Chaotic Grand Prix.

The China Grand Prix has given us an unexpected turnaround for the drivers championship. Lewis Hamilton had the chance to close the books and take home the drivers championship today.

With rainy conditions to deal with, the race started normally, without any major delay or big upset.

But as the track went dryer each and every lap, Hamilton's car was slowing down dramatically. His tires were suffering and degrading very fast in comparison to his opponents. Only a couple of laps later, Hamilton's rear right tire degraded to a point that we could even see the white strip under the rubber layer. Hamilton was losing up to 7 seconds a lap over Fernando Alonso's car. He had no choice but to stop.

As Hamilton went thru the pitlane to change his tires and refuel, his car refused to take the turn towards the pitlane and his car stayed trapped in the gravel besides the pitlane. The track crew tried to push it, without any result... The whole championship had just took a new turn (once again) at this very point. No crown for Lewis today!

After all the commotion produced by this retirement settled, Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari won the race, followed by Fernando Alonso in his McLaren in second. They both stay alive in the drivers championship. This race also marks the 200th Grand Prix victory for Ferrari. A historical plateau.

Also, a great operation was made by both Toro Rosso cars. They both scored points as Sebastien Vettel and Vitantonio Liuzzi finished respectively in 4th and 6th.

A 3-way race for the championship will be run in Interlagos, Brazil in two weeks.

Here is the China Grand Prix top 10 finish:

Winner: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2-Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
3-Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
4-Sebastien Vettel (Toro Rosso)
5-Jenson Button (Honda)
6-Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso)
7-Nick Heidfeld (BMW)
8-David Coulthard (Red Bull)
9-Heikki Kovalainen (Renault)
10-Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Drivers championship after 16/17 races:

1-Lewis Hamilton 107 points
2-Fernando Alonso 103 points
3-Kimi Raikkonen 100 points
4-Felipe Massa 86 points
5-Nick Heidfeld 58 points
6-Robert Kubica 35 points
7-Heikki Kovalainen 30 points
8-Giancarlo Fisichella 21 points
9-Nico Rosberg 15 points

Constructors championship:

1-Ferrari 186 points *(2007 champion)
2-BMW-Sauber 94 points
3-Renault 51 points
4-Williams 28 points
5-Red Bull 24 points
6-Toyota 12 points
7-Toro Rosso 8 points
8-Honda 6 points
9-Super Aguri 4 points
10-Spyker F1 1 point

(Picture: Lewis Hamilton, Getty images)