Lewis!

[Craft]

I don't think the "he only won because hes in the best car" argument works.
Look at Renaults return to form in the last few races. Where was Piquet ? in the wall mostly. Kovalainen, despite having the same number of races as Hamilton in F1 hasn't been able to put together a season. Its been nip and tuck but overall I'd say the Ferrari was a superior machine this year.

I don't understand the "he is arrogant" comments (not just from here), I've lost count of the times he's said in press conferences etc "so and so was quicker, I couldn't catch him". How is that arrogant ?

Anyway, well done to Hamilton & McLaren, they must be aiming for the double next year

 

[33L]

the only reason i hate hamilton is because of nicole being on his arm! but fair play to the man, he did a good job, there was plenty of skill involved in his title just shame he fluked the last point. Unfortunate that he didn't really need to with the points he has lost by bad calls by the FIA.

I want lewis to win 2 more titles to wipe the smile from allonso's face. I still despise that man till this day!

 

[Gary]

there was plenty of skill involved in his title just shame he fluked the last point.

thats the thing, though, he didnt fluke it

if glock had pitted for inters like everyone else (and like mclaren expected him to) then there wouldnt even have been a discussion because he would have been behind him.

 

[Marc]

thats the thing, though, he didnt fluke it

if glock had pitted for inters like everyone else (and like mclaren expected him to) then there wouldnt even have been a discussion because he would have been behind him.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[dod]

Well, I wanted Massa to win, I wanted Ferrari to win. It's purely subjective but I just can't find anything remotely exciting about Hamilton at all. I wouldn't say he was arrogant either, just boring. :shrug:

 

[spannerdude]

Tbh, I cant really remeber the Senna era.

I loved Schumacher. He was a great driver. Fairy nuff he cheated a lot but he was great.

What great values the yoof of today have.

 

[33L]

he was lucky that glock lost it, thats why i said fluked it. Lewis made the right decision and yes if glock had changed tyres there would have been no problem i agree. My words once i realised he passed Glock was you lucky barsteward! However as many will agree here - it should of won the title before brazil!

However the price on the faces in the ferrari pit will go down in history.

 

[russdaz]

I do have fear for him next year tbh but time will tell if it was too soon. You can not deny the kid has some skill.

But you will also always get well he had the best team, until he moves to out of form team like Schumacher did at Ferrari and pull something like he did in 1996 in Spain lapped every one upto 2nd or 3rd in the rain, or wins the title with 2 different teams. But you will never hear me chearing Hamilton on, until his driving a Ferrari lol.

Funny thing here though people are also calling Bayliss (WSB Champion retiring after wining it again this year) over rated, even though he has a 1 in 3 win rate

Whatever happens, next season looks set to be a pretty good one.
We've got Massa smarting from losing, Kimi will always be there or thereabouts, Lewis trying to defend his title and some really good up and coming racers (Kubica, Vettel to name just two) in cars that are showing a definite improvement in performance.
The championship has never been so wide open.

Forget the cars performance this year though, as next years cars are completely new. Completely new tyres to boot, so it will either be wide open, or down to who has the biggest budget and best wind tunnels, designers.

 

[Battlestar]

Cannot see what all the argument here is all about. :shake:

I am a Ferrari fan, but like most people respect the result of the track .... and this year Hamilton has won it. Well done Lewis. And well done to Filipe for keeping it open up to the last corner!

And bring on 2009 for a new season.

Although like Yv said, and I agree fully, F1 today is a business and NOT a sport anymore (much like soccer!)

 

[whitey]

I've followed lewis for the past few years, read the book that came out last year and he does seem a genuine guy. yeah he is arrogant, but so is most others, it comes with most in F1.

i dont see the problem with his father celebrating either as Lewis says, hes the guy who got him where he is today so we have to have alot of repect for a guy who went out of his way (having three jobs) to fund lewis racing before he was picked up by Mclaren

 

[russdaz]

However as many will agree here - it should of won the title before brazil!

