F1 title will come down to last race

Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari won the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday at Shanghai, and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren missed his chance to clinch the drivers’ title by spinning out entering the pits.

Fernando Alonso of McLaren was second and Felipe Massa of Ferrari finished third.

Hamilton ran off the track and into a gravel trap while entering pit lane after 31 laps.

“I haven’t made a mistake all year, but I am over it now,” Hamilton said. “There is still one race to go, so I can still do it. I will now focus on attacking in Brazil, where I will do everything I can to bounce back.”

The championship will go down to the final race in Brazil on Oct. 21 with three drivers capable of winning the title. Hamilton has 107 points, Alonso has 103 and Raikkonen 100. A win is worth 10 points and second is worth eight.

It will be the first time since 1986 that three drivers have a chance to win the title in the last race.

Raikkonen earned his fifth win of the season. Alonso and Hamilton each have four. If there is a tie, the number of victories will break the tie. After that, the number of seconds will be counted.

Hamilton failed to finish a race for the first time this season. Alonso and Raikkonen acknowledged the Briton remained the favorite to win the title.

“Lewis will be very focused in Brazil,” Alonso said. “He has the capacity to do well in Brazil. Everything is looking good for him. For the championship, I still need something dramatic to win.”

Four-time series champion Gary Scelzi earned one of four berths in the two-race championship, beating teammate Ron Capps in the Funny Car final Sunday in the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Dinwiddie, Va.

Scelzi, who jumped from sixth to second place, was joined in the winner’s circle by Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta and Pro Stock’s Dave Connolly, who has won five straight races overall to take the No. 1 seeding.

Capps secured the fourth and final berth in Funny Car with his semifinal win over Tim Wilkerson. Tony Pedregon and Robert Hight will be the other two finalists.

The drama in Top Fuel played out in the first round when Brandon Bernstein ousted Bob Vandergriff to cement his position in Top Fuel’s final four. Larry Dixon, Rod Fuller and Tony Schumacher are the other three finalists.

In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson will be seeded second and the Pro Stock final four was filled out by No. 3 Jeg Coughlin, who drove his way in with a first-round win Sunday, and Allen Johnson, who clinched the fourth and final berth.

The top four drivers who remain alive in the Countdown to the Championship will have their points reset in 10-point increments, from 3,030 to 3,000, before heading to Las Vegas (Oct. 26-28) and Pomona (Nov. 1-4) for the two-race championship.