2007 Formula One Chinese Grand Prix

[Jack_Bauer]

The Zuhai circuit in Shanghai is the venue for the penultimate round of the 2007 Formula One season, with Lewis Hamilton looking to seal a remarkable, unprecedented World Driver's Championship in his rookie year. It seemed for a while that his chance to clinch the title would be delayed until Brazil as the FIA stewards spent Thursday investigating his driving behind the safety car in Fuji last weekend. It was a great day for the media hacks who went into overdrive, coming out with such wild speculation that Hamilton would give up on his F1 career if punished. An 'interesting' way to fill the column inches on the back pages, but seriously wide of the mark. Hamilton received neither a 10 place grid penalty or points deduction, and the only real consequence of the investigation was that Sebastien Vettel had his grid penalty rescinded.

In the practice sessions there were few surprises as the McLarens and Ferraris led the way. Assuming there are no major cock-ups with tyre selection like last week, there should be a straight battle between the sport's two superpowers for the podium places.

Practice One

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:37.024 23 laps
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:37.108 18 laps
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:37.128 21 laps
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:37.210 20 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:37.707 23 laps
06 R. Kubica BMW 1:38.055 23 laps
07 J. Trulli Toyota 1:38.208 30 laps
08 G. Fisichella Renault 1:38.217 16 laps
09 K. Nakajima Williams 1:38.270 30 laps
10 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:38.445 13 laps
11 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:38.551 17 laps
12 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:38.661 23 laps
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:38.700 25 laps
14 J. Button Honda 1:38.942 18 laps
15 R. Barrichello Honda 1:38.945 22 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:39.238 23 laps
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.497 22 laps
18 M. Webber Red Bull 1:39.535 23 laps
19 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:39.539 20 laps
20 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.898 24 laps
21 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:40.126 27 laps
22 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:40.149 26 laps

Practice Two

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.607 31 laps
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:36.613 28 laps
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:36.630 29 laps
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.876 33 laps
05 J. Trulli Toyota 1:37.151 36 laps
06 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.450 34 laps
07 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:37.524 32 laps
08 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:37.617 27 laps
09 N. Rosberg Williams 1:37.646 36 laps
10 G. Fisichella Renault 1:37.970 32 laps
11 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:38.062 21 laps
12 J. Button Honda 1:38.205 41 laps
13 R. Barrichello Honda 1:38.304 40 laps
14 R. Kubica BMW 1:38.379 39 laps
15 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:38.388 16 laps
16 A. Wurz Williams 1:38.531 32 laps
17 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:38.975 38 laps
18 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.062 36 laps
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:39.224 37 laps
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:39.360 37 laps
21 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.404 34 laps
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:40.051 38 laps

Practice Three

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.100 15 laps
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:36.126 13 laps
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.227 14 laps
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:36.405 14 laps
05 R. Schumacher Toyota 36.959 18 laps
06 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:36.964 13 laps
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:37.024 23 laps
08 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:37.106 14 laps
09 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:37.176 18 laps
10 M. Webber Red Bull 1:37.315 13 laps
11 N. Rosberg Williams 1:37.323 16 laps
12 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.463 18 laps
13 J. Button Honda 1:37.564 19 laps
14 J. Trulli Toyota 1:37.679 20 laps
15 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.732 15 laps
16 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.759 19 laps
17 G. Fisichella Renault 1:37.791 17 laps
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:37.920 20 laps
19 A. Wurz Williams 1:37.926 16 laps
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:38.577 16 laps
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:38.868 20 laps
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:39.517 21 laps

[Jack_Bauer]

Lewis Hamilton has edged closer still to his maiden WDC crown with a stunning lap out of the blue to take pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton had looked as if he was struggling a wee bit in comparison to the other front-runners this weekend, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen looking a cut above the rest. However, Hamilton put in a true champion's performance in the dying moments of qualifying to clinch pole. Crucially, he also has two Ferraris between himself and title rival Alonso. He couldn't have planned it better if he tried, especially with rain forecast for tomorrow's race. Having clean air out front in wet conditions is a massive boost as he proved last weekend. If he can lead from the front in the wet tomorrow then the title will be there for the taking.

