Closest championship finish?

[Mark]

Lewis overtaking Glock in the final few seconds of the final lap is undoubtedly the closest championship finish in F1.

But have there been any nearly as close?

[Dave B]

1984 saw a smaller points margin as Lauda beat Prost by half a point, but I can't recall any championship being decided so close to the finishing line.

[Dave B]

Mexico 1964 comes close: Jim Clark's engine giving out on the last lap handing the championship to John Surtees. But how far before the finishing line did Clark retire?

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr131.html

[V12]

1976 is probably the third closest (in terms of distance to the flag when it was decided) behind 2008 and 1964 - in very similar circumstances to this year actually, James Hunt in wet conditions made a late pit stop (think it was down to his tread falling to pieces rather than a sudden downpour though) and dropped down to fifth when he needed third, but passed Clay Regazzoni and Alan Jones at the death to sneak it.

[D-Type]

1958 was a similar situation to 2008. Hawthorn had 40 points going into the final race compared to Moss's 32. But this came from six races while Moss's score came from five - and that year the best six scores counted. So Moss had to win the race and set fastest lap with Hawthorn finishing third or lower.
Moss led and set fastest lap. After Behra and Brooks had retired the race settled down with Phil Hill running second and Hawthorn third. Hill slowed to let Hawthorn past 13 laps before the end. So Hawthorn won the championship by a point.

[jens]

Mexico 1964 comes close: Jim Clark's engine giving out on the last lap handing the championship to John Surtees. But how far before the finishing line did Clark retire?

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr131.html

Wasn't Graham Hill in position to win the title for a brief moment too before Bandini eventually let Surtees through? So we had 3 different potential World Champions during a single lap!

[Valve Bounce]

I can only say that this surely was the most heart rending because Massa was delighted he had won the championship as he crossed the line and indeed he was the virtual champion at that moment and the Ferrari pits celebrated with him. Then the awful truth hit them, captured on TV as somebody yelled out "NO!" Hamilton has passed Glock. The look of shock on their faces said it all.

[futuretiger9]

1984 saw a smaller points margin as Lauda beat Prost by half a point, but I can't recall any championship being decided so close to the finishing line.

Ironically, that would not have happened if the Monaco GP had run its full distance. Even if Senna had passed him, Prost would have received 6 points for second place rather than 4.5 for a "half points win", and the outcome of the championship could have been different. Of course, Prost was not to known this as far back as Monaco!

[D-Type]

But don't forget that Stefan Bellof was catching them both ...

[call_me_andrew]

Think of it this way: If Hamilton hadn't passed Glock, it would have come down to a tiebreaker.

[Mark]

Think of it this way: If Hamilton hadn't passed Glock, it would have come down to a tiebreaker.

But the tie would have been broken by Massas more wins. If Hamilton had not passed Glock; Massa would be champion right now.

[call_me_andrew]

I'm sorry, I thought we were just talking about the closest possible finish, not the closest possible finish that Ferrari doesn't win.

I'd disagree that 2008, or indeed 1976 or 1964 were the 'closest' finishes.

1983 is easily the closest.

Why? Well, had Renault protested the fuel irregularities found in the Brabham-BMW's after Kylami, then it would have been Prost's title, not Piquet's.

The board at Renault decided not to protest, as they did not wish to be seen winning a title in such a way, but it was such a cut-&-dried caught-in-the-act scenario that the FIA would have had no choice but to disqualify both Brabhams had Renault protested.

So, in terms of the closest finish, one unusually sporting decision by a boardroom takes it.

[llgc8080]

1981 Piquet won by 1 point over Reutemman

[Bruce D]

Wasn't Graham Hill in position to win the title for a brief moment too before Bandini eventually let Surtees through? So we had 3 different potential World Champions during a single lap!

Yes he was going to be champion if Bandini didn't let Surtees through on the last lap, even though Bandini had himself driven into the back of Hill at the hairpin earlier in the race. This incident led to Hill famously sending Bandini a "Learn to Drive" LP for Christmas! :D Style you just dont see thesed days...

[race_director]

2007 was also very close with 3 drivers lewis, alonso and kimi at brazil . i think the point difference between massa and lewis was 1

[F1boat]

Wasn't Lauda against Prost the closest one?

[EuroTroll]

Wasn't Lauda against Prost the closest one?

I remember reading a story about that year that went something like this... Lauda was leading the GP with Piquet close behind. Lauda had a mechanical problem and started to slow. Instead of catching up to him, Piquet slowed down as well. Lauda won the race. Afterwards when Lauda asked Piquet why the latter didn't catch and pass him, Piquet replied, "I know you were just messing with me. If I had closed up, you would have sped up again." To which Lauda replied, "You're an idiot. I had a problem with the car." :)

0.5 points...

Looking at the results from 1984, I'd guess it was the Austrian GP. Can anyone confirm that?

[F1boat]

I remember reading a story about that year that went something like this... Lauda was leading the GP with Piquet close behind. Lauda had a mechanical problem and started to slow. Instead of catching up to him, Piquet slowed down as well. Lauda won the race. Afterwards when Lauda asked Piquet why the latter didn't catch and pass him, Piquet replied, "I know you were just messing with me. If I had closed up, you would have sped up again." To which Lauda replied, "You're an idiot. I had a problem with the car." :)

0.5 points...

Looking at the results from 1984, I'd guess it was the Austrian GP. Can anyone confirm that?

WOW LOL

[Rollo]

The distance between Nigel Mansell and the 1986 championship was about 15mm of rubber. :D