As the 2008 Formula 1 championship draws closer to its final race in Brazil, there’s only one point separating McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton at the top of the points table and Ferrari’s Feliepe Massa right behind him, which means of course that we’re in for another exciting finish to the season.

Defending champion, Kimi Raikkonen, is all but out of the running after failing to win a race since the Spanish Grand Prix back in April. What’s worse is that he hasn’t scored a point since the Hungarian Grand Prix at the beginning of August. He practically led the entire race at Spa in Belgium after overtaking both his teammate (quite forcefully at that), as well as Hamilton when the McLaren driver almost spun at turn one on the second lap of a drying track. However, when the rain came three laps from the end, Kimi fell victim to a flying Lewis Hamilton in the dying moments of the race.

Spa was one of the most exciting race finishes that we’ve seen in a long time in Formula 1, which, especially towards the end, tends to become like a procession with drivers preserving their machinery late in the race. While the Ferrari’s are having trouble keeping heat in their tires, and are therefore struggling for grip in the wet, Lewis proved yet again that he’s a racer ‘extraordinaire’ by catching Kimi, and putting pressure on him to the extent that it nearly ended in tears for both drivers on multiple occasions – especially when they narrowly missed the Williams of Rosberg as he attempted to rejoin after an off track excursion.

With Kimi still in the lead, Lewis attacked at the last chicane. And when Kimi ran him wide, he chose to cut the chicane, which left him ahead of Kimi on the main straight. Hamilton was forced to let Raikkonen past or face a penalty, but attacked again at the next corner. With Kimi ducking and diving, Lewis made an extraordinary move down the inside of the hairpin and took the lead. An infuriated Raikkonen spun later on the same lap trying to keep pace, and ended his race by putting his car in the wall a little over one lap from the finish – eliminating his title hopes in the process.

While it was clear that Lewis was much quicker than Kimi in the wet, and he was always going to get past, it wasn’t clear if gained an advantage by cutting the chicane leading onto the main straight – despite having conceded the position thereafter. Following the race and post race celebrations, the stewards issued Hamilton a 25 second penalty, equivalent to a drive through, which gave Massa the win and allowed him to close the gap on Hamilton. The stewards state than Lewis gained an advantage and violated the rules by overtaking at the very next corner. McLaren appealed but were denied their appeal only days before the Singapore Grand Prix – apparently teams can’t contest a drive through penalty, which is effectively what was issued to Lewis. Rules are rules, and you have to roll with the punches, but it would be shame for these few points to decide this years’ championship.

The battle for the lead and the controversy aside, Spa also pointed to a marked improvement in the performance of the Toro Rosso’s – a point that would be well and truly driven home by Sebastian Vettel during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later. Vettel has long been hailed as the next Schumacher by the German press and his performance at Monza was nothing short of extraordinary. He proved that he has the makings of a world champion. He took pole position on Saturday, and then following it up with a seamless win on Sunday – making him the youngest winner in Formula 1 at the age of 21. Vettel took this mantle from another man who thereafter went on to become a double world champion – Fernando Alonso.

Another driver who performed well in the wet at Monza was Feliepe Massa, which was important for him given his disastrous performance at a rain soaked British Grand Prix earlier this year. Massa displayed controlled aggression and also demonstrated the makings of a world champion. However, despite the fact that he finished just ahead of his McLaren rival, it was Lewis Hamilton who once again demonstrated that he’s a racer at heart, and a driver who can be ruthless on track. Undeterred by his penalty in the previous race, he practically drove several cars off the track on his way through the field. In fact, it’s Hamilton, more than anyone else, who’s demonstrating an on track persona much like the legendary Schumacher.

Vettel’s win at Monza means that Toro Rosso is the first Italian team other than Ferrari to win a race since 1957. It’s also means that independent teams can still be competitive if everything falls into place – in this case, other than circumstance, it was the Ferrari engine in the back of the Toro Rosso that was instrumental in helping them claim their first win. In many ways, it can also be seen as the first win for the erstwhile Minardi team, who were the perennial underdogs through their time in Formula 1.

The F1 circus now moves to Singapore for its first ever night race, which will have already taken place by the time you read this. Not only will it be historic, but by sheer virtue of its novelty, it’s bound to be a very popular race as well. And like all the races to follow, it’s bound to be very competitive as well.