Cant see it happening, i mean the title being before the last race of the year again if the governing body can help it, after the damage Schumacher and Ferrari done a few years back by wining in France. Not to take anything away from Lewis, but i just feel F1 is being engineered somewhat, synical maybe, but i did predict last year that it would be decided in the final corner last year.

 

[33L]

sadly i agree. F1 has lost its edge with all the restrictions put on the teams. As stated its al abount moeny and thats the way its going to be!

 

[King of Groove]

I was over at my Sisters and we were all cheering him on. What a race with drama right to the end.

If only I had built on my Scalextric skills think what I could have become!

 

[mrgubby]

I was speaking to my brother last night about Hamilton , my brother said " personally I don't like him", I replied " Oh , I've never met him".

What people tend to forget is that Hamilton / Massa etc are presented to us by the media with their own spin on things and it's not been helped by the love-in on ITV at each race.

All I can say about this years F1 is that Hamilton was the best driver (IMO) and :razz: to the FIA


And a wish for racing next year with no ******* F1 politics :bang:

 

[specialman]

First full race I've sat down watched this season since Canada. This season has been boring as per usual but all that is inconsequential when you have a season finale like what we saw yesterday.

I thought Hamilton made it extremely uncomfortable to watch, but all the more exciting, especially when it came to the last few corners of the race to seal the championshop vctory.

Would love to know if Glock threw it to allow LH the win or whether it was just lack of grip. Maybe it was both?...

Massa surprised me with the amount of dignity he showed and he's shown that despite the fact he drives for a bunch of cheating c****, he's a very mature and worthy future world champ. I think he'll make it very hard for LH next season.

No one has mentioned the 'villian' of the day, Sebastien Vettel. SB drove like an absolute nutter and for me, shared driver of the day with Alonso for a solid, inspired performace that saw him effectivley punching above his weigh against the Mclarens and Ferraris. Of course, if Glock hadn't dropped off, Vettell would be the most hated man on the UK for that overtaking move on LH in the closing minutes. Fair play though; he's racing and isn't there to gift people wins. But that never happened so....

Alonso drove a great race and my opinion of him has changed greatly recently because he's doing a Schumacher and making the car competetive. He's definitely showing that he's not finished as a potential champion.

On the subject of Hamilton, I'm not a massive fan of him as a bloke – he's seriously lacking in charisma, he got that aweful transatlantic accent and he's boning that fit bird from that Pussy group – but his driving style is exciting and he makes a good F1 star.

As someone's already said, F1 is a business and a lot of the time, the championship is won behind the scenes through the manufacturers' cheque books. I'm sure there is still a massive amont of skill to be harnessed and some team priciples harness that skill better than others, but there's no denying that this was the ONLY truly exciting race of the season.

Also, it was a shame ITV didn't do a recap of their tenure as F1 broadcasters, it would have been interesting to see all the magic moments they captured, but I'm sure that'll be kept for an other weekend.

 

[Yv]

Maybe its my age, but I can't help but feel its modern F1, but this season has been one of the most open for a long time [the last 2 seasons in fact, but this one in particular, with Kimi and Kubica also featuring in the title fight until the last 2 or 3 races, yet somehow I have those Sundays where 'other engagements' were happily booked knowing I would miss the GP live. I have skim read race reports and not even bothered watching the recording, or even the highlights [Valencia for example] because the race seemed incredibly dull. There have been exciting races this year I just can't actually remember, without checking Autosport, which ones.

Why this apathy to a form of entertainment I have loved and loathed in equal measure for years? I remember the days of Schumacher dominating every race and being frankly bored by it and him, yet I still tuned in every race day just in case someone managed to put one over on him. I loved interviews with guys like Irvine, Villeneuve and Montoya for whom a spade was a bloody great shovel and no PR muppet was going to tell them otherwise.

