Lewis Hamilton became F1’s youngest ever world champion as the destiny of the 2008 title switched between him and rival Felipe Massa on the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
In Massa was already over the finishing line when Hamilton took a crucial fifth place of Timo Glock as the German driver struggled on dry weather tyres as rain fell.
That gave Hamilton the priceless point he needed after 71 laps of incredible tension.
Start delayed
The race began and ended in unpredictable fashion – rain fell three minutes before the intended start. Race control delayed the start for ten minutes while almost every driver switched from dry to wet-weather tyres.
The only exception was Robert Kubica – but at the end of the formation lap he realised his mistake and pitted to take on dry weather rubber.
The top four got away cleanly – Felipe Massa held Jarno Trulli at bay at the first corner, and Heikki Kovalainen gave room to team mate Lewis Hamilton, allowing him to keep a hold on fourth. But behind the Finn Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso attacked, dropping him to seventh.
Nico Rosberg went deep into the first corner and slithered into the side of David Coulthard. It pushed the Red Bull into Rosberg’s team mate Kazuki Nakajima, but although the Japanese driver was able to continue, Coulthard’s final Grand Prix was over. Nelson Piquet Jnr didn’t make it past the first lap either – and it could prove his last F1 race too.
Hamilton drops back
The safety car came out and after the pit lane opened Giancarlo Fisichella gambled on an early switch to dry weather tyres. It worked brilliantly, vaulting him up to fifth after everyone else had changed tyres.
Vettel and Alonso did so on lap nine, but Massa waited one lap later. This proved crucial as Hamilton waited until Massa had pitted to react, shadowing his title rival’s move. But having waited two laps longer than the drivers behind him to pit he lost position to both of them.
McLaren brought Kovalainen in on the same lap as Massa, after the Finnish driver had scrambled past Alonso at the restart only to lost the position again by running wide.
After the drivers had completed their change to dry weather tyres Massa resumed the lead from Vettel and Alonso, with Raikkonen down to fourth. Hamilton passed Trulli when the Italian went wide at turn one, and now the McLaren driver found the fifth place he needed occupied by Fisichella.
Hamilton bided his time as the track remained very slippery off-line. Finally on lap 17 he gingerly took the inside line away from Fisichella at the entry to the S do Senna. He was back in fifth place – and the title was back within reach.
Massa stretches his lead
Vettel had a crucial role to play later in the race in almost costing Hamilton the title. But for now, with a light fuel load, he was throwing everything he had at Massa. It was to no avail, and on lap 27 Vettel pitted – 11 laps before Massa needed to – wrecking Vettel’s hopes of repeating his Monza win.
That left Massa with a 4.1s lead over Alonso and the Renault driver’s hopes of beating the Ferrari took a battering when, on lap 34, Massa unleashed a lap of 1’13.755, almost half a second than anything so far in the race.
Alonso had a ten second advantage over Raikkonen, who in turn had five seconds on Hamilton, who was now up to fourth. Glock was now threatening Hamilton, but his pit stop on lap 36 removed the pressure.
Massa pitted two laps later and took on enough fuel to last him until the end of the race. The rest did likewise – but most of them would end up coming back in one more time.
Alonso and Hamilton pitted together on lap 40 – Hamilton now so far behind that he only arrived in the pits as Alonso was leaving. Vettel staved off his final pit stop until lap 51, and that dropped him from second to fifth, behind Hamilton.
The middle part of the race had been quiet, even processional. But the first hints that was about to change came as the teams woke up to the likelihood of a second, late rain shower.
The rain returns
As rain began to fall on lap 63 Massa led Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton. The McLaren driver had only one second’s advantage over Vettel, but he knew that even if he lost the place he would still be champion.
Some drivers switched to wet weather tyres as early as lap 64. Nakajima and Fisichella were the first ones in. Two laps later the leaders took the gamble: Alonso and Raikkonen darted for the pits. Then the Hamilton-Vettel battle for fourth appeared in pit lane as one – Hamilton breaking out of his pattern of mirroring Massa.
