Hamilton scores a breakthrough
- |
Significant racial barriers were hurdled when McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, a 23-year-old British phenom, became the youngest and first black Formula One champion in history three days before Barack Obama was elected the first black US president.
Last Sunday, in a soggy but thrilling climax to the 2008 Formula One World Championship, Hamilton finished fifth in the Grand Prix of Brazil behind winner Felipe Massa's Ferrari. With a dramatic last-lap pass of
"From the last corner to the last 17 seconds of the race, what an amazing experience," Hamilton said in an interview posted on the London Telegraph's website. "My heart was in my mouth, just as it was for everyone else. I had been in such a comfortable position the whole race [to win the driver's title] and I lost it with two laps to go."
That's when Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel passed Hamilton for fifth, giving Massa the edge in the title race.
"I couldn't get past the guy," Hamilton said. "My tires were shot and I had no grip. I had this great car, but I couldn't get any more from it and I couldn't afford to take any silly risks. It wasn't until the last lap, Turn 10, and I couldn't get close to him, so at that point I thought to myself, 'It's not going to be possible.' "
Hamilton had no sooner resigned himself to another runner-up finish in his second F1 campaign than his fortunes took a turn for the better.
"The team told me there was a guy ahead who was on [racing] slicks in Turn 12 and I was in Turn 11," Hamilton said. "It was Glock - Timo Glock; we like him a lot. I came through Turn 11 and down through Turn 12 and he was tiptoeing, so I shot past him with ease. But it wasn't until I had actually got past the [finish] line that I had realized what had gone on."
Hamilton's triumph came amid calls for the resignation of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who this week tried to brush off as "a joke" a racially charged incident during a February preseason test in Barcelona, where fans of Spanish driver Fernando Alonso mocked Hamilton by dressing in black-face makeup, curly wigs, and T-shirts that read, "Hamilton's Family."
"That was meant in the beginning probably as a joke rather than anything abusive," Ecclestone said. "I think people look and read into it things that are not there. Those things are all a bit of a joke and people are entitled to support who they want to support. I don't see why people should have been insulted by it."
Ecclestone obviously hadn't consulted the new champion.
"I didn't see it as a joke," Hamilton said.
Taking the high road, he added, "It's something that happened but it is in the past. As long as I have my country behind me, it makes me very proud. It makes me very proud to see my fellow countrymen holding up [the British] flag.
"All the other stuff I need to put behind me."
Hindsight for Johnson
Certainly, crew chief Chad Knaus would not be blamed if he affixed rearview mirrors on the doors of Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet that read, "Warning: Objects may be closer than they appear." That's because, with two races remaining in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, Carl Edwards has given Johnson reason to look over his shoulder. The Roush Fenway Racing driver won the last two races at Atlanta and Texas to close within 106 points of Johnson's lead.
Johnson and Knaus will carry a renewed sense of urgency into tomorrow's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Suddenly, the Chase has become a two-man race.
"There's been a race the whole time," said Johnson, whose 15th-place finish last weekend at Texas snapped a run of 12 consecutive top-10 finishes in Chase races dating to last season. "You just never know what's going to happen. There are still 400 miles [in the finale] at Homestead and 300 at Phoenix. A lot can happen. Even at 183 points over Carl, I wasn't comfortable. I mean, I think it's 161 points you can get in a weekend. If I stuffed it in the fence the first run and finished 43d, they're right there. It's a race of 20 or 30 points at that point."
But given Johnson's strong record in Phoenix, that scenario is highly unlikely.
Johnson, who will be on the pole for tomorrow's race, has won the last two races at Phoenix and recorded four consecutive top fives and six straight top 10s.
Edwards was fourth in his previous visit to Phoenix this season, but finished 42d in last year's Chase event because of engine problems.
"The comfort margin has closed up even more, so it's still a race," said Johnson, who needs to depart Phoenix with a 196-point lead or finish seventh or better in the last two races to clinch his third consecutive championship. "My goal is to outrun those guys. My goal's to win the race, try to lead the most laps, gain points on those guys so that we go to Homestead with as many points as we can. That's truthfully the goal. I hope it works that way. No telling it will, but that's what we're working on."
Edwards double trouble
Johnson isn't the only driver who's hearing Edwards's footsteps. Clint Bowyer, who owns a 91-point lead over Edwards with two races remaining in the Nationwide Series, has been feeling pressure. "You can see him creeping up more than you can hear him," Bowyer said. "He ain't close enough to hear him yet. Carl is on the up-and-up. He is running good in both [Sprint Cup and Nationwide] cars, he has a ton of confidence behind him right now, and things are rolling for him. Still, we are the only ones who can lose this championship. He can't beat us enough to do this. If we race the way we have been racing all year long, Carl can't catch us. Now if we slip up and make a mistake, he will catch us and he will win. As long as we don't make a mistake and beat ourselves, in my opinion, the championship is ours." . . . So whom to vote for as Driver of the Year? As far as Jeff Burton is concerned, it's a no-brainer. "Kyle Busch would be my choice," he said. "When you say 'driver,' I look at a broader scope and what he's done in all three series [Sprint, Nationwide, and Craftsman Truck]. Ultimately, I just think Kyle has done a remarkable job this year even though he's not going to win a championship. He walked into a new situation [going from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing], a situation that hadn't really had success for a while, and immediately that car started winning and running in the front. And everything he's sat in this year has run fast."Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com; material from wire services, various sanctioning bodies, race teams, sponsors, and track publicity departments was used in this report.
