Lewis Hamilton. 2008 Formula One World Champion. Game Over.

It is now mathematically impossible for Lewis Hamilton to retain the World Drivers Title. It is September of the following year. This is normal in Formula One with a relinquishment rarely happening without only a few races to spare, if any at all!

How many of you thought, however, that it would take this long, 13 races in total, for him to lose his crown following the start of the season that he endured?

A disqualification, the possibility of being thrown out of the Championship after just one round, and a lot of mediocre results had the World Champion genuinely struggling to love the sport he has strived to compete at the top of since he was a very young boy. He was struggling, and due to the current international media machine, it showed, and was visible to the world.

Yet the McLaren Motor Racing Machine based in Woking pulled together, and somehow Lewis slowly mounted a charge, just a case of too little too late really. By the time he got properly up and running, Jenson Button had already won six Grands Prix, and was well on his way to a possible world title.

So we reach the end of the “European Season” and with it, what honestly seems like the strangest of crashes from one of the current driving masters. Nobody will know what Lewis was up to at the first Lesmos corner on the last lap, other than he was pushing too hard. Nobody will be harder on him for that error than himself. Especially considering that it certainly wasn’t a last dash attempt to keep his vague championship hopes alive, as he required Button to finish fifth or lower, and not score any more points all season, as well as for Lewis himself to win every remaining race to be able to retain his crown. 

So if this wasn’t the incentive then what was? A fastest lap at the end of a race means nothing, especially since there are no points awarded anymore for the man lapping the quickest in race trim.

In the current generation of computer games left, right and centre, it seems like Hamilton was just going through the motions in “Arcade Mode”, having a bit of fun and almost hoping he’d breeze up to the back of Button and pass with ease. 

He ended up with pieces of car all over the road with no way of pushing a “Restart” button. 

Championship over Lewis… 

GAME OVER