McLaren’s star Lewis Hamilton is edging closer to his dream result of winning this season’s drivers’ title after an awesome display of wet weather driving in the rain-drenched Japanese Grand Prix.

His main championship rival, team-mate Fernando Alonso, crashed out after aquaplaned into the tyre wall on the approach to Turn 6 on lap 42. The Spaniard had earlier suffered a spin losing him track position as well as colliding into Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso into the first corner…

With Lewis winning the wet Fuji race, Alonso now faces a difficult challenge of sustaining his championship honours over his British rookie, who is now leading the standings with 12 points. If Hamilton finishes ahead of his Spanish team-mate in the following Grand Prix at Shanghai next weekend, he will become world champion of 2007.

Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen finished in his career-best position of second, followed by the determining Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari. The ‘Iceman’ had earlier fallen to the rear of the field in the first part of this dramatic Grand Prix.

With the treacherous wet conditions at the Fuji Speedway, the first 19 laps of the race were run behind the Safety Car due to the appalling visibility. Even though the whole Formula One field were instructed by race control to start on extreme wet tyres, the Ferraris were both fitted with intermediates, forcing Kimi Raikkonen and team-mate Felipe Massa to make necessary pit-stops during the caution period.

How come the Ferraris were starting the Grand Prix on intermediates despite everyone else was on the extreme wet Bridgestone tyres? Team boss Jean Todt claims he didn’t receive an email from Charlie Whiting, the race director. But everyone else got the message…

So it was hardly a surprise to see Raikkonen and Massa struggling in the soaking wet conditions. Massa even had a spin under the Safety Car! The track wasn’t suitable for the shallow-grooved intermediates so when Ferrari brought in both drivers for the right tyres, the pair returned back on circuit at the rear end of the field…

Meanwhile at the front, the two silver cars were leading the field but the race still wasn’t under way. It looked like the Japanese Grand Prix would become a parade of racing cars travelling slowly behind the Safety Car… But when the race officials decided to assess the conditions by allowing Tonio Liuzzi, who was a lap down, to unlap himself and catch up to the back of the racing pack, it was then the lap time from the Toro Rosso driver became significant enough for Charlie Whiting to let the racing commence.

The Safety Car came in at the end of lap 19 and the race resume with Lewis Hamilton leading Fernando Alonso. Behind, there was chaos as Nick Heidfeld was hit from behind by Honda’s Jenson Button. In addition, Alex Wurz lost control of his Williams under braking into Turn 1 which resulted in the Austrian colliding into the back of Massa, who went into another spin!

Button, amazingly continue his race without a front wing and was setting reasonable times. But after a few laps, the Honda driver was forced to come into the pits to repair the damage.

In the mean time, Lewis Hamilton was pulling away from his McLaren team-mate at a steady rate – thanks to the clear road and relatively good visibility. It was at this period of the race that Alonso was struggling to keep up and after his pit-stop, the Spaniard fell ever further behind his main championship rival. In fact, he lost vital track positions after taking on more fuel and it certainly didn’t help when he collided with Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso some time later…

Speaking of Sebastian Vettel, the young German was driving a superb race. He actually led a couple of laps when the McLarens were in the pits and it would have been a wonderful result for the team to finish on the podium. But alas, he made a rookie mistake when he crashed into Mark Webber’s Red Bull during the second Safety Car period… Webber was furious as he was heading for a podium and that incident cost both Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing a chance of scoring big points in Fuji.

Why was the Safety Car out on track again? Well, it was called out as Fernando Alonso suffered heavy damage after losing control in his McLaren on the wet surface. His shunt could be the deciding factor in this year’s world championship and it was a shame for the Spaniard as he was recovering from his earlier pit-stop.

Once the debris was cleared away, the race restarted and Hamilton continued to lead from the front. The British driver was driving brilliantly at the point of the race despite a lack of knowledge of racing in the wet. Lewis even survived a scary moment when he was hit from behind by Robert Kubica’s BMW-Sauber, which resulted in both cars spinning. But luckily, Lewis kept the engine running, rejoined back on track and went onto win the race. As for Kubica, he was given a drive-through penalty for the racing incident.

