While Lewis’ celebrity status in Britain continues to grow, his popularity in Spain, is not surprisingly quite low. We know this from comments from our Spanish readers! In Spanish magazine, Grand Prix, he got just 1.8% of the votes for driver of the year while Alonso, despite his petulant ways still got 75%. Lewis’ share of the vote probably came from our ex pats in Gibraltar and the Costa del Sol!

On the track, Formula one’s final testing session of 2007 started yesterday, with Nick Heidfield coming out the fastest. Controversially, Michael Schumacher had been set to join yesterday’s test, but Kimi Raikonnen replaced him at the last moment.

Schumacher was scheduled to test with the Ferrari team on Thursday and Friday, he has already showed he had lost none of his competitive edge during two days of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya last month, posting the fastest lap times on both days. While 38-year-old Schumacher maintains that his decision to retire is “irrevocable”, the tests at Barcelona and Jerez had many F1 pundits hoping for Schumacher’s return, including a very excited Lewis Hamilton.

“Bring it on,” Says Hamilton “I was disappointed that he left [formula one] just as I got there, having watched him for so many years. There’s no doubt Michael is a phenomenal driver and I’d love to race against him.”

With the Spygate fiasco already looming over 2008’s grand prix for Lewis, Michael Schumacher’s return would be a fantastic boost to next years F1 season especially for Lewis Hamilton, and I’m sure would have the world glued to the edge of their collective seats.

OK this one is possibly a no-brainer right now, but at lewis-hamilton.org.uk, we’ve been sure of it since his first grand prix. The only real contender may be boxer Ricky Hatton if he manages to win the WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas on Sunday morning several hours before the show.

Lewis has been the darling of the media in the past few months after his first successful F1 Championship, and well; racing F1 is just a little more glamorous and upmarket than boxing really. The only public sin Lewis will have blotted his coffee book with is moving to Switzerland, and while it may stop him getting honours one day, it probably won’t sway the BBC.

Last night’s Top Gear saw Lewis attacking their test track in the “reasonably priced car”, coming 0.3 seconds shy of the track record set by the anonymous “stig”. Hamilton’s time was recorded in wet and oily weather, handicapping a possible record attempt but still putting him above current rivals Jenson Button and Mark Webber. He was as affable and charming as ever, I’m sure Clarkson will be a fan in any case. Lewis has already agreed to come back and race the track in dry conditions.

Lewis’ face is already all over TV ads, and lots of spots on the BBC including “Children in Need”. He has also won three honours at last nights Autosport awards; after a moving tribute from the late Ayrton Senna’s sister, Hamilton was honoured as British competition driver of the year, best international racing driver and rookie of the year.

He also picked up a gold star from the British Racing Drivers’ Club after four victories and a total of 12 podium finishes in his debut F1 season. He may not have won the F1 season, but Lewis has already secured his place in history.

When I was a kid, Scalextric was the only way to race, and the friend with the biggest track was always popular. As I got older, computer games got better and better and Scalextric sets were collecting dust in the attic while I played on computer racing games that got better as the years passed.

But there is something kitsch and old school about scalextric and it has always remained somewhat popular enough to keep from being discontinued.

Since the success of Lewis Hamilton, Hornby Plc the British toymaker has had an upsurge in demand for the toy helping it almost double first half pre tax profit.
Hornby has a licensing deal with Mclaren and makes up to date replicas of the cars, one which is a replica of the car Hamilton drove to second place in his fantastic debut on the F1 scene.

“Everyone likes to have one of their own countrymen doing well and that’s given it (F1) a much sharper profile,” Finance Director John Stansfield said in an interview on Friday.

You can buy Hamilton’s Scalextric car here.

It has just been announced that Lewis Hamilton will be one of the presenters on the MTV Europe Music Awards tonight which start in just a few hours.

This years awards are to be hosted in Munich and anticipation is already building as crowds gather around the red carpet awaiting the multitude of stars attending.

In a last minute addition Lewis will be at the one of the biggest nights of this years music calendar presenting the award for “Most addictive track” on the German Stage.

Lewis is already becoming quite the celebrity, with his polite and charming manner, his youthfull exuberance and his somewhat dodgy DJ’ing skills.

You can catch Lewis alongside the host Snoop Doggy Dog tonight on the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007 at 9 o’clock on MTV One.

I wonder if Snoop will make a joke about hiring Lewis as his getaway driver?

After a month of rumours and hearsay, the Mclaren team has recently confirmed that Spanish driver Fernando Alonso has agreed to leave Mclaren.

A statement has been released by the team has made it clear that Alonso has quit his contract with two years left to run:
“Following a meeting between Fernando Alonso and McLaren, it was agreed that it would be in the best interests of both parties to bring the relationship to an end,” the statement said.

