McLaren meltdown denies Lewis Hamilton chance of stunning world championship triumph

But for one decision, Lewis Hamilton could have been the owner of perhaps the most unique record in Formula 1: rookie world champion. 

Only Jacques Villeneuve in 1996 and Hamilton in 2007 have ever challenged for a rookie world championship title, discounting Giuseppe Farina in the first world championship in 1950, and Hamilton came closer than the Canadian to landing a stunning triumph. 

Hamilton entered the penultimate weekend of the season on 107 points, to Fernando Alonso's 95 and Kimi Raikkonen's 90, with just 20 points up for grabs in the old 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system.

It meant that if Hamilton finished within six points of Raikkonen and one of Alonso, he would be champion. In short, a podium would be enough for sporting immortality. 

And it started brilliantly for Hamilton, landing pole position and leading the early stages of a wet Shanghai afternoon. 

But catastrophe was just around the corner, in a simple gravel trap. 

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Setting the scene

Although McLaren was on course to land a first drivers' title since Mika Hakkinen's 1999 crown, all was not well at the good ship Woking, for this was the year of Spygate.

McLaren had originally been cleared by the FIA for the possession of confident Ferrari technical information, but at the Hungarian GP, its own driver, Alonso, blew the case wide open again.

Alonso was rightly aggrieved that Hamilton had reneged on an agreement to allow him past during fuel burn laps in Q3 in qualifying - leading to the iconic blocking incident to deny Hamilton a final push lap. On race day morning, Alonso is reputed to have demanded that McLaren make Hamilton run out of fuel as payback - or he would reveal emails regarding Spygate. 

Essentially being blackmailed, Dennis went to FIA president Max Mosley to plead a mea culpa, but Mosley already knew about the emails and so Spygate was reopened.

McLaren was fined $100 million and kicked out of the constructors' championship, with the drivers' keeping their points for cooperating, and no doubt supported by Bernie Ecclestone, who had a three-way battle for the drivers' championship on his hands.

By the time of the Chinese GP, it was clear that Alonso was leaving the team, his contract being ripped up, and whilst McLaren was not actively supporting Hamilton in the title fight, it was clear that it did not want the #1 sticker taken with Alonso back out the front door of the MTC for 2008. 

And so to Lap 14 in Shanghai. Hamilton pitted for a top-up of fuel, but McLaren did not change his intermediate tyres, already beginning to show signs of wear, but as the track began to dry, McLaren found itself wearing a set of lead boots.

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Rookie title is ripped away

Raikkonen quickly caught and passed Hamilton as Alonso reeled him in by nearly eight seconds per lap, so worn were his tyres, but still McLaren did not call Hamilton in for dry tyres. 

The final act came just as Raikkonen started his 31st lap, as Hamilton finally pitted at the end of Lap 30. 

Faced with a lack of grip and rubber in the slippery pit-lane, Hamilton slithered into an innocuous gravel trap, becoming beached in the kitty litter out of range of rescue by McLaren. 

The trouble was that his rear tyres, especially the rear right, were down to the canvas as they were so worn. McLaren had essentially been Alonso-watching, trying to ensure Hamilton finished ahead, and not making sure he actually finished.

With tyres as bald as the Mitchell brothers, he was out, his only DNF of the season. It threw Raikkonen and Alonso the lifeline they needed to keep their dreams of a first and third title, respectively, alive.

Raikkonen won from Alonso to set up a three-way title showdown in Brazil with Hamilton on 107, Alonso 103, and Raikkonen the rank outsider on 100, but it was still Hamilton's title to lose.

Which of course, is what he did after running wide at Turn 4 on the opening lap in Sao Paulo whilst trying to overtake Alonso, and then being struck down by a gearbox gremlin for 30 seconds. 

The end result?

Raikkonen won to finish on 110 points, Hamilton's P7 earned two points, taking him to 109, and Alonso's P3 tied him with Hamilton on 109 - the Briton ahead of countback of P2 finishes.

Game. Set. Match. Championship. Last laugh to Ferrari and Raikkonen in 2007.

But the story would not end there. 

13 years, one month, eight days and a few hours later, Hamilton was leading the 2020 Turkish GP in similarly wet conditions on heavily-worn intermediate tyres.

Now at Mercedes and a six-time champion, Hamilton was called in by Peter Bonnington for a fresh set inters to see him home to a seventh crown. 

Effectively, Hamilton overruled his team, acknowledging the request to pit, but describing the pit lane as going to be "as slippery as hell" as he stayed out, not wanting to risk a repeat. 

A total of 248 races later, Hamilton finally righted the wrong of Shanghai.