The Good
The Championship and the Finale
With a tumultuous season (at least politically) in 2007, 2008 would need to bring the focus back on the racing (in spite of the attempts of Mr. Max Mosely to do otherwise…more on him later). The title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa (and Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen for a while) did just that.
In a year that saw more twists than anyone imagined, it seemed that no one wanted to win this championship. Unreliability, driver errors, Mother Nature, and the occasional dumb race steward (see the Belgian Grand Prix) all had a hand in making this year’s title fight one of the best the sport has ever seen.
The only thing that could have made it better was a dramatic finale. Mother Nature took care of that. All you need to know about the final race is that Felipe Massa was the world champion…until the last corner of the last lap. For that race, Lewis Hamilton had luck on his side.
Outcome aside, it gave Formula One what it needed: focus back on the racing!
BMW Sauber
Struggles in testing said that BMW Sauber might take a step back this year; Robert Kubica’s near pole in Australia ended that thought.
BMW Sauber continued its surge forward with a pole, a win (both from Kubica), and 11 total podiums. Add this team to the big guns on the Formula One grid. Many have them picked as the favorite heading into next season. That may be in slight haste, but it’s more than reasonable to think this team will contend for both titles in ’09.
Watch out for Kubica and Nick Heidfeld next year. The German-Swiss outfit and its drivers might be poised to make a run.
Sebestian Vettel
In the second half of the season, we watched the birth of a new star in Formula 1. The Toro Rosso chassis may have been good, but there was no way it should have been beating the Mclarens, Ferraris, or BMW Saubers. Vettel proved time and again that he could drive a car beyond its limits.
His win at Monza will be a lasting memory for everyone who saw and served notice that Germany will have another hero after Michael Schumacher. Taking a car that should have been in the midfield and win was something special, and he made everyone who cheers for underdogs smile.
A move to Red Bull Racing next year may be an initial step back (many say the Renault power plant in inferior to the Ferrari one), but Vettel has proven he can do a lot with a little. The young German will be a force for years to come.
Fernando Alonso
He would’ve fallen into the “bad” category, but his second half performance shot him up the list. A pair of wins and more points than anyone in the second half of the season reminded us all that he is still a top driver.
Renault will have to give him a better car next year, but Alonso did make the right move in staying with Renault (made all the more correct given Honda’s withdrawal from F1 as a manufacturer).
Might we see Alonso and Renault make a run at the titles next year? Well, the grid will surely be shaken up with the new regs, so, to steal a line from the great Murray Walker, “anything can happen in Formula 1, and usually does.”
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