Hamilton suffers F1 setback

Lewis Hamilton's Formula One world driver's championship hopes have taken a dent after he skidded out of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won the race while Hamilton's McLaren team-mate and main title rival, Fernando Alonso, finished second. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was third.

The result has set up a three-way fight for the title which will be decided at the last race of the season in Brazil in two weeks.

On an afternoon of despair for Hamilton and elation for Ferrari, the Briton's overall lead was trimmed to four points over Spaniard Alonso with Raikkonen emerging as a closer contender.

Hamilton has 107 points, Alonso 103 and Raikkonen 100.

Afterwards a defiant Hamilton said: "I'm disappointed for the team, the battle goes on to Brazil."

A drying track had worn Hamilton's intermediate tyres to such an extent that he was struggling to keep his car on the circuit and Raikkonen had already taken advantage by assuming the lead before Alonso started to loom large in the Brit's mirrors having finally passed Felipe Massa.

And as he came in to make his second scheduled stop and change on to dry tyres, his McLaren slithered off the pit lane entrance and into a gravel trap, ending both his afternoon and his dreams of making history at the Shanghai International Circuit.

While admitting it was driver error that led to the first retirement of his career, Hamilton reiterated it is not something he will dwell on between now and Interlagos.

"I am over it now. There is still one race to go and I can still do it. I'll now focus on Brazil, where I'll do everything I can to bounce back.

"Obviously I was gutted when I got out of the car as I hadn't made a mistake all year and to do it on the way into the pits is not something I usually do.

"But you can't go through life without making mistakes. I'm over it.

"I'm really sorry for the team, they did a fantastic job as always, but there's still one race to go so don't worry, I can still do it.

"I know the team will be working very hard to make sure we can bounce back in Brazil."

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