It came down to the last turns on the final lap, in the rain. I am so glad that I was spared the nail biting of a two hour drama that was the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final race of the 2008 Formula One racing season that resulted in Hamilton winning it all.
I set the TV up to play the show last night as I fell asleep on the couch. I got through the first hour alright knowing that Lewis Hamilton would have to place at least fifth in order to win if Massa won the race. Basically that was the worst win scenario. If Hamilton, who started fourth on the grid, were to slip behind he could have lost the championship that was practically his destiny since losing it last year. It was exactly what he pulled off. Now he is officially the youngest ever to win the F1 championship, the second in history to win it in the second season, and of course the only black guy to do so in history.
Hamilton is something of an odd duck character-wise. Simon Barnes from the Times Online captures something of his flavor:
Hamilton is exceptional, both in his empathy with his machine and his nerveless love of wheel-to-wheel racing. The idea of playing the percentages goes against every fibre of his being. That is why he is loved by the British for reasons beyond his nationality, and widely hated elsewhere, for reasons that also concern his colour, his nationality and the way he walked into Formula One without a trace of humility. It was either the arrogance of someone about to get his comeuppance or the utterly alienating self-assurance of a champion, and yesterday Hamilton showed us which.
I do have to say that of Hamilton. I like him, but he's not necessarily a likable bloke. He's a well-measured phenomenon on the verge of being nervy. He looks every bit the part of a dashing sort of celebrity, but he's deadly serious about the sport. He looks as if he simply cannot afford to have fun or even jokily brash. He just has to win, win and win. As a hero, he's almost unrecognizable. He gives glory to God and respect to his family and rivals, but you know out there on the track he is wholly and completely headlong and dangerously fast. I've come to recognize how often he locks up his tires just pushing to the last microsecond his rush into the corners. And it is this preternatural skill that makes him fearsome. It's as if every time Tiger Woods drove the ball over 300 yards it could possibly cause a real heart attack in his rival. Every time Hamilton passes a competitor on the track it's a rather death defying act for both of them, and you don't really get to like people who scare you like that. But that's what wins race when he comes from behind.
As for the Brazilian Grand Prix, I fell asleep in the middle of it when Hamilton was cruising around safely in the same position he had since the start of the race and woke up to screaming commentators two laps from the finish. It had just begun to drizzle and the race leaders were switching into intermediate tires. Everyone immediately pitted except for Massa who waited to see if others would. Somehow Vettel just blew past Hamilton in the rain and the nightmare of this year's race at Spa filled my sleepy head. People are going to crash, I thought. Massa who was far in the lead crossed the finish line while Hamilton was still in sixth place. The crowd for Massa's team Ferrari as well as his fellow Brazilians filling the stands went absolutely wild. With Hamilton in 6th, Massa would win all the marbles for the season. But it was not to be. At the last possible moment Hamilton got back into 5th. I still don't know how it happened, but it doesn't get more dramatic than this.
Hamilton's stardom is a questionable thing. Relatively speaking, nobody cares about F1. I would love to see a race myself - in fact if I were the rich retiree I might hope to become, I would do F1 dates like some people ski around the globe. What can I say? I'm a gearhead. My fingers are crossed for Hamilton and the sport. It's about to get more interesting.
BTW, F1 management have foreclosed all of the footage from YouTube. It turned out that Hamilton and Vettel got past Timo Glock in one of the final turns because Glock still had dry tires on, but Hamilton never got Vettel back. In a few days, they'll have their video online.
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