Massa was in on lap 67, with four remaining. Now everyone had pitted except the two Toyotas – and this was crucial, because now Glock was ahead of Hamilton.
Two stunning twists
After his early tyre blunder Kubica was fighting back and on lap 69 he unlapped himself from Vettel. Then he did the same with Hamilton, forcing the McLaren wide at Junaco. This was disastrous for Hamilton – as Vettel followed Kubica through to take fifth.
Hamilton was now demoted to sixth and staring championship defeat in the face. Around the final two laps Vettel’s Toro Rosso was tantalisingly out of reach.
On the McLaren radio Martin Whitmarsh was telling Hamilton to keep it cool – because the Toyotas were starting to struggle. His problem was Glock was coping with the conditions far better than Trulli – lapping five seconds faster than his team mate on lap 70.
But the 71st lap proved one too many for them. Robbed of tyre temperature and grip, the two floundered to the line. First Vettel, then Hamilton reached Glock in the final sector of the final lap – and both drove past him with ease.
As Massa crossed the finish line the Ferrari pit and the crowd erupted in celebration. But the cheers stopped as Vettel and Hamilton headed for the line with Glock in their mirrors: Vettel fourth, Hamilton fifth – and world champion by a single point.
Championship changes hands twice in the final three laps (Video)
A sad winner
Massa could scarcely hold back the tears on the podium – but he was weeping with sadness, not joy. Not his home victory nor Ferrari’s 16th constructors’ title could ease the pain of having the drivers’ championship torn from his grasp at the last gasp.
He was flanked by Alonso and Raikkonen. Glock held on to sixth ahead of Kovalainen – so his gamble actually paid off – and Trulli took the final point ahead of Mark Webber. Nick Heidfeld completed the top ten.
Kubica finished 11th ahead of Rosberg, Button and Bourdais – the latter losing a potential points finish after a lunge by Trulli forced him off the track at turn one. Revenge for Shanghai? Perhaps, but unlike Hamilton at Fuji, there was no punishment for Trulli.
Barrichello finished what could be his final race in 15th, ahead of Sutil, Nakajima and Fisichella.
In the pits Hamilton and McLaren were celebrating. Their driver hadn’t realised he was champion until well after crossing the finish line – but as the shell shock he wasted no time in catching up with the celebrations. He wasn’t the only one left reeling by this flabbergasting end to the season.
2008 Brazilian Grand Prix result
Gusto
2nd November 2008, 22:27
We love you Timo We do, We love you Timo We do, We love you Timo We do, Oh Timo We love You………………………….But not as much Lewis…etc.etc
Nick
2nd November 2008, 22:36
The next Jacques Villeneuve! good thing they didn’t have the winners family waving the flag, would have been funny with the last lap change.
Will
2nd November 2008, 22:43
Hamilton was given the championship. He did not earn it.
Glock can take a hike. He handed this to Hamilton. What a joke… H
Pink Peril
2nd November 2008, 22:44
They all looked pretty miserable on the podium, didn’t they? Never seen so many long faces on the winners dias.
teamorders
2nd November 2008, 22:51
Congratulations to Lewis, he is a worthy WDC.
I deperately wanted Massa to win as I’m definitely not a Lewis fan (I haven’t disliked a driver this much since Nigel Mansell, lol). It’s hard to be too sad though after being treated to a race like that, what a last 7 or so laps!
I doubt I’ll ever see such a close conclusion to a WDC again.
Now it’s a long long wait till Albert Park…..
David Watkins
2nd November 2008, 22:52
Will
Both Toyotas on dry tyres did the last lap in 1:44. They gambled and didn’t quite win.
If they had wanted Lewis to win the title they would have brought Glock in for wet tyres.
Please try thinking about it just for a moment.
TommyBellingham
2nd November 2008, 22:56
Will Massa handed Kimi the title last year. If Massa won this year the FIA would have handed Ferrari the title. Stop being a saw loser. If Glock had have pitted Massa wouldnt have been close at all to get the WDC
Trip Hazard
2nd November 2008, 22:58
OMG, It’s 22:54 GMT & my heart has just started again.. One thought though, isnt it about time the WORLD CHAMPION is presented with ‘whatever one gets for winning a world championship’ at the end of the race?? After those last 2 laps, it felt a bit of an anti-climax that Lewis wasnt up there.
