Raikkonen wins Chinese Grand Prix

SHANGHAI: Formula One's world championship was blown wide open on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton dramatically slid into a gravel trap in the Chinese Grand Prix and Kimi Raikkonen snatched victory for Ferrari.   

Raikkonen triumphed from Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso to set up an enthralling three-man battle for the drivers' crown in the final race in Brazil on October 21.   

Britain's Hamilton still leads with 107 points from Alonso's 103 with Raikkonen on 100 points after his fifth victory of the season for Ferrari, which was their 200th win overall.     

Hamilton, 22, looked on course to become the first rookie and the youngest driver in history to win the world championship until it all went wrong on lap 31 of the 56-lap race.   

The championship pacesetter went into the pits for a badly-needed change of tyres but could not stop himself sliding into the gravel at the side of the track.   

Hamilton and McLaren boss Ron Dennis urged marshals to push him out but it was an impossible task.    

It was his first retirement of the season, yet the Hertfordshire-born driver remained defiant.   

"I'm sorry for the team but I can still do it, don't worry," he said.  

"When I got out of the car I was just gutted because it was my first mistake all year and to do it on the way into the pits was not something I usually do.   

"You cannot go through life without making mistakes. But I am over it and we look forward to Brazil. The team will be working hard to make sure the car is quick enough there, and we still have points in the bag.     

"We were having a great race and we didn't know if it was going to rain or not," he added.   

"The tyres were getting worse and worse and you could almost see the canvas underneath. When I came into the pits it was like ice, I couldn't do anything about it."    

Hamilton had controlled the race from pole until his intermediate tyres suddenly became un-drivable in the changing track conditions caused by the on-off rain.   

He was lapping over six seconds slower than his rivals having already lost the lead to Raikkonen when the Finn darted inside two laps earlier.     

But Hamilton knew that second place was enough to guarantee his place in history because of his 12 point lead.     

He will now have to recover his mental strength for the final race in Sao Paulo knowing that his two more experienced rivals will have been boosted after being handed the miracle they needed.   

The sport's first black driver had already changed into his team uniform with the race still going on as he got a consoling hug from Mercedes sporting chief Norbert Haug.   

Hamilton then watched the race from the pit-wall, having shook the hands of his dejected mechanics, as Raikkonen led home Alonso to claim the 14th victory of his career.   

Double champion Alonso had looked a beaten man after qualifying fourth but now finds his bid to become only the third man to win a hat-trick of titles still alive.   

It will be the first time since 1986 that three drivers have gone into the final round of the season still in contention for the drivers' crown.     

Frenchman Alain Prost triumphed that momentous final day in Adelaide after Nigel Mansell's tyre blew in spectacular fashion and his team-mate Nelson Piquet was called into the pits.    

Brazil's Felipe Massa filled the other podium place for Ferrari Sunday.   

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel finished a career best fourth with his team-mate Tonio Liuzzi sixth.   

The duo were separated by Britain's Jenson Button whose fifth place was his best of the season for Honda.   

Germany's Nick Heidfeld was seventh for BMW Sauber with David Coulthard picking up the other point for Red Bull.