Of those drivers who, mathematically, had a shot at the 2007 Formula 1 World Drivers Championship crown, he was the least likely to attain it. Indeed, it looked as though Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) needed the heavens to align just right. Before Sunday, Kimi had never won at Interlagos. Going into Saturday’s qualifying, Kimi needed three miracles in order to turn post-Schumacher Ferrari into saints. Here’s a rundown and how he got them.

Miracle 1: Race Win
Kimi has only been on podium twice in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Neither of them were for a first place finish. So how did he get it now? Answer: Felipe Massa. Kimi’s team mate dominates Interlagos in such a ridiculous way as to make the other drivers look like school children. In 2006, the gap between Massa and the second place finisher was over 40 seconds. In order to win such a crucial race, Kimi would need Massa to voluntarily give up winning his home grand prix. In the race down to the first corner at the start of the race, it was pole runner Felipe Massa who charged out front then cut over to block Lewis Hamilton’s line as Kimi flew up from behind Felipe to secure second position. From this point forward, Felipe and Kimi dominated the race with gaps of more than thirty seconds between second place and third place. With twelve laps to go, Felipe pitted to give Kimi the lead.

Miracle 2: No Mechanical Issues
Ferrari’s F2007 chassis has not been without its issues, and in fact was plagued with reliability problems in the first half of the 2007 season. Thankfully, the red team got those issues worked out, which left only the tires as question marks for Sunday’s race. During Saturday’s practice and qualifying the Bridgestone super-soft compound tires were being torn apart by the hot Brazilian spring’s heat. The track literally blistered every square inch of the tires on all cars. Had it not been for the slightly lower track temperatures and the initial effort on the part of Raikkonen and Massa in preserving their tires for the first few laps, this might have been a very different race. Instead, they did preserve them and the F2007’s ability to stay inherently light on its feet proved to be the crucial point throughout the race.

Miracle 3: Fernando and Lewis
It wouldn’t have taken very much at all for Lewis to have clinched this thing from the start. Instead, he repeated a mistake from China and unnecessarily challenged the passing McLaren of team mate Fernando Alonso at corner one. As is customary for Fernando, Lewis was edged off track and sent off-roading. Then, ten laps later, Lewis became plagued by hydraulic and gearbox issues in which his transmission electronically engaged neutral gearing. For thirty-four seconds, Lewis drifted down the track, his engine running but his gearbox doing nothing to help him. After selecting a different fuel strategy from his steering wheel, the gearbox came to life, but not before it left poor Lewis in 18th position. Although he valiantly fought to regain his composure, seventh was as close as he could get to the screamingly fast BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, who eventually placed 5th and 4th, respectively. Fernando was stuck thirty-two seconds behind the Ferraris in third place.

And that’s how the 2007 season ended. One of the most exciting and dramatic finishes to a season in almost thirty years. Kimi Raikkonen takes his place as the 2007 Formula 1 World Drivers Champion. The Iceman has cometh.