Will
2nd November 2008, 22:59
@David Watkins – No way that Glock should have collapsed that dramatically… even in the conditions with dry tyres. Glock hit the brakes and let Hamilton go by.
This was not a completely soaked track like Spa in the last three laps. Glock just shut it down. I’ve lost complete respect for him.
TommyBellingham
2nd November 2008, 22:59
I love it that all the Ferrari fans are annoyed at Glock. Hamilton fans should be annoyed at Kubica for nearly losing Hamilton the title by unlapping himself and letting him run wide so Vettel went passed him. I guess Hamilton fans just aren’t as sad as Ferrari fans
TommyBellingham
2nd November 2008, 23:01
Look at Trullis lap times Will and the maybe realise you are wrong and be quiet
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd November 2008, 23:02
Will, look at the lap times of both the Toyotas. There was nothing Glock could do – in fact, he did a far better job of coping with the dry weather tyres than Trulli did.
David Watkins
2nd November 2008, 23:04
Hamilton shouldnt have let Kubica affect him. Bad mistake that nearly cost him everything.
Will
Look at Glock coming out of the final corner. He swings from side to side like a teenager after a 20-pint session. He had no grip at all
the limit
2nd November 2008, 23:09
Such a fine line between success and failure. As to Ferrari fans blaming Timo Glock, they should remember Spa, inwhich Hamilton was robbed of victory at the last. What goes around comes around. They should use Massa’s example, and that is to lose with dignity and respect.
Two, very foreign words to the tifosi I am sure.
Filipe
2nd November 2008, 23:30
Ferrari fans who are blaming Glock should be blaming whoever did a mistake in Glock’s second pit. He was just behind Lewis till then, and pit 5 second slower than everyone else which put him behind both Hondas, Bourdais and Rosberg for a few laps. Between the pit and the trafic he certainly lost more than the gap to Lewis in the end.
zerogee
2nd November 2008, 23:30
@Will. Perhaps your attention should also be drawn to a number of dodgy stewards decisions that forced the title to Brazil. But apart from that, the Toyotas were slow, Mclaren knew it (read Whitmarsh’s comments) and that was that. If Massa hadn’t walloped a few walls earlier in the season, he’d be champion. It’s the way it goes.
I must say it was tragic watching the vision of Massa’s family going mad only to have to calm down after being told he’d missed out. Thought it a little unpleasant to replay that vision…
I think some Ferrari fans were expecting Massa to take the title given his overall improvement in the second half of the season and the, er, external help he’s been given. Massa was valiant in defeat and my respect for him is up yet another notch.
My next door neighbour is going to be gutted…hee hee…we were both awake at 4am to watch.
Nick
2nd November 2008, 23:32
Massa did not hand the title to Kimi. Kimi passed him in the pits. Kimi shut his car down to give Massa a chance to win this year.
Rob B
2nd November 2008, 23:33
I nearly had a heart attack watching the race! What a thriller!! Congrats to Lewis and roll on ’09 season.
Keith – Many thanks for running the site, it’s brilliant!!
David Watkins
2nd November 2008, 23:36
Filipe
I think Glock was the first guy to fill to the end and he was right on the limit. His stop was necessarily long I think. doesn’t mean there was no mistake though
Filipe
2nd November 2008, 23:44
David, Massa pit I think 3 laps after glock and his pit was 9.4 (against glock’s 14.5).
Will
2nd November 2008, 23:47
27.
You are looking too narrowly at the lap times. It’s true that Jarno and Timo ran the same approximate lap time, but they did it in vastly different methods.
Jarno ran faster throughout the last lap when comparing lap times with the rest of the pack. As the sectors progressed, he gained ground.
Timo did the opposite… running the worst sector three time of the race. Jarno, running on the same tyres, pulled much closer to Timo throughout the last lap of the Brazilian grand prix.