Behind the victorious Lewis Hamilton was Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen, who was driving his best-ever race of the season. His fellow countrymen Kimi Raikkonen, who was driving the wheels off his Ferrari, pushed the Finn all the way to the chequered flag

Finishing in fourth was David Coulthard in the Red Bull. The Scottish driver was racing with a special Colin McRae-themed helmet as a tribute to the late World Rally Champion. It certainly helped Coulthard’s luck in the wet conditions as he recorded yet another points finish for his team.

Giancarlo Fisichella finished fifth after a so-so race in the Renault, while Nick Heidfeld lost sixth position when his BMW-Sauber began to misfire and was forced to retire just two laps from home.

That position went to Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who drove a storming race from the back. The Brazilian even had an exciting wheel-to-wheel battle with Kubica on the final lap that was reminiscent of Dijon 1979 and the battle between Gilles Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux.

And finishing in the last remaining championship point was Toni Liuzzi. After starting the race in the pit-lane, the Italian scored Toro Rosso’s first points of the season. But race stewards decided to penalise the driver for overtaking under yellow flags. So it was Spyker that scored its first point of the season instead, courtesy of another strong drive from Adrian Sutil.

Hamilton’s fourth Grand Prix victory means he leads the title chase with 107 points to Alonso’s static 95, while Raikkonen is now up to 90 points. Massa, on 80, is now officially out of the title chase with two races remaining.

The next race follows immediately at Shanghai for the penultimate race of this exciting season. Lewis Hamilton’s dream of winning the title in his first season of becoming a Formula One driver is only a week away. Can he do it? It certainly looks like it judging by his commanding drive here at Fuji.

Revised Japanese Grand Prix result - 67 laps

1. HAMILTON McLaren 2h00m34.579s
2. KOVALAINEN Renault +8.4s
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +9.5s
4. COULTHARD Red Bull +20.3s
5. FISICHELLA Renault +38.9s
6. MASSA Ferrari +49.0s
7. KUBICA BMW +49.3s
8. SUTIL Spyker +1m00.1s*
9. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +1m20.6s*
10. BARRICHELLO Honda +1m28.3s
11. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
12. YAMAMOTO Spyker +1 lap
13. TRULLI Toyota +1 lap
14. HEIDFELD BMW +2 laps
15. SATO Super Aguri +2 laps
R. SCHUMACHER Toyota +12 laps
R. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +13 laps
R. ROSBERG Williams +18 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +21 laps
R. WEBBER Red Bull +22 laps
R. ALONSO McLaren +26 laps
R. WURZ Williams +48 laps

Fastest lap: HAMILTON 1m28.193s (lap 27)

* Liuzzi given 25s penalty, promoting Sutil to 8th

As the Formula One season approaches its dramatic climax with three critical races for the four championship contenders, it was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who managed to rise to the occasion with a stunning lap in the final moments of qualifying to steal pole position away from team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Initially, the whole session was subject to delay as the appalling wet weather conditions around Mount Fuji fail to improve after the race organisers forced the abandonment of third practice due to fog. It seem that the qualifying hour was heading the same way – with fears it might be put on hold until Saturday evening or at worst, Sunday morning – but in the event, the conditions were deemed acceptable and qualifying took place on schedule.

It has been thirty years since Formula One raced at the Fuji Speedway – scene of James Hunt winning his only drivers title. The Toyota-owned race track is a stark contrast to Suzuka, as this re-profile circuit offers a good chance of overtaking thanks to that mile-long start/finish straight.

As ever, qualifying is essential for drivers looking to score points and Lewis Hamilton not only manage to beat his main championship rivals in the session, but also gain physiological advantage over Alonso with his fifth pole position of the year. The British rookie has won from this top grid position three times and if Hamilton manages to win at Fuji on race day, he will extend his slim championship lead as we head into the final two races of the season.

McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso looked to be the driver to start in the top spot after setting the pace with a lap time of one minute, 25. 438 seconds. But right at the end of Q3, Hamilton banged in an amazing do-or-die lap time of one minute, 25. 368 seconds to grab pole position and head another McLaren front row.

The Ferraris were left trailing with Kimi Raikkonen in third (one minute, 25.516 seconds) and team-mate Felipe Massa fourth (one minute, 25.765 seconds). The performance between the F2007 and the MP4-22 should be fascinating as it’s still to close to call on who has the advantage on race day. The lap times between the four drivers in the top two cars are separate by a matter of tenths of a second.

