By the time you read this, either Lewis Hamilton or Feliepe Massa will be crowned the 2008 Formula 1 world champion. Going into the final race, Hamilton has a 7 point lead, so it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that the odds are stacked in his favour.

What’s interesting, and somewhat ironic, is the fact that the points positions are exactly the same as they were between Hamilton and Raikkonen last year. And, of course, it was the Ferrari driver who went on the drivers’ title in ‘07. Mind you, the scenario last year was very different. The momentum was flowing in favor of Raikkonen, and Hamilton also had to contend with his teammate, former double world champion, Fernando Alonso. Moreover, Hamilton was inexperienced and under pressure. This year, he’s coming off a dominating performance in China – one that demonstrated that he’s matured a great deal as a driver.

You’ve got to feel for Massa though – he’ll probably win his home race in Brazil for the 3rd year in succession because McLaren will likely take a conservative approach for Hamilton – in fact, Mercedes Motorsport boss, Norbert Haug, and McLaren CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, have already said as much. Massa will be ruing his bad luck once again this year, especially in light of his retirement in Hungary when he was in the lead 3 laps from the end – not to mention his pit lane debacle at the Singapore Grand Prix. Considering Massa’s teammate is the 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who’s been off form for the second half of this year, he’s got to know this was probably his best shot at the title. He’s put in some impressive and dominant performances this year, although there are still concerns about how he performs under pressure.

Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, has always provided the sense that he has the makings of a world champion – from his first few races itself, you knew it was only a matter of time. He not only has the driving ability, but also the temperament and single minded focus needed to be world champion. But he hasn’t won the title just yet, and anything could happen in Brazil – after all, you never know, lightining could just strike twice.

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Could Force India
become the McLaren B-team?



Speculation is rife that Force India will be the beneficiary of a technical cooperation agreement with McLaren for the 2009 season. Advanced talks and negotiations have already taken place but no deal will be finalized until there’s a clear picture regarding the regulations for next year.

So far, despite the best efforts of the team and Dr. Mallaya, Force India have become near permanent figures at the back of the grid. So the conclusion of such a deal with McLaren can only mean good things for the team. If all goes well, the deal could extend as far as engine supply from Mercedes, as well as chassis supply from McLaren, which would effectively make Force India the McLaren B-team. At the moment, they have an engine supply agreement with Ferrari till the end of next season, so it remains to be seen how it’ll all pan out.

There’s still clarification sought from the FIA regarding whether or not ‘customer cars’ are allowed in Formula 1. In the middle of this season, the FIA ruled that customer cars would no longer be allowed from the 2010 season onwards, and it’s this ruling that effectively sealed the fate for the Honda B-team – Super Aguri. Ambiguity in the rules also meant that the Prodrive team, promoted by David Richards, decided to defer its entry into Formula 1 this season. Had they gone ahead with the deal, they would have been the McLaren B-team. However, the Red Bull owned Toro Rosso team are going strong. Christian Horner, boss of Red Bull, has himself said that the difference in the chassis of both cars is negligible to say the least.

Assuming the deal goes through, what would be in it for McLaren? It would certainly have to be economically viable for them, but that’s not their primary objective. McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, says they would be doing it for the benefit of the sport – essentially to support small, independent teams. If you think about it though, an agreement such as this could allow them many more opportunities for development and data gathering. It could also provide them with the option of developing young talent at Force India before moving the driver into a McLaren seat.

So if the deal goes through, it’ll be a win-win for everyone involved. What’s ironic, however, is that it was the erstwhile Spyker Formula 1 team, which is now Force India, who most vehemently opposed customer cars being allowed in Formula 1.