This victory is also the huge boast that Renault needed, after a tough time since winning the championship in 2006. Can this be the springboard to a more successful 2009?
Hamilton takes cautious approach
Up to the chaos after the safety car deployment, it looked like both Ferrari drivers would thrash Hamilton today. Ferrari were just simply quicker than McLaren.
So this race would have ended up being a case of damage limitation. Ron Dennis pretty much admitted this before the race started and would have been perfectly happy to finish behind Massa.
However the Safety Car and Ferrari’s big pit error played beautifully into Hamilton’s hands, and gave him a big opportunity. In the end Hamilton may have been a bit disappointed he didn’t make full use of the opportunity.
Hamilton lost a lot of time stuck behind David Coulthard and this allowed Rosberg and Alonso to get away. He did eventually pass Coulthard with a spectacular move and went up to third.
When the Safety Car came out at the end of the race there was perhaps a chance of a win. He thought about passing Rosberg but in the end thought better of it. Last season Hamilton may have opted to go for glory but he has learnt from his previous mistakes. Trying to overtake Alonso after their previous history may not have been very wise. With Massa scoring no points Hamilton had to ensure he scored good points rather than crashing and not punishing Ferrari for their errors.
Hamilton now has a seven-point lead in the championship over Massa. This means that Hamilton could finish second to Massa in the last three races and be champion. Considering that Hamilton could have left Singapore three points behind Massa then it’s starting to look quite good. The error in the pits by Ferrari has effectively made a 10-point swing in the Drivers Championship in Hamilton’s favour.
Let's remember that Hamilton lost the lead of the championship with a bigger lead this time last year. However he has learnt a lot since then and matured as a driver so he has a fighting chance to finish the job off.
Red Bull play a blinder and then lose it















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