Behind the usual suspects is Nick Heidfeld in the BMW-Sauber, who continues his impressive consistence in the F1.07 by again out-qualifying his team-mate Robert Kubica (the Polish driver will start in ninth).

Williams-Toyota’s Nico Rosberg originally qualified in sixth but due to an engine change in Friday’s practice session, the German will drop back ten places on the grid. This promoted Jenson Button in the Honda, who was sublime in the wet conditions. The British driver achieved his best-ever starting position after a year-long of frustration in the Earth-livery Honda. He was significantly quicker than team-mate Rubens Barrichello – a driver who is exceptionally good in the wet – and yet, the Brazilian struggled with P17.

Row four goes to the Red Bull drivers of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, with the latter arguably the star of the qualifying session. The German rookie was extremely impressive in the slippery conditions, and by qualifying in eighth he earns the Toro Rosso squad their first-ever top ten start in Formula One.

Rounding out the top ten is Kubica in the second BMW-Sauber with Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella. As for the Japanese drivers racing in their home Grand Prix, it was a day of disappointment for Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto in the Super Aguri and Spyker respectively. Sato lacked pace in the wet conditions and got knocked out in Q1 (will start in P21), meanwhile Yamamoto will start his home race last thanks to Ralf Schumacher colliding into him in the Toyota…

The weather forecast remains unsettled for Sunday, and at this moment in time the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji has the look of one of those races in which anything could happen.

Japanese Grand Prix grid

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1:25.368
2. ALONSO McLaren 1:25.438
3. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:25.516
4. MASSA Ferrari 1:25.765
5. HEIDFELD BMW 1:26.505
6. BUTTON Honda 1:26.913
7. WEBBER Red Bull 1:26.914
8. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:26.973
9. KUBICA BMW 1:27.225
10. FISICHELLA Renault 1:26.033
11. KOVALAINEN Renault 1:26.232
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:26.247
13. TRULLI Toyota 1:26.253
14. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1:26.948
15. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1:27.191
16. ROSBERG Williams 1:26.728*
17. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:27.323
18. WURZ Williams 1:27.454
19. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:27.564
20. SUTIL Spyker 1:28.628
21. SATO Super Aguri 1:28.792
22. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1:29.668

*Drops ten places due to an engine change penalty

The highly anticipated First Person Shooter (FPS) that is Halo 3 has broken all records as the biggest-selling video game on the Xbox 360 platform.

Developed by Bungie, the third sequel based on the war between aliens and humans led by Master Chief, means the game publishers has earned more than £84m ($170m) in sales after its first 24 hours on release.

It has already gain more money as an entertainment product than even the Spider-Man 3 movie and with millions of gamers playing this game and going online via Xbox Live, it is set to reach un-imaginary levels of popularity in the next few days.

In fact, official figures reveal by Microsoft and GameDaily tell the true story of how successful Halo 3 has become in a single day… More than 1.4 million people have gone online since its launch and more than four million online games of Halo 3 were logged in the last 24 hours.

“Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, in a statement.

Indeed it has and for those interested in how many copies is sold; GameDaily presents a breakdown of the three different editions of Halo 3.

Using the knowledge of $170 million made figure by Microsoft and checking with retail sources, GameDaily calculated that “every four standard copies sold, two limited edition copies and one legendary edition is sold.” This means 14 percent for Legendary, 29 percent for Limited (or Scratched edition, as gamers found the disc to be scratched when brought new) and 57 percent Standard. They figure the breakdown is:

Standard edition: 1,600,000
Limited edition: 694,000
Legendary edition: 187,000

A truly impressive statistics don’t you think?

After the on-going rumours over the cost of Rock Band’s peripherals which features a microphone, drum kit and two guitars (wireless for both the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Not so for the Xbox 360 edition but it will come at a later date). Online retailer Amazon and video game store Gamestop have placed the game at a reasonable price of $169.99 (approx. £84) when it ships on November 23 in the States.

For European gamers, we have to wait for Rock Band to appear in early 2007 due to the localization of the product to suit the different European languages…

Nevertheless, the news that Rock Band is cheaper than the estimated value of $200 is a welcome relief and fans of Guitar Hero will be rejoicing over the ability to rock in a virtual band. And judging by the impressive track listings, this music-based game will be a hit.

