Formula 1 history could be made tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton could

[alfredo]

take home the season championship in Formula 1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hamilton



Tune into the Speed Channel Sunday at 11:30 AM EST, or look for the Formula 1 stream on:

http://www.channelsurfing.net/

Tuesday America will make history. There's less doubt about America making history, in Formula 1 anything can happen.

[flvegan]

1. Yet he still couldn't beat The Stig.

I kid. Hamilton is an incredible driver with what someone called "his own rules of physics".

[alfredo]

3. All he needs to do is finish 5th to take home the title.

[flvegan]

4. I think that if the car holds together

he's going to walk to 1st place.

[XOKCowboy]

5. It should be a heck of a race...

Massa and the Ferrari on pole with Trulli's Toyota second. Hamilton also has Alonzo starting right behind him.

I'll be watching for sure and rooting for Hamilton.

[alfredo]

6. He just needs to keep it between the white lines and the wheels under him.

[XOKCowboy]

8. Man I love those cars...

The closest I came to one was seeing Alonzo's 2005 Renault at an exhibit. The technology is amazing. I'd give anything to see an F1 race in person.

[alfredo]

9. The steering wheel cost more than my house. Next year they are going

to endeavor to cut the cost of F1. It's just getting too expensive.

[XOKCowboy]

11. Didn't they limit the traction control after Alonzo won his second championship?

If so imagine what Hamilton could have done in one of those cars?

[alfredo]

15. They are already insanely fast. They are going to slicks next year

I believe.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/68165-the-reformation-of-formula-one-what-to-expect-in-2009
Looks like that is not the only change.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

2. Marvelous driver - I hope he wins the Drivers' Championship

It's nice to see a Brit at the top of F1 again. When I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be Jimmy Clark or Jackie Stewart (yes, i know they're Scotsmen),

[alfredo]

7. I wanted to be Sterling Moss.

In a gullwing Mercedes.


Here he is at Goodwood, the track that ended his career.



He went off track and hit a hidden rock and flipped. He was told he would be crippled. He showed them a thing or two by rehabing hmself and he got back in the car and in a few practice laps he broke the course record. After he pulled into the pits he got out of the car and said he will never race again. They asked him why and he said he had to thing about it. It wasn't natural for him anymore.

[plaintiff]

10. I wanted to be Juan Fangio in one...back when a road race was just that

:D

[alfredo]

14. Nuremberg is still somewhat of a road race.

I just fired up the old PS2 and took a very sloppy lap with a Sauber C9 around the ring. (Gran Turismo 4)

If you want the insanity of road racing, I guess Rally is pretty close to it. Those guys are nuts.

[malaise]

12. His parents are from Grenada

Don't know if you know that.

[XOKCowboy]

16. No I didn't know that!

But we can count on you to let us know all things Caribbean. :) Very cool.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. And he went to school about 200 yards from the house I grew up in

I guarantee Grenada has had more sporting success in the past that Stevenage has.

[mrfrapp]

13. Should be in the bag already.

He should have won it already but unfortunately the stuffed shirts have decided on too many occasions to interfere with the racing. I honestly don't know why i bother to still watching F1. The shinanigins of last year were bad enough but this year has been an utter farce. The interference has been so blatant that I know of life long Ferrari fans who have finally understood why the racing fans have viewed F1 with suspicion for some years.

My heart says that Hamilton will finish in at least the fifth place that's required. My head on the other hand says that some unnamed driver will shred a little piece of his reputation to prevent it...

[alfredo]

17. they do seem heavy handed at times. What do you think about them doing

away with the tire warmers?

[mrfrapp]

18. That's fine.

I think the move to slicks will counter balance that. Personally, I'm more interested in the aerodynamic restrictions and how the cars will look as a result.

[alfredo]

19. AAARRRGGHH!!! I am so nervous. It rained at the start. They let them

change tires to wets, now the track is drying and the leaders are on their dries. Hamilton is sixth.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. And now fifth - he passed, despite having to leave the dry line

and that's where he needs to be. Latest forecast is no more rain for the rest of the race.

[alfredo]

22. Now will his tires last to the end? 14 laps left

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Now he's 4th - but there is rain forecast for the lat 10 minutes or so of the race

:scared:

[alfredo]

24. Rain coming for the end of the race.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. Wow!

he got fifth back in the final seconds!

Champion!

[alfredo]

28. I nearly died. What a finish. Louis!! Louis!!!!

[malaise]

26. Muhammad Ali look alike Jo-Wilfred Tsonga

won the Paris Masters tennis today.
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/28/cnsTsonga_narrowweb__300x396,0.jpg

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hdZ8QNkeLyzhMgaslqBhllU32u3Q

[alfredo]

30. Good for him!

[kenny blankenship]

27. ZOMG. What a finish!

[alfredo]

29. That was one of the great finishes. The heavier rain made Glock slow down

in the tight corners. That's all Hamilton needed. I really didn't think he would have lost that much ground.

[alfredo]

31. Massa drove a flawless race. It was bitter sweet for him.

He was crying on the winner's podium.

Glock staying on dry tires is what gave Hamilton the championship.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. Except that Glock was well behind Hamilton when the rain started

It was more that Glock almost, but not quite, pulled off the risk of staying out on dry tyres - he was 6th before the rain came, and he ended up finishing sixth. Hamilton was passed by Vettel (who switched to wet tyres at exactly the same time), but 5th was still good enough for him.

[alfredo]

35. Hamilton did go wide and that allowed Vettel to pass. If Glock had

switched tires, Hamilton would have won the championship anyway.

[kenny blankenship]

36. He clearly didn't have the front end grip he should have had

after coming out on the intermediates.

[alfredo]

37. They were saying his car just wasn't right.

[Blue_Tires]

32. i was wondering if anyone noticed

i had a thread in the lounge with no nibbles...

Congrats to Hamilton....another nail-biter to the end, but he seems to specialize in those...

And there is a motherlode of comedy gold on the F1 forums...The Ferrari fans / racist Spaniards are so bitter they might just melt down the internets

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8204040

[kenny blankenship]

33. I don't want to say I *hate* Ferrari, but...

let's just say I enjoy it better when some other team is winning. What I do hate is the Ferrari-must-win bias of F1 culture -and officialdom- in general. That's been a big turn off for me in the last year, to the point where I'm almost not watching at all. Racist Alonzo fanboys can burn in their own bile. I don't want to hate Alonzo but after the things he's said and done, it's hard to avoid.