Formula 1 : Lewis Hamilton is World Champion | Felipe Massa wins Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton’s head must have been spinning in regards to all the scenarios where he would end up as World Champion of the FIA’s prestigious racing series, Formula 1. I expect he found one he knew he could control, or at least attempt to and had it written inside his visor, on his steering wheel, and on his racing gloves. It said simply: FINISH 5th.

Felipe Massa needed a host of things to happen to win the championship. If his plan was to win the race, all that had to happen was for Hamilton to finish anywhere from Sixth place on back. Half of his plan worked, as Felipe Massa won his home grand prix in Brazil. The other half just didn’t pan out.

Lewis Hamilton ran an incredibly disciplined race strategy, and ran just fast enough to finish 5th in the race; therefore sealing the deal and being able to be the youngest driver to win a Formula 1 world championship. Amazingly, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

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Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix : Lewis Hamilton Wins GP but not Championship

In Shanghai, the circus known as Formula 1 once again proved that nothing is impossible. With a growing lead in the drivers Championship, Lewis Hamilton headed into the race that had previously derailed his quest to be World Champion.

Lewis Hamilton won the pole giving himself the best shot at the championship he could have asked for. More importantly, he won last nights Chinese Grand Prix. Yet he isn’t champion. Here’s why.

As I mentioned in my pre-race report last night, Felipe Massa was trailing him by 5 points in the championship. The running order showed Lewis in 1st, Kimi Raikkonen in 2nd, and Felipe in 3rd. If the race had ended this way, Lewis would be World Champion. Yet the two Ferrari driver’s were given “team orders” to switch places and Raikkonen let Massa slip past. With Massa in 2nd place, and not having the horses to catch the McLaren driven by Hamilton, he had assured himself of keeping the hopes of a world championship alive.

Lewis Hamilton needs just a 5th place finish in Brazil to win the Championship. This has to give him a bit of confidence going into the final GP of the season. Massa, even with a win, would be unable to surpass the point lead Lewis currently holds over the Ferrari driver.

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Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix Pre-Race Report | Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has got to be thinking. “Here we go again.”

In the closing rounds of the 2007 Formula 1 World Championship, rookie McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was on the verge of clinching the championship. It was this race, the Chinese Grand Prix, that ended his hopes of being a World champion. Instead through mistakes in the race the title slipped out of reach and it landed with Kimi Raikkonen.

365 days later we are once again faced with an historic Grand Prix.

Maybe.

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Auto Racing Recap : NASCAR @ Lowe’s and F1 @ Japan

JEFF BURTON WINS AT LOWE’S, MOVES INTO SECOND PLACE:

What a weekend it was for Carl Edwards. On Thursday between practice sessions he got ahold of Kevin Harvick for comments regarding the week ago crash at Talladega and a comment referring to Carl as a “pansy”. As seen in the AP photo, the “pansy” title seems quite fitting. It’s probably good thing Kevin doesn’t have longer hair, as it appears Mr. Edwards would have pulled it.

Going into the weekend, Carl Edwards sat in 2nd place in the Chase. At the end of the weekend, he was in 4th place in the NASCAR season standings. First place Jimmie Johnson continues to lead the Chase standings but a big move was made by Jeff Burton going from 4th to 2nd over the weekend with the win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Saturday night. Burton sits now just 69 points behind Johnson, who was won the past 2 Cup championships. Burton, whose rookie year was 15 years ago, sits right where he needs to be to challenge for the Championship. In my opinion the only thing that will keep him from claiming the Cup will be the driver currently in P1.

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