Source: MTV

Finally! After months of speculations whether or not the Apple iPhone will be release this year in Europe, the highly desirable mobile device will be available on different networks on November 9.

For the UK, mobile network O2 has the exclusive rights for the iPhone, with the unit retailing at £269 including VAT. There will be three tariffs available offering 200, 600 and 1200 minutes talk time (£35, £45 and £55 respectively) as well as unlimited data downloads.

Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse will be one of the main outlets that will stock Apple’s new mobile phone, as well as selected O2 centres and Apple’s store (both on the high street and online).

As for the rest of Europe, Apple has also announced that Orange will be the network provider for France with T-Mobile for Germany. Both these networks provide it own voice plans different from the UK with O2.

So is there a difference between the American and European version of the iPhone? Well, apart from a new firmware (version 1.1.1) the functions are exactly the same but there is a limited EDGE coverage supplied by O2 (around 30%) meaning parts of the UK won’t be able to go online… As for the much-rumoured 3G iPhone, this remains a pipedream, as Apple states it will use the same EDGE system that is used in the United States - though you can’t discount a newer and faster model will be out sometime next year.

The good news is that O2 will allow iPhone users to access the Internet for free with 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots powered by Cloud.

So if you want the iPhone, best to sign up on Apple’s website for the latest news and you can do so here.

Ken Hirai has announced that the DualShock 3 will incorporate a missed feature that was missing from the Playstation 3’s launch, namely the rumble. eMagi did report about this during Sony’s and Immersion’s lawsuit where various excuses were made as to why it was not incorporated, with even Sony stating that it was “last generation”. They are now made to eat their own words and I hope they do not cost more than the current controllers.

Rumble started back on the Nintendo N64 where many eyebrows were raised when it was packed with Lylat Wars (still an awful name!). Ever since it has become part of mainstream gaming and hopefully this will be the end of the matter in Sony’s eyes. I still believe rumble has a place in gaming as immersion is becoming an ever larger keyword but many find it annoying, especially when it is badly implemented. Do any games in particular make full use of the rumble feature to you?

Breaking news! It has been revealed that Jose Mourhino has been sacked by Chelsea with immediate effect after a disappointing draw against Champions League opponents Rosenborg. It is alleged that billionaire owner Roman Abramovich was left fuming at the manager, players and staff after the draw, complaining and asking why the team failed to score and win matches after their recent run of form.

24 hours after the match it has become known that Jose had texted senior players about his departure, including John Terry and Frank Lampard who were not in attendance with the rest of the squad earlier today during their DVD release.

This leaves a great hole in the Premiership as undoubtedly Jose was a character in the sport and people either loved or hated him. Being a Manchester United supporter I enjoyed the duels between Jose and Sir Alex Ferguson and was looking forward to Super Sunday where the two heavyweights of English football would clash. The Premiership will sorely miss him in my opinion and it is a shame that he had to leave under such terms. What do you think about this shock departure? I’m interested to hear back from football fans of all levels.

Discuss in the Forums

Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen headed home Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix with a dominant performance that clinched the Italian outfit of the 2007 constructors’ title.

The McLarens were no match for the red cars and had to settle for third and fourth, with Fernando Alonso finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton and narrowing the rookie’s championship lead to just two points with three races remaining.

Massa had briefly challenged Raikkonen on the outside at the start, before settling into second position. Just behind the pair, the McLarens were also wheel-to-wheel into the La Source hairpin. Alonso edged Hamilton onto the extended run-off area, but Lewis had better traction and accelerated back on track level with his team-mate.

They then ran side-by-side into Eau Rouge, with Alonso holding on around the outside at the first part of the corner before claiming third as the race track turned right.

Raikkonen proceeded to dominate the 44-lap race, easily establishing a four-second lead over Massa and maintaining it to the chequered flag.

The McLarens ran longer stints, but lacked the pace to get on terms with the leaders, and at one point in the Grand Prix was 20 seconds adrift…

Raikkonen’s victory at Spa-Francorchamps means he retains a mathematically chance of taking the title away from the McLaren duo, cutting his deficit to Lewis Hamilton to 13 points with 30 still up for grabs – although Kimi hopes that the Mercedes-powered team’s impressive reliability falters.

