Sunday
Formula One motor racing doesn't usually excite me that much, because far too often F1 races are just tedious processions, in an order determined not by drivers but by mechanics, with far too much seeming to depend on pit stops and refuelling strategies. But the Brazilian Grand Prix today was something else again. On the very last lap of the race, Lewis Hamilton moved from 6th place to the 5th place that he had to get to be the champion, given that his rival Massa had just won the race. Minutes earlier it had started to rain, and Hamilton had switched to wet weather tires but the guy he had to overtake stuck with dry weather tires. It had to rain properly for Hamilton to win. It did, just enough for Hamlton to overtake on the second last bend of the race, in other words right at the end of the final lap of the entire season. Amazing. Youngest ever F1 champion, apparently. So, no credit crunch for him.
As for the big money that the England cricket team were chasing in the West Indies on Saturday, well ... better luck next year. They will have to play very badly indeed to do worse than they did this time around. Plus, I thought that this headline was about the cricket, but it seems there was another English sporting fiasco this weekend, in rugby league. Oh well, win some lose some. It's only games.
Not to mention the final turn of that final lap in the final race.
Posted by Blake at November 3, 2008 01:20 AM
>It had to rain properly for Hamilton to win.
Trulli was only in front of Hamilton because while running 6th all the drivers in the first five places had stopped to change tyres. Prior to that Hamilton had also been running high enough to win the championship.
Posted by Bruce Hoult at November 3, 2008 03:29 AM
Incredible. Inevitably, there will be some focus on his ethnicity as well as his relatively modest background, and in a good way. The story I find so inspiring is how Hamilton's father worked ferociously hard to pay for his son to learn motor racing. There are obvious parallels with Tiger Woods' late father in getting his son to play golf at an early age.
As an uncle to a lovely baby boy, I reckon I ought to buy the wee fella a model Ferrari, to you know, get him interested.....
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at November 3, 2008 12:13 PM
Come on, Johnathan, at least buy him a McLaren like Lewis's. (Or this one if you're feeling generous.)
Bruce, it was Timo Glock that Lewis had to pass.
It's been a long time coming for McLaren (a team I've been following for longer than Lewis has been alive) and longer for the UK.
Posted by Ian Bennett at November 3, 2008 12:28 PM
It was an excellent race. There were other great moments too, such as when it started to rain just before the start of the race, and Hamilton passing Fisichella on the damp part of the track. The threat of disaster is always very real in F1, making everything very nerve wracking and that much more entertaining.
I wonder what new rule changes will come next year. And I hope the BBC hire Martin Brundle, who is an excellent commentator mainly because he doesn't get excited unless there's something to be excited about.
Posted by Rob Fisher at November 3, 2008 01:25 PM
PS -- it's almost worth getting smited to see those lolcats!
Posted by Rob Fisher at November 3, 2008 01:30 PM
...and Glock did briefly pass Hamilton, until that last bend. It wasn't just the pit stops for tyre changes.
Posted by ian at November 3, 2008 03:22 PM
Regarding the cricket...the all stars team were simply magnificent. Their planning and execution were admirable. I watched stunned as England fell apart. You are right, they just could not do much worse next time around.
Posted by Nick Timms at November 3, 2008 05:27 PM
Arrrgh aaargh .. right .. Glock not Trulli. Wrong Toyota. Is it an excuse to say I had four hours sleep and got up at 0600 to watch?
Rob: I like the ITV coverage .. please don't let the BBC take Brundle!
Also the changes for next year are well known. Banning all the little aerodynamic fins that have sprung up in the last few years, a return to slick tyres (are those two a quid pro quo?), reconfiguring the front and rear wings so as to make the wake more friendly to trailing cars following closely.
And the biggie (long term) ... a Kinetic Energy Recovery System that can absorb or release up to 400 kJ of energy at a rate of 60 kW. Some teams are using flywheels and some are using electrical storage.
That's a pittance on a F1 car that is putting out 600 kW, but they'll make them larger and more powerful in later years once the bugs are ironed out. And next year's F1 units (which weigh around 25 kg all up) are already enough to accelerate a small car from 0 to about 70 km/h at a pretty reasonable clip for city driving.
Posted by Bruce Hoult at November 3, 2008 10:43 PM