Behind the front four there was a remarkable performance from the veteran David Coulthard to take fifth place in the Red Bull car, ahead of an equally impressive performance from Ralf Schumacher. Ralf knows he has two races to try and save some sort of career for himself in F1, and this performance was about as good as he could possibly have done. Next came Webber, the two BMWs, and Jenson Button with yet another good showing in tenth. The two Torro Rosso cars sit 11th and 12th which is very good by their standards. Seeing a few surprises in the midfield is in part due to a the Renaults gambling on a full wet set up for tomorrow, sacrificing grid position in the process with their cars in a lowly 14th and 18th.

Provisional Grid

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Massa
4. Alonso
5. Coulthard
6. Schumacher
7. Webber
8. Heidfeld
9. Kubica
10. Button
11. Liuzzi
12. Vettel
13. Trulli
14. Kovalainen
15. Davidson
16. Rosberg
17. Barrichello
18. Fisichella
19. Wurz
20. Sato
21. Sutil
22. Yamamoto

[Sauc3]

Watching the quali on TV now, I heard mention of the Spyker team being in the process of getting sold to Lakshmi Mittal, a billionaire from India. Should be interesting to see what he can do for the team, he's apparently worth $30US billion, so there's a perfect budget right there...

[Coventrysucks]

Watching the quali on TV now, I heard mention of the Spyker team being in the process of getting sold to Lakshmi Mittal, a billionaire from India. Should be interesting to see what he can do for the team, he's apparently worth $30US billion, so there's a perfect budget right there...

If by "Lakshmi Mittal" you mean "Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol", and by "in the process of getting sold" you mean "has been sold", then yes, you'd be right.

It is a shame that Alonso is such a sore looser. I hoped that I might think better of him as a McLaren driver, but it appears he is determined to make as much of an ass of himself as possible.

Not content with putting Hamilton's success down to McLaren sabotaging his own car, he now appears upset that he wasn't gifted the Driver's Championship by the Stewards yesterday. Maybe he should go to Ferrari, as rumours suggest - they seem to share the opinion that because they are successful one year, they are automatically guaranteed success the next; and if they can't win where it counts, on the circuit, claim everyone else cheated and hope the FIA agrees.

[Zytek_Fan]

It is a shame that Alonso is such a sore looser. I hoped that I might think better of him as a McLaren driver, but it appears he is determined to make as much of an ass of himself as possible.

Alonso still seems to think that #1 driver means that he gets preference over Lewis...

[Sledgehammer]

started watching it at around 1 am last night. Lets just say that im rather tired tonight. Good racing.

[MadMax13]

Alonso still seems to think that #1 driver means that he gets preference over Lewis...

Hes NOT the number one driver anymore, Hamilton is, so hes gonna have to stop acting like a ****ing baby. His pouting face is really starting to annoy me...

[charged]

Watching the quali on TV now,...

Mate watch it live via TVUplayer, download the player then select wheels channel, never have to watch a delayed telecast ever again. Also the commentators arent GB biased so no banging on about Hamilton or Button and DC:)

[MadMax13]

Theyre not like that on SPEED...

[Lets Gekiga In]

I'm kinda surprised nopassn hasn't stopped by to mark the thread title with ***SPOILERS***...

[Jack_Bauer]

Hamilton out!!! The championship will go down to Brazil after all!

[faksta]

SH! Amazing race, the intrigue is back for two more weeks!

[ptclaus98]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!!!!



Come on Kimi!

