SHANGHAI , China -- Championship leader Lewis Hamilton spun out of the Chinese Grand Prix to send the world title race to a cliffhanger finale in Brazil on October 21 . A disconsolate Lewis Hamilton leaves his car after spinning into the gravel trap in Shanghai . Rookie Hamilton can still clinch the crown with third place in the closing race , but saw his 12-point lead cut to four by McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso in Shanghai . The Spaniard finished second behind Ferrari 's Kimi Raikkonen , who also kept his title hopes alive by moving within seven points of Hamilton . The young Briton started the race in pole position and at one stage led Raikkonen by more than eight seconds as he again showed superb skills in the wet conditions . However , the 22-year-old stayed out on the drying track too long in his wet tires , which deteriorated at an alarming rate to let Finland 's Raikkonen take the lead . And when Hamilton -- who won in Japan last week to give himself the chance of clinching the title this weekend -- finally headed toward the pit lane , he spun out onto the gravel to end his chances with 25 laps to go . Raikkonen and Alonso both switched to dry tires on the 32nd of the 56 laps , with the Finn going on to win by by 9.8 seconds for his fifth victory this season -- one more than both Hamilton and Alonso . Raikkone 's team-mate Felipe Massa was third , while fourth place was claimed by Toro Rosso 's Sebastien Vettel , who was last week reprimanded for causing an accident in Japan behind the safety car while Hamilton was cleared of any wrongdoing . Britain 's Jenson Button was fifth in a Honda ahead of Vettel 's team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi , while Germany 's Nick Heidfeld was seventh for BMW Sauber and David Coulthard of Scotland took the final point for Red Bull . Hamilton was still confident he could bounce back after suffering his first retirement of the season . `` I 'm sorry for the team but I can still do it , do n't worry , '' he said . `` When I got out of the car I was just gutted because it was my first mistake all year , and to do it on the way into the pits was not something I usually do . `` You can not go through life without making mistakes . But I am over it and we look forward to Brazil . The team will be working hard to make sure the car is quick enough there , and we still have points in the bag . `` We were having a great race and we did n't know if it was going to rain or not . The tyres were getting worse and worse and you could almost see the canvas underneath . When I came into the pits it was like ice , I could n't do anything about it . '' McLaren boss Ron Dennis refused to blame his driver or his team for the spin-off . `` It 's too extreme to say anyone made a mistake in this . It has been a very competitive season between our drivers and it will go on for another Grand Prix , '' Dennis said . `` I do n't think we did anything dramatically wrong and neither did Lewis . But the circuit was considerably drier than the pit lane entrance . That 's what made the difference . `` It was easy to say that we could have stopped earlier , but would it have made a difference ? All the top teams -- Ferrari and ourselves -- were trying to get through the rain and straight onto a dry tire . '' Alonso , who qualified for the race in fourth , is seeking to become the third driver to win three world titles . `` The result was good today and the eight points are a help for sure , '' he said . `` I think the championship will still be very difficult because I know it will not be easy to take four points from Lewis . `` I need something dramatic if I want to win . With a normal race it will be impossible . '' Raikkonen added : `` We are back in the championship and it will be interesting in the final race . `` Hopefully the car is good and it will be a battle all weekend . It is not just up to us though , we saw today that anything can happen , but we are back in the championship . '' E-mail to a friend .
Lewis Hamilton fails to defend world title after crashing out of the Chinese GP . Briton 's lead cut to four points by McLaren team - mate Fernando Alonso . Hamilton qualified second in qualifying behind Ferrari 's Kimi Sato .