Lewis was in position to capitalise and didn’t put a wheel out of place.
Lewis is a naturally emotional guy, and there will be times when this
handicaps him, but when you see the unadulterated joy, the relief, the
passion on his face, after a win like he had on Sunday, you can’t help but
admire someone who is prepared to let it all hang out.
I saw him afterwards, away from the cameras, holding hands with his mother and
it was deeply touching.
We are lucky to have someone so honest. For the past 10 to 15 years the trend
has been to hide behind a wall of PRs and deliver sound bites.
We have self-help books and psychologists telling us how to behave. But
everyone is wired differently.
I watched a documentary about James Hunt on the plane back to Nice on Monday
and was struck by how emotional he was on the grid before a race; how he
would have to talk himself down from a high state of nervousness.
Can this be a turning point for Lewis? I have no idea. As he has told us
enough times, his problems stem from issues off the track — personal issues
— but there has never been any doubting his talent or speed.
I hope he comes back strong next year because Formula
One needs a fully fit, fully functioning Lewis Hamilton.
And that is to take nothing away from Jenson
Button, who is entitled to feel extremely proud at having become the
first of Lewis’s team-mates to beat him over the course of a season.
Lewis is wrong to call that achievement “irrelevant”. I can understand what he
means — that he has bigger problems to worry about — but as drivers our
first duty is to beat our team-mate and Jenson has done that, fairly and
squarely, when many said he wouldn’t have a prayer.
I heard some ludicrous suggestions on Monday that McLaren might have
deliberately caused his KERS issues on Sunday to allow Lewis some breathing
space.
Some even linked this theory to the presence of Ron Dennis in the McLaren
motor home for the first time in a while. Nonsense.
Jenson has simply driven beautifully this year and did brilliantly again on
Sunday to hold off Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa for
third spot in spite of his issues.
With three wins apiece, both he and Lewis will be eager to win for the first
time in Sao Paulo, on Nov 27.
In fact, the championship may be long since over but I fancy Brazil will be
highly competitive.
Seb will want to get back on the horse, Mark desperately wants a first win
this year, Felipe is battling for his Ferrari future in front of his home
fans, and that is not to mention the battles for 2012 race seats going on
further down the grid.
I’m looking forward to ending the season with a bang.