[Jack_Bauer]

Kimi Raikkonen has kept his slim title hopes alive after claiming his fifth win of the season, and Scuderia Ferrari's 200th F1 victory in a dramatic and unpredictable Chinese Grand Prix. The day began with the high probability of Lewis Hamilton taking an amazing debut World Championship, but fate had decided on at least one more major twist in this rollercoaster of a season. Hamilton had a rare DNF meaning that both Raikkonen and Alonso closed the gap and still have a chance of beating the young Brit as the season reaches its climax in Sao Paulo.

The weather predictions of intermittent showers came true and the race started with a damp and greasy track. Thankfully things weren't as treacherous as last week in Fuji but it was still tricky for the drivers on their Intermediate tyres. Off the start line things seemed to be going perfectly to plan for Hamilton as he got away cleanly and led into turn one ahead of Raikkonen. Alonso had a good getaway from fourth and tried an audacious move around the outside of Massa which seemed to work well despite making contact with the Ferrari. However, Massa was able to come back at Alonso and take P3 back. So far so good for Hamilton's title ambitions.

The front four held station for the whole first stint, but behind them there was some fantastic action throughout the midfield. It would be difficult to list all of the overtaking moves and wheel to wheel action as there was so much going on, but honourable mentions have to go to the likes of Liuzzi, Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher who was recovering after a first lap spin. As predicted, Lewis Hamilton was the lightest man on the track and thus the first to pit. He took on fuel but no new tyres, hoping to take advantage of the worn intermediates on the drying track. He emerged from the first round of stops still leading, but with his advantage over Kimi halved after some stunningly quick laps out in front from the flying Finn. Alonso was finally making some headway against Massa and managed to get ahead just as the Brazilian dived into the pits, but as things stood he was still heading for defeat in his title battle with Hamilton. But the middle stint was to prove crucial in the race, and perhaps crucial in terms of the destination of the WDC...

Hamilton was leading comfortably for most of the stint, but towards the end suddenly Raikkonen started eating into his lead massively. The track had got much drier (so much so that the likes of Wurz and Button had switched onto scrubbed dry weather tyres) and the conditions were really taking their toll on the intermediate tyres. A brief downpour gave some respite for the intermediate runners and some severe frights for the drivers on slicks as the likes of Schumacher and Sutil spun out of the race and Rosberg went dirt-tracking through the gravel at turn one. But the rain soon eased off for the final time, and Hamilton seemed to have pushed a little too hard (inexperience perhaps?) and his tyres had worn far more than his big rivals'. His right rear tyre was virtually down to the canvas and his lap times dropped off massively. Raikkonen got past without too many problems and Hamilton was left to try and limp back to the pits, although certainly a lap or two too late. On his way into the pits though disaster struck. The back end got loose on him as he turned the 90degree left hander and as he corrected the car trundled into the gravel. He simply didn't have the momentum to get out the other side and the car was beached. About as low a speed as you can possibly crash in an F1 car, but the result was just the same as if he'd spun out at 180mph: game over.

This left Raikkonen with a clear run to the finish as he chose the right time to switch to the dry weather tyres and Alonso could not quite match his pace. Behind the front three the fantastic action throughout the midfield continued with some great battles with the likes of Kovalainen, Webber, Coulthard and Fisichella fighting for the final points paying positions. There was a rather embarrassing moment for Webber as the onboard camera caught him raising his right hand to gesticulate with teammate Coulthard for weaving about too much, and after this lapse in concentration Kovalainen dove down the inside of the Aussie to take 9th place. However, top honours must go to Tonio Liuzzi (making it to sixth from 11th on the grid), Honda's Jenson Button (5th place from 10th on the grid), and especially Sebastien Vettel. It was a real zero to hero performance from the young German who had been guilty of wiping out Webber when on course for a podium finish last week, and then being penalised for blocking during qualifying. Starting from 17th on the grid he made his way through with some consistent pace, brilliant overtaking, and a superbly judged strategy from the Torro Rosso team all the way to a 4th place finish. After ending last week's race in tears in the back of his pit garage he crossed the finish line celebrating as though he had won the race, with his team on the pit wall equally jubilant. An incredibly performance from the youngster.