I’ll admit that traffic makes this analysis imperfect. But the confluence of events at the end of this race is peculiar. Clearly, even Jarno was gaining on Timo at the end of this race.
AJ Ball
2nd November 2008, 23:48
Martin Brundle seems to be the only commentator in whole world who spotted the pass as it happened and called the finish correctly!
David Watkins
2nd November 2008, 23:55
Will
Sector 3 began just as Hamilton and Vettel passed Glock (just before Junccao)
In S1 and S2 of the last lap, Glock was 2.3 seconds quicker than Trulli. His sector three is irrelevant as his goose was already cooked before it started.
Trulli finished 13 seconds behind Kovalainen who did the last lap 20 seconds quicker so Kovi must have passed him early in the lap.
So Jarno, other than backmarkers, had no-one to bother him after that. Whether he had trouble with backmarkers I don’t know
David
3rd November 2008, 0:07
Was this the first race where a driver had to compete against four drivers from the same team (Ferrari of course): Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel?!
Will. A Brazilian reporter said he saw Timo’s tyres after the race: some completely worn down to the canvas. He just had zero grip by the end.
ajokay
3rd November 2008, 0:18
Trip Hazard (#8)
I totally agree that after a whole year of racing, you sometimes do not get to see the Champion be crowned after they finish the final race if they’re not on the podium. At every other sporting event you see a ceremony for the winner: football, the olympics, tennis, you name it, whereas I believe F1 hides it all away at a VIP’s only dinner-awards-type thing in January. They’re really missing a trick there by not letting the fans see the champion crowned. Plus I’m sure they could make some money out of it.
Interesting point made by Keith there as well, where was Trulli’s penalty for ‘pushing another car off the road’? I seem to remember that 3 weeks ago, the stewards were very quick to punish a certain someone for doing the very same.
David Watkins
3rd November 2008, 0:22
In some ways I’m glad there was no public presentation. It would have been merely an orgy of abuse from the “fans” (by no means all of course but a significant number)
f1fan
3rd November 2008, 0:23
Im so glad hamilton won, but i got to say Massa is going to be on fire next year and i hope he can strike back with WDC!
David Watkins
3rd November 2008, 0:24
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XR36LbhBAg4
teehee. Here’s the Spanish TV live coverage. They (unsurprisingly) didn’t notice them passing Glock and were thus dumbstruck when Hamilton was shown as finishing fifth.
You need to understand Spanish to register the stunned disappointment in the commentators
Loki
3rd November 2008, 0:31
As a Ferrari supporter, I do not blame Glock. Well…I do just now (;-)), but I know he didn’t hand it to Hamilton, there was little to nothing he could do to retain that position.
In the end, it was one of the most exciting finishes to a race, a championship deciding race at that, and if last year it was all about the fat lady singing, then this year’s been wait till she’s finished her song. Taking a snapshot of the positions when Massa crossed the line, he was champion – little surprise about the pre-celebration in the Ferrari camp.
Commiserations also to DC. I somewhat knew his car wouldn’t make it to the end, but didn’t think it would be Senna S on the first lap. That was pretty harsh, but then again, it’s summed up his season pretty succintly.
Erik G
3rd November 2008, 0:32
Congrats to Lewis on the WDC – he earned it. Kudos to Massa, too – a sad scene to watch as the emotions poured out of him after coming so close. I do think the points system ought to be revisted – there’s something not quite right when the driver who wins the most races during the season isn’t champion…
David Watkins
3rd November 2008, 0:35
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XR36LbhBAg4
Here’s the Spanish TV covergae. They (unsurprisingly) didn’t spot Glock being passed and are dumbstruck with disappointment!
On the final straight the commentary is:
1: “He’s lost the world championship. I cannot believe it! It’s the curse of Hamilton!”
2: “There are a few metres to go…”
1: “No, no no it’s all over!”
2: “Fourth to Glo.. Vettel, Hamilton fifth! What the hell happened to Glock?!”