It was noted that although Alonso eluded to the ups and downs that came in this F1 season, Alonso himself bears no grudges or ill will towards Lewis hamilton of the Mclaren Team.

Of course from all the maelstrom of controversy this year, I think there were a lot of wounds that could not be healed so simply, such as Alonso’s near betrayal of Mclaren at the Paris spygate hearing, and of course the believe that Hamilton was now the favoured one in the team.

While Alonso now is a free agent, there is a big possibility he will move back to Renault for next season, where he was always treat as their champion. This leaves Mclaren open for new possibilities nest year too, and it will be interesting to see who replaces Alonso in the coming months.

However the best bit will be watching Alonso battle Hamilton next year in different cars, and it may shed light to how much difference the cars really make as opposed to the driving.

In the middle of the F1 season Lewis Hamilton had already been looking at houses in Switzerland, so his move there comes as no surprise, and while he declares the hassle and lack of privacy in Britain the reason why he is moving there – we all know it’s the tax breaks. Poor Stevenage council, just after they named a street after him!

Lewis still has a chance of winning the F1 season, when the appeals are over the F1 winner will be announced on November the 15th. I seriously doubt the championship will be given to him though, and I really believe it would be more embarrassing than anything else. It’s true that there have been many mysterious or plain pedantic occurrences over this season, none mores so that Mclarens reluctance to change Lewis’ tyres in the Chinese Grand Prix when they were clearly worn out – or the need for three pit stops in Brazil, when two pitstops would have certainly gave extra Lewis points.

It seems there were hands other than the hands of fate were making decisions on the outcome. No doubt there is already conspiracy theories bouncing around on the net – maybe they could explain Henman in tennis and our

Rugby defeat against South Africa too! Winning on technicalities has never been a glamorous or dignified way for a sportsman or team to win, and Hamilton will surely have even more hope and support next season.

While I’m not a fan of tax, it’s mainly because of the way the government spend it, so I view

Hamilton’s move with neutrality: It’s not a good example for a role model to be showing our kids, its not “Hip Hop” so to speak; not sticking to one’s roots. But in a day and age where everyone is out for themselves, including our government; then I really can’t blame him. At least the trains are on time over there.

There was tension in moments up to the chequered flag, watching with my father on Sunday, it was a nail biting start. What I saw was the Ferrari team expertly block Lewis from getting past; Massa carving across to protect the inside line while Kimi speeding past Hamilton’s right to block any way through, forcing Lewis to slow momentarily to avoid collision.

While its certainly not surprising - one thing I’ve not read in the papers anywhere, is Alonso’s lack of any team work whatsoever – after Kimi and Massa block Hamilton into third position, Alonso saw the opportunity to overtake Hamilton when he could have done as the Ferrari team and keep Hamilton a little safer from others overtaking so quickly.

I suppose its a little naïve to expect that level of sportsmanship from Alonso however; the constructor’s championship was already denied, and Alonso had already shown contempt for Mclaren and Lewis Hamilton – he really had no reason to help Lewis out.

Were it not for corporate espionage and equal treatment, both Lewis and Mclaren might have won that Sunday.

But it was not to be. Fighting back, Lewis attempted to go round the outside at the next corner, proved his undoing as he slid wide and dropped to eighth. Hamilton still as keen as ever slipped back into 6th position before his gearbox locked into neutral and left him coasting until he was in 18th place.

It was a salvage operation from then on, and fighting through pit stops and all odds Hamilton did not give up, ending up in 7th place with 109 points: Joint second in the driver’s championship with Alonso.

There are currently ongoing claims of fuel irregularities with the BMW Sauber team. Even after all the opposing attempts to knock Mclaren down on technicalities,
I think it would be unfair and embarrassing to Mclaren and Lewis himself to be given the championship now: Lewis is young and has many more opportunities.

While it is a little disappointing that Hamilton lost the championship, we must remember that at the start of the season, it was only the Hamilton’s dream. A dream not even conceived by race fans, until Lewis showed his brilliance and tenacity on the track and proved he was a very serious contender for the championship.

No one has done what Hamilton has in 57 years of world championship endeavour, not Fangio, not Moss, not Clark, not Senna, not Schumacher.

At 22 he will be coming back stronger next season, proving a force to contend with in 2008.

Lewis’ boy racer spirit overtook him in the chinese GP. Entering a death or glory race to the end with Kimi Raikonnen on very worn tyres saw Lewis retire, after ending up in the gravel on lap 31.

His Mclaren team have claimed responsibility, saying they held off changing to dry tires a lap too late thinking there could be further rain, but Hamilton has acknowleged his part in is own downfall on the way to the pits.