Ultimately though, the glory went to Kimi Raikkonen with an absolutely faultless display which places him just 7 points behind Hamilton and 3 behind Alonso as they head to Interlagos. Alonso will be a very happy bunny tonight too, after reportedly trashing his motor home in frustration after his qualifying yesterday he now goes into the final race of the season with a very real chance of claiming his third title in a row. So it's all to play for on the notoriously bumpy and tricky Interlagos circuit with three drivers still in the hunt for the crown. I just hope it rains again!!! :p


Race Result

1. Raikkonen
2. Alonso
3. Massa
4. Vettel
5. Button
6. Liuzzi
7. Heidfeld
8. Coulthard
9. Kovalainen
10. Webber
11. Fisichella
12. Wurz
13. Trulli
14. Sato
15. Barrichello
16. Rosberg
17. Yamamoto
ret Kubica
ret Hamilton
ret Schumacher
ret Sutil
ret Davidson

[Matra et Alpine]

Any other conspiracy theorists reckon that to appease Alonso they screwed up when to call Lewis in for tyres ?
That rear was clearly shot the lap BEFORE !!
Or maybe ALonso bunged Lewis race engineer a large sum of cash :D

[Street_Dreamer]

McLaren cocked up big time. It was clear to everybody that Hamilton should have been in several laps before. Even the lap before he lost 8seconds to Alonso, if that's not bloody reason enough to bring him in, then i don't know what is. Hamilton could have wrapped up the title today, but McLaren messed it up.

[Rockefella]

Looks like Lewis McLuck finally screwed up, big time. I hope everyone that rocks Lewis' nuts realizes that he took pit entry way too fast for having nothing but cords on his right rear, regardless of when he should have come in. (He took the corners before pit entry when battling Raikkonen just fine)

[faksta]

What were the white stripes on his rear wet tyres?

[Matra et Alpine]

What were the white stripes on his rear wet tyres?
The "canvas", the tyres having shed rubber :(

[JRodrigues]

Here ya go :D :D Eat this Hamilucky

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1702/diapo315ob1.jpg
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/812/diapo313gp7.jpg

[Cotterik]

WOW brazil is gonna be INTENSE. That will be one race I cannot miss. Hamilton needs to come 3rd to win the championship right? but a single mistake could prove costly for all 3 drivers. Now this is exciting..


Looks like Lewis McLuck finally screwed up, big time. I hope everyone that rocks Lewis' nuts realizes that he took pit entry way too fast for having nothing but cords on his right rear, regardless of when he should have come in. (He took the corners before pit entry when battling Raikkonen just fine)

How can you call his performance this year luck? Those are some of the worlds greatest drivers driving against him, with decades of experience. To go in on your first year leading the championship in the last race is definitely not luck. Plus this is one of the very few mistakes he's made this year. I think somebodys got a hunch :rolleyes:

[fpv_gtho]

He needs 2nd. 3rd will mean it goes to a countback.

[Cody302]

No matter what happens in Brazil, I feel kinda sorry for Hamms. `Cause you know next year he's gonna be under so much friggin' pressure. If next year is just mediocre....everyone's gonna chalk up this years wins to sharing race setups from Alonso and McLaren's stolen Ferrari intell. And I'm to the point now with Alonso that I wish he'd just shut the hell up and go join Montoya. Just whinny little bitches. Masa keeps his mouth shut, and as long as you give Kimi a Martinni or two...he keeps his mouth shut(`course you can't understand him anyway). I sure wish DC could have done a little better over the last three or four years, I always thought he was a pretty cool cat(as a person). I especially liked it when the FIA wanted to make a butt load of rule changes because of Schumachers success and DC stood up and said..."As teams and drivers,It's our job to get faster...not the FIA's job to penalize Ferrari to make us more competetive!!". But then again, they didn't fine them $100 million bucks!!