With McLaren losing all its championship points by the FIA this week, Ferrari only had to beat the BMW Saubers to seal its 15th constructors’ title – which it duly achieved but McLaren remain the ‘true’ champions in my opinion…

Nick Heidfeld continued his consistent points finishes for BMW Sauber with fifth though he was pushed wide at La Source to avoid hitting Alonso and Hamilton on the lap one. Nico Rosberg was sixth for Williams with Red Bull’s Mark Webber in seventh. Finishing in the last points finish was Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen after holding off the BMW Sauber from a determined Robert Kubica by half a second.

The next stop for the 2007 Formula One World Championship is the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji at the end of the month. It will be the first time modern Formula One racing cars will be racing at the track, as the last time was back in 1977. The newly re-profile circuit (as designed by Hermann Tilke) will feature the longest straight on the Formula One calendar but in terms of challenge for the drivers, the layout of the race track is pale in comparison to Suzuka.

Belgian Grand Prix result, Spa-Francorchamps - 44 laps

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1h20m39.066s
2. MASSA Ferrari +4.7s
3. ALONSO McLaren +14.3s
4. HAMILTON McLaren +23.6s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +51.9s
6. ROSBERG Williams +1m16.9s
7. WEBBER Red Bull +1m20.6s
8. KOVALAINEN Renault +1m25.1
9. KUBICA BMW +1m25.7s
10. SCHUMACHER Toyota +1m28.6s
11. TRULLI Toyota +1m43.7s
12. LIUZZI Toro Rosso +1 lap
13. BARRICHELLO Honda +1 lap
14. SUTIL Spyker +1 lap
15. SATO Super Aguri +1 lap
16. DAVIDSON Super Aguri +1 lap
17. YAMAMOTO Spyker +1 lap
R. BUTTON Honda +8 laps
R. WURZ Williams +10 laps
R. COULTHARD Red Bull +15 laps
R. VETTEL Toro Rosso +36 laps
R. FISICHELLA Renault +43 laps

Fastest lap: MASSA 1m48.036s (lap 34)

Ferrari secured their first all-front-row start of the season at Spa-Francorchamps with Kimi Raikkonen taking the top spot after beating his team-mate Felipe Massa in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Finn took pole position away from the Brazilian by a small margin of 0.017 seconds. Raikkonen’s lap around the Ardennes race track was one minute, 45.994 seconds. Massa felt the pressure from the ‘Iceman’ as he tried to improve his lap time that resulted him making a mistake into the final chicane.

As for McLaren – who recently received a record fine of $100 million USD in a breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code – Fernando Alonso and championship leader Lewis Hamilton could only managed third and fourth respectively. Alonso blew his chances for a top grid position with a spin at Rivage, but the Spaniard recovered and managed to set a time faster than team-mate Hamilton.

Robert Kubica qualified his BMW Sauber in fifth but was relegated ten positions after changing his engine before the qualifying session. That promoted Nico Rosberg in the Williams ahead of Kubica’s team-mate Nick Heidfeld.

Australian’s Mark Webber lines up in eighth for Red Bull Racing. While the final two top ten spots went to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen.

Judging by the times set by the red cars, it seems the Ferraris has the speed advantage around the fast and flowing Spa circuit. Raikkonen won the event twice and he could go for win number three on Sunday. But can Massa stop him? What about McLaren? Alonso would love to continue his winning form after last weekend’s Monza triumph but I believe both he and Lewis will have difficulty in keeping up the pace over Ferrari.

Belgian Grand Prix starting grid

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:45.994
2. MASSA Ferrari 1:46.011
3. ALONSO McLaren 1:46.091
4. HAMILTON McLaren 1:46.406
5. KUBICA BMW Sauber 1:46.996*
6. ROSBERG Williams 1:47.334
7. HEIDFELD BMW Sauber 1:47.409
8. WEBBER Red Bull 1:47.524
9. TRULLI Toyota 1:47.798
10. KOBALAINEN Renault 1:48.505
11. FISICHELLA Renault 1:46.603
12. R. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1:46.618
13. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:46.800
14. BUTTON Honda 1:46.955
15. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1:47.115
16. WURZ Williams 1:47.394
17. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:47.581
18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:47.954
19. SATO Super Aguri 1:47.980
20. SUTIL Spyker 1:48.044
21. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:48.199
22. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1:49.577

* A ten-place grid penalty for changing an engine