Motor racing has always been corrupt, from stem to stern, grassroots to highest echelons, the idea was not to get caught when you 'misread' rule 36a paragraph 4b and when you did get caught, accept the penalty and move on. What really turns me off these days, especially in F1 but its creeping in lower formulae too, is the nasty nit picking punishments for stuff that is truly racing incidents. Heidfeld got a couple of penalties for daring to have to be in the pitlane on an inlap when someone behind him was on a hot lap - what was he meant to do, park by the side of the track until the other guy had passed? Oh, and of course, when they do punish, they don't do consistency do they, its on a whim [mainly I suspect the whim of a man called Mosley, being as all the stewards are his litle mates who wanna hang on to their privileged position] Punishments for 'causing an avoidable accident'?? WTF is all that about? Do you honestly think any of them want to crash? They are RACERS! They spend every day running around being 'ambassadors' for this sponsor or that organisation, saying exactly what the PR man told them too, then on a weekend they spend a few hours in a car doing exactly what they wanted to be there for in the first place....and you know what, this motor racing, accidents will happen and do, and sometimes one driver is possibly more to blame than the other, but they really are just accidents and punishing someone after every one of them will do exactly th eopposite of what the drivers and mainly the fans want - it wont create better racing and more over taking, it will stop it as no one will dare go near another car for fear of touching wheels and getting a penalty next time out. There was time when sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous.....



Sorry, rant over, I think I shall go and watch something calming on TV, Jeremy Kyle perhaps....

 

[specialman]

BTCC - racing as it's meant to be; wheel to wheel with plenty of incident and two races per weekend

 

[andrewc]

If you want to watch exciting racing, watch the final 3 laps of Monaco 1992 - Senna/Mansell.

For yesterdays race, McLaren should have aimed for 3rd and had 4th/5th as contingency. Kovalinen hasn't done the job as a team mate - should have protected Lewis or faught for win (and could then be pitted to make an extra place if necessary.

I thought Massa was very dignified in defeat.

 

[Grendel]

I agree with that Andrew

I think Heiki has underperformed on many occasions when McLaren have needed him to step up to the mark this season. Hopefully we'll se better from him next season when he's got a year at the team under his belt.

Massa's behaviour on the podium after the race was a credit to him. He made it so clear to the Brazilian fans how much their support meant to him. Full credit to the guy.

 

[Caledonia]

If you want to watch exciting racing, watch the final 3 laps of Monaco 1992 - Senna/Mansell.

Totally agree with that Andrew, brilliant to watch.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XX6lyttEryY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XX6lyttEryY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

 

[specialman]

Thing is about that 1992 Monaco race is you're watching two guys battling it out for position on an exciting track, whereas yesterday the excitement came from wondering just how Hamilton would/could cock it up while fighting in the 4th/5th/6th place positions.

Totally different but equally mesmerising

 

[russdaz]

. I loved interviews with guys like Irvine, Villeneuve and Montoya for whom a spade was a bloody great shovel and no PR muppet was going to tell them otherwise.

like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOW-jngVoT4

 

[Craft]

BTCC - racing as it's meant to be; wheel to wheel with plenty of incident and two races per weekend

Three races each weekend.

BTCC is struggling, SEAT dropped out after this season, leaving Vauxhall as the only works team. Compare that to 15+ years ago when BMW, Vauxhall, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Renault, Peugeot and Mazda were all running works teams. I can still see Cleland up on two wheels, trying to win the championship in the last race! If it wasn't for Halfords & RAC there would be little point in it at all.

In a bid to cut costs for this year many components had to be stock parts (things like suspension uprights/arms/hubs etc) although they are allowed to modify them. Next year they have very tight CO2 rules.
You also have to remember they use success ballast to keep things close.

I like BTCC, but its got its own problems

 

[specialman]

Craft, that's a shame to hear Vauxhall are the only manufacturer supporting the BTCC.
I too can remember the days of Radisch in his Mondeo, Alain Menu in the Laguna, the sexy Alfas, Tim Harvey in the 406 and the mighty Primera. Oh, and that ever so quick (and surprising) Volvo estate that was something else

 

[gazzauk]

Good grief.