[fpv_gtho]

I dont think there should be any negative feelings if Hamilton wins this years title but cant win next years. Its a widely held belief in all motorsports its always easier to win a title than to defend one. Not to mention, over the past few years McLaren have been incapable of producing a championship contending car for 2 consecutive years.

[Rockefella]

How can you call his performance this year luck?

His rookie year in Formula 1 was in the best car on the grid. (He did not test drive for a year either)


Those are some of the worlds greatest drivers driving against him, with decades of experience. To go in on your first year leading the championship in the last race is definitely luck.

I didn't say he was the worst driver, or the best driver for that matter. I just said he was lucky. Hell, I think Kubica or Vettel are better skillwise. Lewis is just consistent.


Plus this is one of the very few mistakes he's made this year. I think somebodys got a hunch :rolleyes:

I know.

[Matra et Alpine]

His rookie year in Formula 1 was in the best car on the grid. (He did not test drive for a year either)
It's amazing that pretty much the same thing happened in every formula he has raced in since the age of 12 !!

Liek Arnold Palmer said "the more I practise, the luckier I get" :)

[torque55]

Hamilton has been very lucky in the sence that he hasnt found himself in the wrong situation under the saftey car, or not getting involved in race incidents, he is also very fortunate to be driving for mclaren at a season when they are on top form. He is also lucky to be Alonso' s team mate where he can use all the info of the setup plus the entire team will back him up in almost any situation.
On second thoughts, i have to say there have been so many situations this year when he has been extremley lucky, especially in germany, ive never seen anyone slide off in the rain , then they lifted the car , then they pushed him back on the circuit.
Offcourse i have to admit that he has been very consistent, and he must be talented too, but the combination of his talent, consistency and LUCK will bring him the title this season.

[Wouter Melissen]

Like Matra already said; Hamilton has done this in every series he has entered. His talent far outnumbers his luck.

[faksta]

Stop this, guys - his luck is a part of his talent! :D

[MadMax13]

Im royall pissed about Hamiltons retirement, and im a Ferrari fan...

[turbolc2]

McLaren cocked up big time. It was clear to everybody that Hamilton should have been in several laps before. Even the lap before he lost 8seconds to Alonso, if that's not bloody reason enough to bring him in, then i don't know what is. Hamilton could have wrapped up the title today, but McLaren messed it up.



Hamilton out!!! The championship will go down to Brazil after all!


Hummm, Let's look at this season. McLaren gets busted for possessing Ferrari data. The ruling came down right before the Belgian Grand Prix. Oddly Ferrari won the Belgian Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix.

Look at Spyker and STR results after the ruling. Before Belgum These two teams were averaging 12/13th positions IF they even finished at all. Now they are finishing in the top 10, sometimes the top 5.

STR and Spyker use Ferrari engines. Tell me how a team such as these can be on a level like Toyota before the FIA, to a top running team after the ruling NOT be a collution between the FIA and Ferrari???


Remember the Schumacher days, people complained how boring F1 has gotten?? No position changes or different driver/manufacturer wins??? Hasn't this years F1 season been eerily like NASCAR???

Again what got me was going back through the season and seeing how well STR and Spyker have improved since the FIA ruled in favor of Ferrari. I'm not saying that what McLaren did was right, I'm saying that things like the tire problems with Hamilton in China the different drivers on the podiums after Belgum is showing that the FIA is turning F1 into an entertainment spectacle like the joke that is NASCAR.

[Rockefella]

It's amazing that pretty much the same thing happened in every formula he has raced in since the age of 12 !!

Liek Arnold Palmer said "the more I practise, the luckier I get" :)

He's a good driver, but if you put him in the Honda chassis he wouldn't be up front competing with McLaren and Ferrari. All I said is that he was lucky in the sense that his rookie year in McLaren was in the car that was arguably the strongest of the field.

