg’s Williams to check for a fuel temperature violation. The results were inconclusive and no penalties were handed down. But McLaren has filed an appeal against the ruling. Should they win, it still isn’t immediately evident that the F.I.A. would disqualify the three cars in question, which would take the championship away from Raikkonen and award it to Hamilton. Several drivers have spoken out against this result, including Hamilton, Alonso, and former driver Stirling Moss. But still, it’s Raikkonen we’re talking about, so anything can happen…

Slide Show: Highlights of Kimi Raikkonen’s Career