What a Race!

That's right. An exclamation mark in the title. That's how good it was. Did you really expect me not to post about this?

It started off as a three horse race, and it ended the same way. What can I say? My Kimi has finally won his right to the title after all these years, and having been a fan ever since he joined Sauber-Petronas back in the day, I can't say I'm not happy for him.

Then again, this meant that my boys in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes were left out of the championship totally, having lost their construction points some weeks back. Quite sadly, they both lost by 1 point. Both Alonso and Hamilton were tied at 109 points, and Kimi had 110. So, so, so close.

But still, all three of them ran a great season and its been a while since Formula 1 has seen a dogfight like this. The race at Sao Paulo was a great way to cap off a great season, with terrific performances from the whole field.

My boys

Also, Nakajima ran over people. That was fun. Maybe there's a running bet between Sebastian Vettel and Nakajima as to who can piss off their team mates more in their first race?

Commentary (Click the link at the end of the post if you're actually interested in reading the full commentary):

1. The title of "Unluckiest Man in Formula 1" has been passed on

Poor, poor Hamilton. So close to not only being the first rookie ever to win the championship, but also the first black man ever to do so. Mind you, this is all on top of him shattering previous records by winning more than 3 races in his first race, and being the first black man in Formula 1 ever anyway, so maybe it's not too shabby.

He must be banging his head against a wall, though, because he was literally too close to the title not to have some regrets. How did he lose it? Well first there was the mistake at the first corner when he went wide while trying to get position against Alonso and suddenly found himself in 8th place. Never you mind that. 8th place is nothing for Hamilton. He could easily climb his way up from that.

And then there was the technical failure that caused his gears to stick in neutral for a good 40 seconds of the race. Hamilton found himself in the more challenging position of second last. Even then, Hamilton climbed his way up to 8th place like the trooper he was to score a single solitary point which put him 1 point away from the championship and tying him with teammate Alonso. So close, so close.

2. Kimi Raikkonen, Reigning World Champion

Sounds good, doesn't it? You can't say he didn't deserve it, and unlike the days of Michael Schumacher, there's no doubt that he got into pole position through his own sweat and tears and not by team orders.

The unluckiest man in Formula 1 is no longer the unluckiest man in Formula 1. He, like Hamilton, has also pulled off a Formula 1 first by stealing the championship from the points leader in the last race of the season.

Raikkonen and Massa pulled off some great tag team moves as the lights went off, with Massa holding Hamilton back a little bit to let Raikkonen gain position, and then both sped off at the blistering pace that the Ferraris are so famous for. There was no catching them from that point on.

Their driving was flawless, save for Massa running wide a little bit in the last third of the race, allowing Raikkonen to catch up with him on the uphill end. If that move was orchestrated, it deserves an Oscar. In the end, Raikkonen gained position because he did what he does best: drove a car.

3. FIA Commentators drunk?

They must have been, judging by the way they were commenting on the race. It was ridiculous. Steve Slater and James Allen repeatedly ignored the presence of poor old Robert Kubica in third position and kept insisting that Alonso was third instead.

They ignored the battles for position involving anyone except the Ferraris and the McLarens, including the spectacular battle between Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. At one point, Steve Slater insisted that James Allen not comment on Rosberg and Kubica who were side by side, and instead talk about Alonso's much publicised disagreements with Ron Dennis. What?

The fact of the matter is that they've been ignoring all the other racers for the whole season, especially the rookies who've mostly performed spectacularly. Except Sebastian Vettel, and that was only to make fun of him. It's ridiculous.

Final standings:

01 Kimi Räikkönen 110 points
02 Lewis Hamilton 109 points
03 Fernando Alonso 109 points
04 Felipe Massa 94 points

All in all, what a race! What a season! (That's right. Exclamation marks again.)