[fpv_gtho]

Hummm, Let's look at this season. McLaren gets busted for possessing Ferrari data. The ruling came down right before the Belgian Grand Prix. Oddly Ferrari won the Belgian Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix.

Look at Spyker and STR results after the ruling. Before Belgum These two teams were averaging 12/13th positions IF they even finished at all. Now they are finishing in the top 10, sometimes the top 5.

STR and Spyker use Ferrari engines. Tell me how a team such as these can be on a level like Toyota before the FIA, to a top running team after the ruling NOT be a collution between the FIA and Ferrari???


Remember the Schumacher days, people complained how boring F1 has gotten?? No position changes or different driver/manufacturer wins??? Hasn't this years F1 season been eerily like NASCAR???

Again what got me was going back through the season and seeing how well STR and Spyker have improved since the FIA ruled in favor of Ferrari. I'm not saying that what McLaren did was right, I'm saying that things like the tire problems with Hamilton in China the different drivers on the podiums after Belgum is showing that the FIA is turning F1 into an entertainment spectacle like the joke that is NASCAR.

I think its mere coincidence. Ferrari cant do anything that significant to the engines anymore to create the increases in performance youre suggesting. STR and Spyker starting to get results is more likely as a result of the B spec Spyker and Adrian Sutil getting something out of it, and the STR mechanics and engineers finally understanding how to get the most out of the Red Bull chassis.

[Zytek_Fan]

Spyker has been doing well because Adrian Sutil is a damn good driver. He was the only person able to compete with Lewis Hamilton in GP2 in 2006.
STR I would call luck.

[fpv_gtho]

Sutil is good, but not 1s per lap good. Mike Gascoyne can do alot more for the cars performance than Sutil. Apart from a perfectly timed lap in the wet P3 at Monaco he hadnt shown anything other than completely dominating Christian Albers until the B spec car made its debut where the car was actually in a position to race with the Super Aguri's, Honda's, Toyota's and STR's. He also never competed in GP2, he was Hamilton's team mate in F3.

[Matra et Alpine]

He's a good driver, but if you put him in the Honda chassis he wouldn't be up front competing with McLaren and Ferrari.
True. But I think he'd be doing better than Button :)

All I said is that he was lucky in the sense that his rookie year in McLaren was in the car that was arguably the strongest of the field.
Not down to luck either.
When he won a kart championship as a teenager he was presented a drivers award by Ron Dennis. Lewis asked Ron for his name, address and telephone number. Dennis reportedly said"give me a call in 9 yers" . He did :)
THAT is planning and determination, linked with skill - and luck isn't needed :D

[fpv_gtho]

Personally, i dont buy that whole determination story from Ron and Hamilton meeting at the Kart event. Any smartarse kid wouldve done the same.

[Matra et Alpine]

Personally, i dont buy that whole determination story from Ron and Hamilton meeting at the Kart event. Any smartarse kid wouldve done the same.
Well it IS documented and perhaps all those "smart arse" kids who tried it also, in the end didnt' have the skill or the determination ?

[fpv_gtho]

Probably true. I'm just sick of the media trying to paint that particular meeting point between Ron and Hamilton as some part of his climb to success, when its more likely coincidental. Ron obviously saw talent in him, he wouldnt have provided millions in sponsorship through his career until now otherwise.

[Matra et Alpine]

An interesting perspective on Lewis' "luck" ................

From The Times September 18, 2007

Lewis Hamilton the victim of association - Matt Dickinson

Lewis Hamilton has been told a thousand times in the past few days that he is lucky still to be competing for the Formula One drivers’ championship. But looking at things from his perspective, he is entitled to wonder where all this good luck is supposed to have gone.

Hamilton is so lucky that his McLaren team have been riddled for much of the season with unprecedented infighting and disruption. Ron Dennis, the team principal and his mentor, apparently has such a loose grip on operations that he did not know that secrets were being passed around his camp.

