Fernando Alonso pulled off a stunnng victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, but his victory seemed to overshadowed by the antics of the two champiosnhip contenders, who in my view honestly dont deserve to be champions. Alonso drove brilliantly reeling off a barrage of low 1m19s laps on a consistent basis when it was most needed, which eventually resulted in him winning. I do believe Hamilton and the Ferraris would have been quicker but nonetheless his drive was brilliant, without a flaw.
Now this brings me to the title showdown with two races to go and five points in hand. As I have said before even when Hamilton is unlucky, he is lucky. And I do believe this will help him in winning the championship. Hamilton's aggressiveness defintely caught up with him this weekend but will surely fire him up even more for this weekend's penultimate race. The arguments are going to rage on on both Massa and Hamilton's penalties but there are key facts of the race, that have been well pointed out byEd Gorman from The Times:
1. Lewis does not make his move on Kimi until very late on the straight. He whips out almost at the point that his front wheels are on the white line at the end of the pit-exit lane.
2. Lewis is parallel to Kimi when he hits the brakes and Heikki is right behind Lewis, so Kimi is well and truly trapped.
3. Lewis goes straight on but then Heikki takes his place alongside Kimi, pushing the Iceman wide in a sequence which is the direct consequence of Lewis's initial passing attempt.
4. Lewis is tracking Fernando and Robert along the straight towards Turn 3. He is in third place. As they approach the apex of Turn 3, Lewis is about three car-lengths behind Fernando. He does not make a move on Fernando but when he gets to the curbs at the apex his car gets pitched off, across the track and runs very wide over the run-off area. This is why Lewis is in seventh place, and behind Felipe, by the time they approach Turn 10 next time round.
5. There is no doubt that Lewis was responsible for a sequence of events which primarily disadvantaged Kimi.
This explains how Lewis went from 3rd to 7th which most of us missed and also a deeper understanding into the reason behind the penalty. With the title on the line was it really worth it on Hamilton's part? But I am sure it is really easy for us to sit here and judge, while the drivers have a second or less to trust their instincts.
It is safe to say that last year's Chinese Grand Prix costed Hamilton the World Championship, so he will be determined to make sure lightning does not strike twice!!