You don’t need to understand it to find it funny. Tones of voice are universal!
Kevin
3rd November 2008, 1:00
I feel pleasure seeing Ferrari fan boy whim…
Massa don’t deserved the championship. Raikonnen just let Massa over take to take extra point during the Chinese Grand Prix. Every body know the FIA Stewart is a jokes and always favor Ferrari.
Thanks to Lewis, formula 1 is now more exciting to watch…
John H
3rd November 2008, 1:04
nail biting stuff today $:) Anyone talking nonsense about Glock should be reminded of the equally nonsensical Bourdais Fuji penalty – without that, 6th would have been good enough anyway.
Well done Lewis. You have brought excitement into f1, and won the championship in what was in my opinion the second fastest car on the grid.
Oliver
3rd November 2008, 1:05
Watching a race on TV and the ability of the cameras to give a clear picture even when its raining hard, doesn’t allow the viewers appreciate how bad the conditions really are.
@Will
Do you really think Glock would want to hand Hamilton the championship?. Its always best to get a clear perspective of a situation before getting emotional. Remember the very first lap of the race, I mean the parade lap. It had seemed to just drizzled lightly, but even Kubica couldn’t keep on with the grooved tyres and had to change to wets. Towards the end of the race, even Hamilton using the wet tyres could be seen sliding around, then you can imagine a driver using dry tyres.
Terry Fabulous
3rd November 2008, 1:20
Spot on AJ Ball
He is damn good at what he does.
Although I must admit that my heart sunk when I heard him say that…
But lets not kid ourselves, Lewis is pretty good at what he does!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd November 2008, 1:45
Rob B – You’re very welcome, thanks.
AJ Ball – They were really on the, erm, ball, I thought. I wonder what the Brazilian commentary sounded like?
David (#24) – I think ‘same team’ is taking it a bit far. Alonso’s a racing driver, he’d’ve had Massa for the win if his car was quick enough.
Loki – I was really disappointed to see Coulthard go out so soon, and through something that really wasn’t his fault either. A shame.
Erik G – I felt sorry for Massa too, which I wouldn’t have thought possible beforehand, what with the Spa penalty and all. But he drove a brilliant race and composed himself with great dignity afterwards. And I don’t agree with those who think this is his only shot at the title.
David Watkins
3rd November 2008, 1:52
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lB7Xlyfo_VA
Here’s the Brazilian one Keith.
Galvao Bueno has been around for years and I think he’s wonderful.
He just repeats “on the last corner” over and over again.
“Na ulllllllllllltima curva”
yorricksfriend
3rd November 2008, 1:57
@ teamorders, my thoughts exactly – what a race, what a fitting way to end it. although i don’t like lewis, he dam well deserved that
Peter
3rd November 2008, 1:58
After watching the replay it almost looks like Glock was a backmarker which no one was paying attention to till Martin Brundle noticed it was Timo Glock. I guess most people were thinking including myself that Glock was so far ahead the real battle for final position was between Vettel and Hamilton.
Andrew Smith
3rd November 2008, 1:59
I actually think that the F1 result was incorrect this year. McClaren as a team made few mistakes whereas the Ferrari team make a few which cost their drivers. Massa made very few mistakes whereas Hamilton made a few. So McClaren should have the constructors and Massa the WDC. Hamilton benefited enormously from LUCK this year, luck with the weather and for being at the right place at the right time. Take the last race for example, qualified badly and lost a place during the race, yet because of another team’s bad decision, he wins enough points to win the WDC. Hamilton is talented but luck and bad decisions of other teams gave him this result, it was not 100% earned.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd November 2008, 2:03
David – thanks, wish I spoke some other languages, wretched philistine that I am. Still, something to do in the off-season…
David Watkins
3rd November 2008, 2:04
Andrew Smith
If Toyota had changed to wet tyres Glock would never have been in front of Hamilton.
And I’d like to know when he was lucky because of the weather?
“being at the right place at the right time”
what does that mean?
