I'm looking forward to next year already
By the end of this season I was able to look upon this season with an uncritical eye (I hope!). Brad'll tell you how much I disliked Hamilton at the start, but I've since realised that I don't have to
like him to respect his racing prowess. And I certainly don't support him, but that doesn't make me a Ferrari fanboy, either.
I think it's a shame that both sides of the fence have been a little classless at the death, with Ferrari fans crying foul (rather pathetically), and McLaren fans jeering at the family of an incredibly gentlemanly sportsman who has probably just experienced the most crippling disappointment of his life (Weaste's unwelcome -- but sadly not unexpected -- arrogance, unpleasantness and overuse of exclamation marks a case-in-point). It's slightly tarnished what has been a very, very good season of Formula One.
One thing I would point out to those claiming that Hamilton should have had this weeks ago were he not unlucky with stewards decisions is that Massa would have had it tied up before that if he'd not been so unlucky with his car and pit crew fecking up. That said, both counts of misfortune cancelled each other out, and I think it's about right that it came down to the last race of the season. Hamilton is a worthy, worthy champion, and I'm happy for him, though at the same time so sad for Massa. I'd probably be the other way round had their roles been reversed.
Only thing I can say now is that I already can't wait for next season. Hamilton finally has the win under his belt and will be raring to go (and surely the favourite), Massa
may have a point to prove (though I honestly don't think he'll ever put up such a consistent title challenge again), Raikkonen will hopefully have snapped out of his stupor and become world championship material again, Vettel is stepping up to what could be a very good car (Newey powered, and with the rule changes it might be just what Red Bull need), Kubica has been plodding along nicely and will only improve, and, of course, my man Fernando will hopefully be back in a decent car and battling for the title. I think he's shown his class towards the end of this season with his consistently high finished despite the inferior car (James Alan even found the time to refer to him as "pound-for-pound still the best racing driver in Formula One" amongst the euphoria).
The rule changes for next season might be a great equaliser. I don't expect McLaren and Ferrari to be so far ahead of their competitors with such drastic alterations to the car designs enforced. And with such an even spread of talent (those six drivers I mentioned race for five different teams!) I expect it to be even better than this year.
Bring it on
That's magic. I honestly thought he had lost it but then when Glock just appeared it was like when Terry missed that penalty.
