CHINA: MOTOR RACING - Shanghai gears up for the Grand Prix

China's financial capital Shanghai is all set to host its leg of this season's Formula One Grand Prix with the knowledge that it could produce the sport's first rookie champion in its history. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will become Formula One's first rookie champion, as well as the youngest, if he wins in China on Sunday (October 7), and if he survives the investigation of his driving conduct during last week's Japanese Grand Prix by the stewards. The 22-year-old, an angel-faced assassin if ever there was one, is 12 points clear of double world champion and team mate Fernando Alonso with just Brazil to come after Shanghai. One more victory, following on from his stunning performance at a wet Fuji in Japan last weekend, would be enough for Hamilton to emerge as Britain's ninth world champion and first since Damon Hill in 1996. However the rookie, the first black driver who has introduced a new audience to the glamour sport while astonishing paddock regulars with his poise and performances, is taking nothing for granted. Shanghai and Brazil are tracks that Hamilton has never seen before but that should not faze him. He won at Indianapolis, Montreal and Fuji without any previous experience of them either. Fans are expected to throng the Shanghai circuit as well as sports bars across the city to watch the race on Sunday. And they are already buzzing about the possibility of Hamilton being crowned champion here in Shanghai . "Yeah, I think so and that's great. I think it is good for the whole sport in general because, like I said, he pushes things, he pushes the car to the very limits. I just think he is a very good driver," said Lachlan Dyer. "His performance so far has been absolutely outstanding, quite unprecedented for a rookie. So that would be fantastic for the sport, for England, and for getting lots of young people more enthusiastic about the sport. So that would be really wonderful," said George Badden. Alonso, whose hopes of a third title in a row now depend largely on some "miracle" of misfortune striking his bitter rival, started on pole position in Shanghai last year with Renault and won in 2005. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, the only other driver still mathematically in the championship hunt but 17 points adrift of Hamilton, can complicate matters by taking Ferrari's 200th grand prix win. Shanghai suited the Ferraris last year, with now-retired Michael Schumacher roaring from sixth on the grid to take the 91st and final win of his stellar career and grab the championship lead for one last time. Raikkonen can count on the support of his Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa, who is out of the reckoning, while the McLaren drivers will be showing each other no favours. Ferrari have won the constructors' championship after McLaren were stripped of all their points and fined $100 million (49 million pounds) last month for having the Italian team's technical information in their possession. Hamilton's hopes of securing the Formula One title in China this weekend however, could be scuppered by a video posted on the Internet. Footage was posted on the YouTube video sharing Web site showing a collision between Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel of sister team Toro Rosso while following Hamilton in the wet at Fuji. German rookie Vettel was deemed to have caused the collision and punished by stewards at Fuji with a 10-place penalty on the starting grid for this weekend's penultimate round of the season. A spokeswoman for the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said new evidence had emerged about a collision behind the safety car at last Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. The stewards, assessing claims that Hamilton drove erratically, were to meet again on Friday (October 5) before coming to a decision.

ITN Source | October 6, 2007

Tags:. .emerge. .stunning. .rival. .conduct. .bulls