Peter
3rd November 2008, 2:05
If it wasn’t for Vettels move on Hamilton and Glocks risky strategy staying out on the dry tyres this race would just been so ordinary and boring so I think we all have to thank some of these drivers for bringing some of the most exciting racing we have seen in along time even if some of us hated the end result.
Kevin
3rd November 2008, 2:26
Keith Collantine, and you think Massa deserved to Win? FIA favor Ferrari and handled down stupid penalty which got him a lot of advantage. Plus Raikonnen let Massa pass him during the Chinese Grand Prix to the the extra point.. All in All Hamilton deserved his win.
DMW
3rd November 2008, 2:36
A lot of this drama came down to the first 3 corners. I know I’m down on Kovalainen, but the 2nd and 4th place cars were the two that blew by #23 on lap one. Alonso plain schooled Kovy on lap two and then left him for dead—my palms began to sweat as soon as I saw Kovalainen disappear behind Alonso. Because at this point a “conservative” race for Hamilton became an attempt to beat the likes of Glock and Vettel while saddled with a precautionary freight of fuel and running low revs. With the top 10 covered by a second in performance terms, that was not going to be easy. It wasn’t.
David - BR
3rd November 2008, 3:16
Keith@
The comment ‘same team’ was fairly tongue in cheek! However, I didn’t mean Alonso and Vettel wouldn’t have fought Massa, only that both are probably looking for a Ferrari berth and wanted to make their claim very clear (to Ferrari).
David@
Thanks for posting the clip. Bueno repeatedly shouting ‘Seguuura Vettel!!’ (‘Hold on to it Vettel!’) was almost unbearable at the time!
DMW
Agree completely. I think McLaren very often over-elaborate. The extra fuel off the grid proved useless when everyone had to come in after a few laps anyway. They also have to be careful about curbing Lewis’s racing instinct with these conservative strategies. FIA are already doing that with their penalities this season.
Navs
3rd November 2008, 3:19
I’m not a Lewis supporter, but I must say the WDC trophy must feel much heavier and more substantial in his hands. Here’s what he had to overcome to get this:
1. Inconsistent FIA
2. Useless teammate
3. Psych games from a two-time world champion
4. Animosity from other drivers
5. Inexperience
6. Boo-ing crowd; thousands of them
Maybe he deserved some of the above, maybe not. But he finally did what it takes.
Let’s hope the top 5 finishers this season get almost equally competitive cars next season -it’ll be great.
Thanks to Keith for a great content and community.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
3rd November 2008, 3:20
Kevin – No, I don’t think that (don’t think I said so either?) More on that here though: Felipe Massa: a class act
yeang
3rd November 2008, 3:25
there is no logical reason why glock or toyota would “give” fifth place to hamilton. its quite obvious he and toyota took a risk by staying on slicks. hamilton (and vettel for that matter) were just much quicker, just like how alonso and the bmws made up tons of places on the last lap at spa.
i think in more ways massa was actually “given” the chance to challenge for the title in front of his home crowd, to provide a final-race showdown, by the stewards of course – what with the spa penalty, bourdais/fuji penalty, perhaps his own valencia non-penalty. credit to him for driving well and winning convincingly but for hamilton to have lost the title would have been a huge injustice.
Will
3rd November 2008, 4:00
I’ve watched the replay several times… Glock’s line was pretty dry. I still really believe that Glock hit the brakes big time at the end of this race. This was not Spa or Silverstone. The conditions, while damp, were not so unbearable that Glock had to crawl into the finish. There’s just no way he had to slow down like that so close to the end…
Is Hamilton still a legit champ? Probably. I would agree with most here that Hamilton was screwed at Spa. Obviously, he’s a historic champion as well… and does deserve to be celebrated.
Do I think of Glock as much less of a racer? Yes.
I’m not sure what history will say about this year. Lots of controversy: several great races and several absolute duds. Nonetheless, I hope we can all agree that F1 is far better off when the championship is competitive. While I am hugely disappointed by what I perceive as Glock’s unsporting behaviour, its still a better ending than having Schumacher wrap things up in July.
Parity is, ultimately, good for F1.
