Official F1/Motorsport thread

[PeteJ]

Quality stuff, I felt sick watching that last lap, then when he went past Glock I leapt into the air. Fantastic. Shame about DC though - I will miss him loads.

Yeah same here, the Spar race had an incredible end but this was something else entirely. Imagine if the race had started half an hour later, it could have all been so different.

I'm so pleased LH has won, two amazing seasons and definately the deserved winner this time despite a few poor decisions from the FIA. If I remember correctly, only two races outside of the points too. I expect Massa will get another championship chance though, and he has grown over the season probably as much as Hamilton.

I think my driver of the season has to be Vettel though, in the second half of the season he (and alonso) have been consistantly putting in incredible performances way above where they should 'rightfuly' be. Where as I'd expect quality driving from Alonso (though not to take anything away from him), Vettel seems to have come from nowhere and has certainly made the season more interesting to watch.

It's a shame so much is changing next year, this is the first time in years where potentially five teams coud take the championship with a good run. Looking forward to it, hope it is as good as 2008!

[Bort]

Amazing ride, disappointing result.

[Brad]

Awesome stuff. Looking forward to seeing more than 90% of each race next season when the beeb get it back. I almost had a heart attack on that last lap.

[Rossco]

LOL at all you Hamilton haters. LOL

Agreed.

Feel so sorry for Massa. He did mostly everything right over the whole season. Only the engine blowout in Hungary, and the cockup of his team at Singapore prevented him from winning it.

Hamilton on the other hand has made many more mistakes.

There is no worthy champion this year in my opinion.

Your forgetting the fact that FIA are twats and LH would have had the championship in his pocket weeks ago if it wasn't for them.



BUT anyway.

AMAZING! So thrilled. Was such a great race. At the start when it was raining I knew it was gonna be exciting. The majority of the race ended up going quite smoothly with not alot of action then heated up at the end. I was screaming for the rain to come down. So nervous watching it, then absolute elation when he overtook Glock. I kept saying he was gonna catch him, and they guys I was watching it with were saying it was over. I just knew he was gonna do it when the rain started coming down more and more in the final seconds.

Well done Hamilton. Totally deserved champion. Can't wait to see next season.

Vettell and Alonso have really stepped up their game the second half of this season so should be very very interesting next year.

[NecronomiconUK]

Ifs and buts over team cock-ups and FIA rulings don't matter a jot. Fact is, a British driver, driving for a British team is the world champion and that is just totally awesome. You know, they should change the TV rights more often that way we'd have more British champs :-D

[ChrisF]

[Senna]

Yeah, you're partly right Rossco, I was just letting my slight dislike of Hamilton getting to me.

He IS a deserving champion, there is no doubting his speed, and he is the better racer compared to Massa.

They are two different types of drivers, Massa and Hamilton. Massa is just untouchable when he is out in the lead, but gets lost in the middle of the pack. Hamilton is the better when fighting it out.

Although the Spa ruling I still agree with, but at least that rule is now clarified so everyone knows exactly where they stand.

One thing to come out of this incredible race for me: Massa didn't screw up in changeable conditions like he has in the past. Compared to last year he has come on in leaps and bounds, and I think he goes into the winter break as the number one Ferrari driver in terms of pace.

Why March!


Ideal lineup at Ferrari: Alonso and Massa
Ideal lineup at McLaren: Hamilton and Vettel

[MJ]

That was tense! I'm glad Hamilton won that for all the haters. I'm not taking away from Massa's faultless performance but if it wasn't for the FIA we wouldn't have been in a last few corners decider and it would have been wrapped up a long time ago. I wonder what they're trying to come up with to take it away.

A black British F1 champion and Rossi reclaimed the MotoGP title.

[Largo]

How do people make these gifs so quick lol, god bless you internet

[Kieran76]

I think the person who has come away this season with the least amount of credit is Kimi. He has gone from looking uniterested to treating Massa with a huge amount disrespect.

[Fuddle]

One thing to come out of this incredible race for me: Massa didn't screw up in changeable conditions like he has in the past.

true, as soon as it started raining both times, i was fully expecting him to mess up.
i dont particularly mind hamilton winning, as i expected him to ages ago, and was resigned to it. its just the quick turnaround in the last few laps looked like massa just might steal it. i'd have much preffered to see raikonen or alonso battling for it instead of these two personally. hopefully next year will have more contenders. if any of it is as exciting as this race we'll be lucky though.

[JohnMcL7]

For those claiming that Glock deliberately slowed down it's interesting to note that Fisichella was also on slicks and on the same lap he was actually slower. If you watch the clip carefully you can see how little grip Glock has as he attempts to take the corner and the car is still squirming despite going far slower than those around it.

John

[Rossco]

Yeah I don't think anyone is seriously saying that Glock gave up the position on purpose. Any F1 fan with the smallest bit of common sense will understand what happened.

[VR46]

You're right, it was just the way it happened on the final bend of the final lap that gave the fairytale like ending for Hamilton that feels like a kick in the wotsits.

It's been a season full of if's and but's, but it's all over now, roll on [a different champion in] 2009.

[Mayhem]

Indeed. Glock ran a 1:44 on that lap, same time as his team-mate in fact. All because of the track conditions and using slicks. So tense it came down to almost the last corner though...