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Hamilton and Massa Fluff Their Lines
By Emma Aitken October 12 2008
Hamilton and Fernando certainly didn't do themselves any favours today in Fuji. Fernando took the ten points away with him from a race where he didn't pick up the spoils, just stepped up to the mark while the top dogs spent their race recovering from drive-through penalties. The fight for the drivers' championship races on.

Back in the daylight hours, under the shadow of Mount Fuji, titans clashed and former greats restored their power at the Japanese Grand Prix. 

Lewis can now claim that his penalty was not as much deserved as Massa’s as much a he likes but it doesn’t retract from the fact that if his start hadn’t been so utterly horrendous he wouldn’t have needed to put himself in that attacking position in the first place. 

All efforts to keep my eyes open at that un-godly hour this morning were immediately dealt with as that row of red lights turned to green. By the time everyone was charging for the first turn my slipper-clad toes were in full-on curl mode, and those recently sleep-heavy eyes were out on stalks. 

I’m as bad as the rest of them when it comes to Mr Hamilton. When he’s great we all love him and when he messes up he’s the worst of the worst so I am going to change tack and cut the guy some slack here. It’s not so much the move on Raikkonen that makes my blood boil; I’m just staggeringly disappointed that such a phenomenal qualifying performance to claim pole position manifested itself in to such an appalling start. What a shameful waste. I wanted to kick the cat! 

But the move on Raikkonen? The sensible side of me wants to run Hamilton in to the ground for doing it, but the racing fan can’t do it. After Singapore I noted that it was good to see Lewis holding back, playing it safe and claiming the points easily available to him. And in those particular circumstances it was absolutely the right thing to do.

But today? Today was different. Massa wasn’t way down the field today, executing an insurmountable charge to make it over the finish line like he was in Singapore. 

Lewis knew that the best result for him today was to always keep those Ferrari’s honest and his terrible start had jeopardised that game plan. The immediate dissipation of his lead to Ferrari would have only lead to an immediate reaction to make up the last ground. 

I am not a particular fan of the attitude of Lewis Hamilton the man, but I admire the fighting spirit of Lewis Hamilton the racing driver. I’m a racing fan! On many another race day that move might have worked perfectly for him and tomorrow’s newspaper columns would be full of wondrous quotes about how fearless and superb Lewis is. 

On a quick side note, I marvel that the press have complained about how Lewis’s tactics have become boring after Singapore (which was, in it’s entirety a total bore!). One race does not make the racing driver. Tomorrow I am sure that the said same press will be berating him for the reckless move he made on Raikkonen. You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. 

My conflict of interests in reflecting on what Lewis did today comes in to play when I consider the rest of the season. Lewis really does need to keep his nose clean. Brazil beckons and no one wants to see a repeat performance of what Lewis did there last season. James Martin mentioned that race today in relation to Lewis staying out of trouble but he was referring to the car and the gear box failure. He should have talked about Lewis losing a lot of ground during the process of trying to get one over on arch rival Fernando Alonso. A fact he over-looked yet is the most important one in reference to the rest of 2008. 

I know I am contradicting myself all over the place but what I am getting at I suppose is that I want Lewis to fight for the world championship but only do the dare devil stuff if it is strictly necessary. 

With a bit of luck the sports pages will be giving Massa a hard time too. His shunting abilities were way out of Hamilton’s league. Will Kubica complain about the Brazilian’s dirty over-taking tactics as he has about Lewis’s? Massa has always come across as such a polite, sweet little racing driver who would happily help old ladies to cross roads. After today I reckon he helps them across then robs them of their pensions!  

But how would the headlines read if it had been Hamilton who had made that move on Massa? It would be all glory and honour. Motor racing journalists would be harping on about how Formula 1 had found some racers again. Comparisons to the Senna/Prost days would run amok, from the red tops to the broadsheets.

It was a result that didn’t go our way, but surely we all have to admit the whole thing was more exciting for it. I’m willing to bet a substantial amount that viewing figures for the Chinese Grand Prix will be significantly higher than those of the Japanese Grand Prix.  

Fernando Alonso was sublime though. For much of this season I wished he still raced for McLaren. Now the boys at Renault are finding form I am glad he doesn’t. Next season should, fingers crossed, be outstanding. But watching him put in lap after lap of sheer perfection was so gratifying to watch. Two master classes in a row from the former world champion; here and Singapore.

I laughed with the benefit of hind sight while watching the re-run this afternoon (yes, I watched the whole thing twice. I shall probably watch the high lights later) when Fernando was interviewed and said that a chance of another podium place was probably too much to wish for. 

While we are on that subject I laughed again later on during the race when Martin Brundle confidently announced that Bourdais was well within his rights to charge out of the pit lane in to the path of Massa for a wheel-on-wheel shuffle.  

The stewards certainly got to keep themselves busy today. Massa had his race win thrown out the window at their hands, yet he did get an extra point out of them due to the Bourdais incident. Who knows; that point may end up being extremely handy for him. 

So, Lewis still hasn’t got the championship in the bag but come on folks, it might not be an easy ride to the end of the season but by God, it will be an exciting one!

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