OK, lets explain motor racing - there are those that are supremely talented and never make it, because they never got the breaks or their face/attitude/etc didnt fit [Tommy Byrne for example]. There are those that lack any inate talent but learn to be pretty quick, and do the right things and ultimately get a few breaks and work bloody hard to make it to the big league [David Couthard for example], there are those that have some talent and are a modern marketing dreams that do make it, BIG time [Lewis Hamiliton for example], they work bloody hard too, yes, certain things are handed to them, they have 'front' and an ability to say exactly the right thing, but behind it all, they graft their asses off to get there! There are also those that have the same marketing dream that show only the simplest of talent [Bruno Lalle...err, sorry Senna, for example] but will sell so much advertising space, it doesnt matter how crap they are, the dollar signs are what counts. Finally, there are those that are the same as the first category, but the face fits at the time, they get the breaks and they deserve the rewards [Micheal Schumacher for example, or even better, Alain Prost]

F1 is not a sport, its a business, thats once a fortnight spends 2 hours on a sunday afternoon having a bit of a race. For the rest of the time, its all about the dollars. Don't ever forget that, because you can be sure no one in the paddock ever does.

Remember these words?

"The mark of a champion is to be on the pace immediately in whatever formula. Hamilton has never shown that ability".

Hmmm, let's see, 1st season, misses the title by 1 point. Second season, World Champion. Now, to me, that's pretty much being 'immediately on the pace'

Or what about "Piquet is every bit as good, if not better, than Hamilton".

I mean, the great Piquet jr, has provided some great comedy moments this year, I will say that.

Still waiting to see his massive talent shine through, though.

Your second hand views are totally invalid.

Snigger snigger

 

[whitey]

correct me if i am wrong but hasn't Lewis won every single seater championship he has entered?

now thats talent if you ask me, yeah he has been backed by Mclaren but it still takes talent to be able to do that

i dont think he is the best driver this year, that goes to Alonso without a doubt but then followed by Lewis

 

[gazzauk]

correct me if i am wrong but hasn't Lewis won every single seater championship he has entered?

He has indeed

 

[gazzauk]

There are also those that have the same marketing dream that show only the simplest of talent [Bruno Lalle...err, sorry Senna, for example] but will sell so much advertising space, it doesnt matter how crap they are, the dollar signs are what counts.

I am guessing you didnt see his superb display in the wet at silverstone this year, then?

Still, good of you to 'explain motorsport' to everyone...

 

[Marcel]

I am guessing you didnt see his superb display in the wet at silverstone this year, then?

Still, good of you to 'explain motorsport' to everyone...

Wind your neck in and stop being sarcastic in every post.

 

[RichardC27]

I am guessing you didnt see his superb display in the wet at silverstone this year, then?

Still, good of you to 'explain motorsport' to everyone...

I've also seen him make a complete prat of himself on the first lap of British F3 race at Donington, indulging in a completely unecessary wheel-banging session coming down the Craner Curves. Surprisingly, he ended up facing the wrong way with three wheels on his wagon. I hope I'm proved wrong, but from what I've seen, the young Mr Senna doesn't have the talent to succeed in F1.

 

[Jelster]

Arrogant ? You want to manage a young successful sales team, now their arrogant.... Hamilton is just very confident, he knows his ability, have you ever seen him say "I'm the best there is" ?

As for the "in the best car" argument; F1 is a team game, it's made up of mechanics and engineers advising him while on track, it's not just about his ability.

Anyway, you wouldn't expect to see Ronaldo & Rooney playing for Accrington Stanley would you.....

He's got what he deserved, no more no less. (And I wish my Dad had the time and inclination to help me reach my dreams like that !)

Steve

 

[will69]

I thought Hamilton made it extremely uncomfortable to watch, but all the more exciting, especially when it came to the last few corners of the race to seal the championshop vctory.

Would love to know if Glock threw it to allow LH the win or whether it was just lack of grip. Maybe it was both?...

