Formula 1 Championship Is Dull, Lacking the Greats

Lewis Hamilton has won the 2008 British Grand Prix and now the press has gone into overdrive labeling him with superlatives Schumacher could only dream of.

Coming from India, we're fed British oriented media through Sky's sister network Star. I couldn't help wondering, if Kimi had won in similar fashion, would there be a single piece of news on him, except that he led the race and won?

But he didn't. Neither did Massa.

So here comes what I've felt for a while this season. Despite all the hype, Hamilton pales in comparison to a Schumacher or a Senna or a Prost or any other great legends as opposed to what the British press would have you believe. Kimi and Alonso also fall short here.

They're all great drivers in their own rights, but you don't sense that you're watching something unbelievably spectacular on a consistent basis. Schumacher and Senna provided, Kimi and Alonso would do it once in a while.

If you look back, Schumi arrived in F1 with a bang, and with midfield machinery he excelled right from the word go. Some of his driving was labeled unbelievable even by the British press. But of course he started winning, and then those comments dried up.

In 1996, when Hill and Villeneuve were dueling it out, you always knew that the great driver and the class of the field lay with Ferrari.

I remember a few years ago Alonso described beating Schumacher as an incredible task for which you needed every single aspect to be correct. You had to be on the limit at all times. Sadly, you don't feel the same when you see any of the top runners today.

So while the championship is at an interesting juncture with three drivers tied, you don't feel half the excitement you did for the Mika-Schumi battles or the 2005 Alonso-Kimi battle. It's been a championship constantly questioning "Who will falter next?" I feel a Schumacher in his prime would never have made so many mistakes or had so many slip ups.

So while everyone was rubbishing Schumacher and Senna, the truth of the matter is that F1 fans would love to watch drives from mesmeric and genius drivers rather than watch a bunch of faltering drivers fight it out in a close championship.

It's always been the case with sports. Basketball had its Michael Jordan, football had Zidane. When you watched these greats you always knew that you were part of something special, and probably that comes very rarely.

So as the British press all hail Lewis as the next big thing, I feel the real champ may be elsewhere—maybe Kubica, or maybe even Alonso. They seem to be doing more to deserve the merit they receive than any of the championship leaders.

So we might have to wait a few more years till a driver of calibre and tenacity equal to a Schumacher or Senna or Lauda comes along and truly lights up the championship ring year after year. Only then can F1 again claim to have a true Great.