Lewis Hamilton - Pure Genius?
So, the Formula 1 season is over - and what an entertaining season it’s been. For the first time since the 80’s the championship was a 3-way battle on the final race of the season. As we all now know, Kimi Raikkonen came out of Sundays Brazilian Grand Prix as the championship winner - by 1 point.
It is true to say that the championship win is a fantastic achievement for Kimi, especially after starting so badly. But, and maybe I’m a little biased here, the true hero of the 2007 F1 season has to be a certain Lewis Hamilton.
This guy has been nurtured since his teenage years by McClaren. They saw his talent at such a young age and have worked with him ever since. What nobody expected was for him to be fighting for the championship in his ‘rookie’ season. What an achievement.
It would have been the perfect end to a fantastic championship to see the rookie win in his first season, but true to the 2007 championship the season ended with another few twists and turns! The final 2 races cost Lewis his dream. Firstly, in China, Lewis was kept out o the track with desperately worn tyres. When he was finally on his way into the pits, he lost control and ended up being stuck in the gravel alongside the pit entrance. We all watched with hearts in mouth as stewards desperately attempted to push him back onto the tarmac to no avail.
Then, Brazil. Although Lewis got away from the start ok, he was blocked on the first corner by Kimi forcing him to slow down. This allowed Fernando Alonso (his team mate) to slip down the inside and take 3rd place. This was not a disaster in itself, as Lewis could have finished as low as 5th and still won the championship. However, Lewis seemed to ‘lose the plot’ for a second. He certainly did not take kindly to being behind Fernando and tried to retake the position. He failed, and ran wide on turn 4. This put him down to 8th place.
At this point, I and probably the majority of other viewers, was still convinced that Lewis would still win the championship - he was just going to have to do it the hard way!
BUT……..
Disaster struck on lap 8. His car seemed to suffer from a gearbox problem, and Lewis slowed down, putting him in last place. Surely now it was all over?
After 40 seconds of crawling along at a snails pace, the car recovered, and the race was back on. However, Lewis was now facing a very tough task. To get back up to 5th place from last is not easy in any motorsport, Formula 1 especially. For the next 10 laps or so he worked his way back up the field, but was always fighting an almost impossible battle.
Lewis Hamilton eventually finished 7th, and lost the championship by a single point. But, we all know he WILL win the championship at least once in the next few years. This guy has such amazing talent, and seems to have his head screwed on. In such a competitive sport as Formula 1, skill is only part of the equation. Without the right attitude, a driver would find it hard to succeed.
The nice guy persona was backed up in the days that followed the Interlagos race. As it emerged that 3 cars that finished ahead of Lewis have been found to have fuel irregularities (something to do with temperature), but not punished, the McClaren team decided to appeal to the authorities (”in the best interests of their driver”). Lewis was interviewed on the BBC, and said he did not wish to win the championship this way. If those drivers that finished ahead of him were punished, Lewis could’ve been moved up to 4th place, and therefore handing him the championship. It seems however, that Hamilton wants to win on the race track, and not the ‘court room’. He deserves great credit for this.
I will be keeping a close eye on this appeal and will comment when we see what happens. It seems that Hamilton would be slightly embarrassed to win in this way - but how would he react if the championship was his? We will see! It would certainly be cruel to Kimi Raikkonen if glory was snatched away from him on a technicality.
