This weekend was the final race in the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The race held in Sao Paulo Brasil was on Speed at 11:30 AM central. Per our normal modeus operandi, we Tivo'ed the race to watch it that evening.
Middle of the afternoon I was online reading the news and I accidentally saw a headline stating who won the championship. Bummer dude! The headline stated that Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) won the championship. I had been pulling for Felipe Massa (Ferrari) all season so I was disappointed. Going into the final race, Lewis was ahead of Massa by 7 (or was it 5) points. This meant Lewis needed to finish in the top 4 cars to win the season. Massa needed to finish first with Lewis outside of the top 4 to win.
The race turned out to be a thriller. Even though I knew how the season would end, I didn't know the results of the race.
Massa started from pole and maintained the lead most of the race, but that wasn't enough. The race was actually decided in the final turn of the final lap when Timo Glock (Toyota) slowed down due to the rain and not having the correct tires. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, nor could the folks in the Ferrari garage on TV.
This season was absolutely the most exciting season for F1 since I have started watching. (Though I would like to see Michael Schumacher come out of retirement.) Alonso who was stagnant most of the season, was showing his skill toward the end of the season. Kimi Raikkonen who I thought would win his second championship this year showed he was a team player (and that he could smile). Kubica showed his skill as well as a promise to be a future F1 champion.
This year also marked the final season for David Coulthard and possibly for Rubens Barrichello. We also saw the demise of the Super Aguri team.
Next season should be exciting (if the FIA doesn't mess it up with more stupid rules). Maybe next year will be Felipe's year. And maybe we will see F1 return to the United States in 2010!
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