Glock was simply taking a gamble on not changing tyres, it very nearly paid off. Check the footage of the rain in the pit straight immediately after the chequer flag fell, it was a torrent, Glock done very well to last as far as the second last corner before he was caught.

LH has taken that chance in the past and paid a price in points, he could not afford to do the same in Brasil.

Great race, great season, great result - despite best efforts of the FIA the right driver won the championship.

 

[Matt]

im really pleased for Hamilton, hes got a talent for driving, just watching him in the wet is a joy. Alonso is a better driver, and has the same arrogance as Lewis, which Schumacher had, as well as Prost and Senna, and Villeneauve(jaques)...its a confidence thing, they KNOW they are good. there is nothing wrong with that. For what its worth, Massa did well, i dont rate him as highly as Raikennon though.

Next season the guys to watch will be:
Alonso, Raikennon, Hamilton and Vettel...

 

[gazzauk]

I've also seen him make a complete prat of himself on the first lap of British F3 race at Donington, indulging in a completely unecessary wheel-banging session coming down the Craner Curves. Surprisingly, he ended up facing the wrong way with three wheels on his wagon. I hope I'm proved wrong, but from what I've seen, the young Mr Senna doesn't have the talent to succeed in F1.

This is someone who is hugely inexperienced and was away from the sport for a looong time. Yes, hehas made some silly mistakes but, tbh, i think that's as much about impatience as anything. He can and has learnt from his mistakes and looked hugely improved this year.

Look, if Massa can be in the mix for a world title, bruno senna SURELY can reach F1 and more han hold his own.

 

[russdaz]

Next season the guys to watch will be:
Alonso, Raikennon, Hamilton and Vettel...

Do you really rate Raikennon that highly?

Undoubtly has a lot of talent, but this year has been lacking something, as if his lost motivation after wining the title last year, or maybe thats down to him knowing he wasnt allowed to win this

I was hoping Ferrari had signed Alonso rather then resigning him.

But id add, and Kubica to the list. Along with Button if and this is a big if Honda make a decent car next year, they cant afford another cock up like they have with a badly calibrated wind tunnel.

But i am betting on BMW for the title next year.

 

[RichardC27]

This is someone who is hugely inexperienced and was away from the sport for a looong time. Yes, hehas made some silly mistakes but, tbh, i think that's as much about impatience as anything. He can and has learnt from his mistakes and looked hugely improved this year.

Look, if Massa can be in the mix for a world title, bruno senna SURELY can reach F1 and more han hold his own.

Very true, and arguably F3 is where you should make all your silly mistakes as a young driver. This one just stuck in my head as being particularly stupid, even in the world of F3. I'd agree about the Massa comment too, although I think a few years as Schumacher's understudy has softened off his rough edges a hell of a lot.

How long do we all think before Jaime Algersuauri (sp) gets to F1. He's been very impressive at the two British GT/ F3 meetings I've been to this year, and he's only 18.

 

[Matt]

Raikkenons head dropped after a few silly things(lewis and the pit lane..)and he was struggling to get the best out of the car in quali and early race, but once the car hit the sweet spot heset fastest laps. Over the season he had the most fastest laps, the speed was there, but the consistancy was seriously lacking. he is a world champion, and i believe he can be again

 

[Mr Dangerous]

Glock you idiot is all i can say.

His finall lap time was the same as Trulli's. Thus he was driving as fast as he could with dry tyres in the conditions.

The time sheets show this & a quick think back to how many places some people lost on the track at Spa this year through being on the wrong tyres at the end of the race shows irt's not a freak result.

So, exactly who is the idiot?

 

[Marc]

Glock lost 2 places by staying out on dry tyres (4th to 6th). Anyone know how many places he would have lost had he come in for a tyre change?

 

[Verb]

probably 2 fabs, there was 11 seconds between him and Heikki in 7th...although it would have been tight (but that would have all depended on when he came in for his tyre change)