Sun 2 Nov 2008
F1:2008 - Lewis Hamilton sneaks Drivers Title
Posted by Craig under Formula 1 with the tags F1:2008 • Felipe Massa • Formula 1 • Lewis Hamilton • WDC • World ChampionWow, that race today was simply phenomenal!
Firstly, congratulations to Lewis for stumbling over the line to take his championship win, but yet again both he and McLaren seemed to be doing their best to throw it all away. The funny thing with Lewis is that if he decides to forget what he needs and just go for the win then things don’t seem to go his way for one reason or another, but similarly when he tries to drive for what he needs then he tends to come up short.
The post-race chat on ITV included a few people from McLaren who assured us viewers that Lewis had driven well and that he deserved the title, but I still don’t see how they can argue that he deserves it any more than Massa - not that I think the Brazilian has had an amazing year, rather that I don’t think anyone has had a season like that.
Nothing that I’ve seen from Lewis this year has endeared me to him any more - I’m not going to support him simply because he is British, he has to give me reason to support him. Yes, he has had some really good drives but so have Massa, Kubica, Vettel and Alonso.
At the moment I feel really sorry for Massa - not only did he do what he had to do by winning the race, he crossed the line so far ahead of Lewis that for a good time it looked like he had also won the championship. To have those highs, followed by the incredible low of hearing that it wasn’t so must have been incredibly hard to bear - not to mention he still had to go up onto the podium and then into the live press conference.
I’ve no idea how that must have felt, but he seemed to handle it as well as anyone could have done.
I also feel sorry for DC as he was so intent on finishing his last race that for him to barely make the second corner must really annoy him. I dare say he will get over it, being the levelheaded type but it’s still a shame - the way the race panned out it wouldn’t have been outwith the realms of possibility that he could have scored a point or two. He might even have beat Hamilton 
So, that’s it for another year. Next year is going to be strange, with no DC on the grid although the rumours are we’ll still be seeing him on our screens. The big decision to ponder over the winter is who to support from now on though - another driver, or perhaps a team?
As I get to thinking about that, Lewis Hamilton today reinforced the old saying that it’s better to be lucky than good…
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 am
you must admit, Massa should have won in Hungary (engine blew w/ 3 laps left), and in Singapore (lollipop problem). That means he would have had 3 more wins than Hamilton. On merit, I think Massa deserves the WDC more.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Tinou - Could have, would have, should have! all if’s and buts. If Massa had not driven poorly at silverstone, if he had not spun while comfortably in the lead in Malaysia then he might well have been champion earlier. Lets not forget that the Ferrari was still widely accepted to be the best chassis on the grid - yet he still didn’t get the job done.
I feel sad for Massa though, he was truly dignified in defeat and a moral champion in lot of people eyes.
Craig - you say you don’t support Lewis because he has yet to impress you, yet you are a DC fan dare I say, just because he is British??
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:13 pm
@tinou: Thanks for the comment, however this year there has been so many near-misses as far as races Massa perhaps should have won, but also ones Hamilton could have won.
In my eyes, neither was convincing enough to be a clearcut champion this year - fingers crossed they get their acts together for next season so someone actually wins the title rather than receiving it almost be default.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:27 pm
@Scott Joslin: I think that for the good of the sport, the right person won and the right person lost in a way - Massa was incredibly gracious, it must have been so hard to go up on the podium and into the press conference after what he had just been through but he took it all in his stride.
Had it been the other way round, would Hamilton have handled it so well? I’d like to think so, but part of me isn’t sure.
I am a DC fan, and have been since he came into the sport. Initially I followed his fortunes not because he was British as such, but because he was from my neck of the woods - when you are a young teen, that makes a big difference. As the years rolled by and I learned more about him as a person rather than just on the track, I got to like him more. Of course, his morals etc which I see as plus-points actually went against Coulthard the racing driver as it essentially hindered him in his quest for a world title.
I’ve got more about DC coming up in another post, but I take it he hasn’t impressed you during his career?
November 4th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Craig - Well if you know DC then fair enough, but unfortunately DC has never really impressed me. True he might have demonstrated high levels of integrity to uphold a an agreement with his team mates, but that only directly affected a handful of races. In the many others, he seemed to be making up the numbers in most seasons. He was very consistent in his later years, yet still prone to silly accidents even at Redbul. He does have a distinctive personality that, as Martin Brundle said in his commentary on Sunday, will be noticeable by his absence next year. I think that unfortunately sums DC up - Great bloke but could never get it together. I look forward to reading your future posts, hopefully you can sway me.