Chris Y
3rd November 2008, 4:56
Spectacular finish, just the right amount of rain at the right times (maybe not for the Toyotas) to spice things up..
Well-deserved champion but I do feel for Massa. To me, it is just strange that Massa has more wins yet Hamilton takes the title. Consistency is important, but winning is even more so. I’d prefer the 10-6-4-3-2-1 system.
Chris Y
3rd November 2008, 5:33
Almost forgot, splendid drive by Vettel… the Red Bulls were very far down though, don’t know if going there is a mistake, have to see their 2009 car.
Alejandro
3rd November 2008, 5:48
Marvelous race, loved it.
BTW Will, u know there’s such a thing as telemetry, to which the FIA and more crucially, toyota have access right? So you are implying that a young driver with a bright future would throw away his future career in order to get what? what’s in it for Glock? i’d say you better come up with something better than money
motion
3rd November 2008, 6:19
Love the comment from Whitmarsh to ITV “we knew Hamilton would easily catch & pass Glock”. Well dopey why did you tell him he had to attack and pass Vettel and have him nearly run himself off trying then?
Really … what a McLaren stuff up all weekend. No wing for the rain and no chance for Kovy to run foil with even less wing and a dumb fuel load … crikey maybe Mercedes should look at pensioning Whitmarsh as well as Dennis! Who in the pit is going to be able to tell Mr Hamilton and his dad and their egos that they know better than them now?
Congratulations to Hamilton’s supporters anyway, a win is a win.
Alvin
3rd November 2008, 6:50
Andrew Smith,
Lewis just lucky? Right place right time? Hmm..what does that make Massa then who happened to be 2nd at Belgium and luckily inherited the win from Lewis?
This is the problem with FIArrari fan boys, they’re just damn blind. I hate FIArrari and don’t want Massa to win but I must admit that he drove a strong race and deserved the win, plus he was dignified at the end. But take a look at the whole season and probably the last few years at how everything conspired to try to block Lewis from winning (and McLaren too) but God is great.
Even tho I support Lewis, I felt his win this year was not that strong and that Massa did put in a great effort. But pls Andrew, Will, Amy and other blind Tifosi, even tho you are blind, your other senses still work. Pls use them.
C4
3rd November 2008, 7:00
What if Hamilton couldn’t get his steering wheel back on? The tv coverage showed him struggle with it for at least a minute. I’m guessing the stewards would’ve had something to say about it.
Cameron
3rd November 2008, 7:43
I call it karma, baby. The comedy act of Spa no longer matters. As a devote McLaren fan i shed a tear today.
How ever i really feel sorry of Massa, to lose it like that, after thinking it was in the bag. It really felt like this was perhaps Massa’s one and only chance with all the talent filling up the grid.
Congratulations Lewis. Amazing!
alan
3rd November 2008, 7:58
Well done to Hamilton – and yes hard luck for Massa – but thank god that Massa didnt win the championship – because all those dubious penalties/descisions by amatuer stewards and fia(persons) – would have meant that all during the off season – we would have the tiffosi lauhing and us cursing their friends in low places.
As for glock – he didnt give the position up he was struggling for grip – so roll on next year and more quality arguing on the site – thanks for that Keith
v8
3rd November 2008, 8:03
i just want to see hamilton’s onboard camera video while kubica was unlapping himself and glock’s on-board video in the final two laps….
anyway great win. hamilton totally deserves to be world champion
yessss
Oliver
3rd November 2008, 8:37
@Will
Different race tracks have different grip characteristics. If you have any experience of driving a car, even a road car, you will appreciate that fact.
Its very easy to criticize from the comfort of your living room.
In my opinion Glock will be the very last person to want to hand Hamilton any extra point after their clash at Monza.
Mbuyi
3rd November 2008, 8:41
Alonso should learn from Massa and stop being such a sore loser.Nail bitting stuff dont think ive ever seen such a dramatic finnish.
DG
3rd November 2008, 8:57
Go Vettel! Go Vettel! I hope next year is much better for you……..
paul