Hamilton is so lucky that he has been dragged into a scandal whose wider ramifications have resulted in him becoming loathed in Spain because he has fallen out with Fernando Alonso. And he has had to put up with all the innuendo from the “Ferrari-gate” scandal, even though he is implicated solely by association.

The only McLaren driver who was known to be in a certain position to gain from the information leaked from Ferrari was Alonso, through his e-mail exchanges with Pedro De La Rosa, the test driver. As Hamilton said: “The only e-mail I’ve sent to Pedro was about a female.” Not even the World Motor Sport Council can quantify what concrete advantage was gained by McLaren, but Hamilton must endure all the doubts.

Hamilton is so lucky, too, that he was forced to miss an important day’s practice for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa last week to appear in front of the FIA while the rest of the drivers, including Alonso, his main rival for the title, perfected their set-ups.

He must also share a garage with a two-times world champion in Alonso who is so disaffected that he will probably do anything to get ahead of the young Briton (and vice versa). A team-mate, too, who has reportedly been bunging bonuses to his mechanics in an effort to overhaul the rookie at the top of the championship.

So we can probably forgive Hamilton if he has not exactly felt the need to offer prayers of thanks to the FIA for sparing him in last week’s glaringly contradictory judgment. After years believing that a God-given talent can make him a legend of motorsport, the last notion that he will have been ready to embrace is that cheating, luck and/or the mercy of the sport’s governing body have put him – and kept him – at the top.

The idea that winning the title in his first season may be “tainted”, as Max Mosley, the FIA president, has claimed, may even come as an affront to a young man with Hamilton’s self-certainty. Given the 22-year-old’s increasing outspokenness, including his ill-tempered comments about Alonso “swiping” him during the race on Sunday, it was a surprise that he did not tear into Mosley rather than change the subject.

The intriguing question now is how many other people will buy into Mosley’s argument if Hamilton holds on to his shrinking lead and, in Britain, we can probably count them individually. Certainly no one who watched BBC Three’s Billion Dollar Man on Sunday night will want to believe that a triumph for Hamilton will come with an asterisk attached.

It was a programme that took you away from the skulduggery and back to the building of Hamilton’s career from a council estate in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The fairytale story, in other words, that the FIA knew better than to bring crashing down.

There is sure to be at least one repeat, if you missed it, and the story will be told plenty of times on the round of chat shows that young Hamilton is bound to embark upon once this season is over. Or you can read one of the five books, including his own, which are being rushed out in time for the Christmas market. Hamilton may have spent 14 years constructing his career with fearsome dedication, but he has only just begun the journey to stardom.

Bolstered by clips from Blue Peter, whose coverage of Hamilton’s early career must count as a first scoop for a children’s television show, Billion Dollar Man reminded us of how his father, Anthony, juggled several jobs at a time, including washing dishes and putting up boards for an estate agent, to fund his son’s karting career.

The money kept the father-and-son partnership going in a sport where working-class black children were about as common as they are in the members’ bar at Augusta National. Indeed, racist abuse was one of the spurs to success. “In the past years I have had the racist names called to me,” a 12-year-old Hamilton said with the poise that has been his trademark until recent, frazzled days.

“The first time it happened I felt really upset. I told my mum and dad. I felt I needed to get revenge. But lately I just ignore them and get them back on the track.”

It could hardly be farther from a story of fortune or privilege, which is why Hamilton will hate accusations that some of his success has not been earned the hard way. This is a man who was gutted when Michael Schumacher retired because he wanted to test himself against the most prolific of champions.

The idea that he may need an advantage to reach the pinnacle of his sport would be almost as shocking to Hamilton as an accusation that he would try to gain one by illegal means. Some will say that he is lucky if he wins the championship, Mosley will say he is tainted. Hamilton may regard himself as a victim if the trophy comes with strings attached.