No Matter, Hamilton is confident he can still win, not since 1986 has the fight for the drivers title between the three favorites came down to the last race. When Alain Prost inherited the lead from Nelson Piquet and won, Nigel Mansells dreams were shattered when his left rear tire exploded.

Lewis now has to at least come third to win if Raikonnen is first and second place againsed his teamate Alonso. Hamilton as always will be aiming for first, and unless some major disaster occurs in the Brazillian GP, he has a very good chance of acheiving his dreams.

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS MAL BHR ESP MON CAN USA FRA GBR EUR HUN TUR ITA BEL JPN CHN Pts 1 Lewis Hamilton 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 3 3 9 1 5 2 4 1 Ret 107 2 Fernando Alonso 2 1 5 3 1 7 2 7 2 1 4 3 1 3 Ret 2 103 3 Kimi Räikkönen 1 3 3 Ret 8 5 4 1 1 Ret 2 2 3 1 3 1 100 4 Felipe Massa 6 5 1 1 3 DSQ 3 2 5 2 13 1 Ret 2 6 3 86 5 Nick Heidfeld 4 4 4 Ret 6 2 Ret 5 6 6 3 4 4 5 14† 7 58 6 Robert Kubica Ret 18 6 4 5 Ret INJ 4 4 7 5 8 5 9 7 Ret 35 7 Heikki Kovalainen 10 8 9 7 13† 4 5 15 7 8 8 6 7 8 2 9 30 8 Giancarlo Fisichella 5 6 8 9 4 DSQ 9 6 8 10 12 9 12 Ret 5 11 21 9 Nico Rosberg 7 Ret 10 6 12 10 16† 9 12 Ret 7 7 6 6 Ret 16 15 10 David Coulthard Ret Ret Ret 5 14 Ret Ret 13 11 5 11 10 Ret Ret 4 8 14 11 Alexander Wurz Ret 9 11 Ret 7 3 10 14 13 4 14 11 13 Ret Ret 12 13 12 Mark Webber 13 10 Ret Ret Ret 9 7 12 Ret 3 9 Ret 9 7 Ret 10 10 13 Jarno Trulli 9 7 7 Ret 15 Ret 6 Ret Ret 13 10 16 11 11 13 13 7 14 Sebastian Vettel 8 16 19 18 Ret Ret 4 6 15 Jenson Button 15 12 Ret 12 11 Ret 12 8 10 Ret Ret 13 8 Ret 11† 5 6 16 Ralf Schumacher 8 15 12 Ret 16 8 Ret 10 Ret Ret 6 12 15 10 Ret Ret 5 17 Takuma Sato 12 13 Ret 8 17 6 Ret 16 14 Ret 15 18 16 15 15† 14 4 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi 14 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret 17† Ret 16† Ret Ret 15 17 12 9 6 3 19 Adrian Sutil 17 Ret 15 13 Ret Ret 14 17 Ret Ret 17 21† 19 14 8 Ret 1 20 Rubens Barrichello 11 11 13 10 10 12 Ret 11 9 11 18 17 10 13 10 15 0 21 Scott Speed Ret 14 Ret Ret 9 Ret 13 Ret Ret Ret 0 22 Anthony Davidson 16 16 16† 11 18 11 11 Ret Ret 12 Ret 14 14 16 Ret Ret 0 23 Sakon Yamamoto Ret 20 20 17 12 17 0 24 Christijan Albers Ret Ret 14 14 19† Ret 15 Ret 15 0 — Markus Winkelhock Ret 0

• † Driver did not finish but was classified, having completed more than 90% of race distance.

Taken from Wikipedia

As the F1 season draws nearer to an end, with Lewis Hamilton even closer to winning the drivers 2007 grand prix and a rookie driver, the long knives are chasing him with more belligerence than previously thought possible.

Not only is it enough that Alonso has allegedly inferred that he has damning evidence that Hamilton “has a lot of Ferrari” in his car; that Lewis’ car is tweaked and doctored to ensure he will win; and that Hamilton has been given preferential treatment.

Now there is an enquiry into Lewis Hamilton’s driving in Japan being erratic and dangerous as he “veers to the left and slows down” the stewards in the race claimed that his sudden deceleration ahead of Webber and Vettel caused the crash.

A Japanese tourist captured the incident on camera, and personally although its clear that Hamilton almost overtakes the safety car before almost stopping on the outside of the track, I think Vettel is to blame – whatever Vettel was thinking about Lewis’ actions, he should have been watching ahead of himself and keeping distance from Webber as they were not racing at the time. Lewis’ driving had been cautious in the 20 laps beforehand and he was break checking throughout the race.

You can judge for yourself: