An epic F1 season has come to a close and Kimi Raikkonen has finally won the world title that has eluded him in the past. The Finnish driver was super-cool for the whole race, staying true to his nickname of  The Iceman.

In all fairness, the title was supposed to be out of Ferrari’s hands. Even if both McLaren cars were to finish behind them, Lewis Hamilton needed only to finish fifth or higher to keep his firm grasp on the season's honours.

It was shocking to see the rookie driver make dreadful rookie mistakes that he has not shown throughout this whole season. He seemed to be calm and careful at the start when he decided to let both of his rivals pass him, but two turns later he had the biggest mistake of his young career.

'Alonso’s constant bickering has made him a public enemy and the reality is Lewis Hamilton simply was let off the hook way too many times by both team McLaren and the FIA'


Fernando Alonso was clearly slower than him, but Lewis forced an overtaking manoeuvre at the worst spot, skidded a few metres and then went off the track losing five or six places. Who knows what would have happened had Hamilton slowed to Alonso’s pace and continued  in fourth place, which meant a sure-fire title win for him, seeing how the Spaniard was way off the pace of both Ferraris.

Hamilton’s move haunted him throughout the whole race. From this point on he was getting the maximum out of his car in every millisecond. He walked a tight line all the way, which he crossed several times with uncharacteristic mistakes. Lewis first pushed so hard to catch Jarno Trulli that he scraped the bottom of his car as he slightly slid off the track.

Then his gearbox malfunctioned, and seeing how the problem did not re-occur it most probably was a driver error causing it. Through the race, he simply manhandled his McLaren, which clearly was not superior enough to make the comeback needed to win it all.

What made all of this clear was that the Englishman’s team-mate, Alonso, was unable to capitalise on the clear mistakes of the Brit. The reigning champion rode in third place and his performance was rather closer to the BMW of Robert Kubica than the two Ferraris. In fact, the Polish youngster overtook him twice during the race, making the title race even more one-sided in Kimi’s favour.

Alas, Alonso drove mistake free in this race and got the maximum out of his car in a third-place finish, but on this day he simply was not fast enough to compete with either Kimi or the superb Felipe Massa.

Speaking of Massa, he was the best driver out there on the Interlagos circuit. I do not believe that anyone doubts the fact that the way he lost the top spot in the pits was a calculated move by Ferrari. He clearly won this GP, but needed to come in second to have Kimi come out on top in the drivers' standings.

In all fairness, Kimi was the most deserving of this title. Alonso’s constant bickering has made him a public enemy and the reality is Lewis Hamilton was simply let off the hook way too many times by both team McLaren and the FIA. Kimi did win the most races this season, and he did so while keeping his mouth shut even when Ferrari was seemingly favouring Massa, or when his car was failing constantly.

A couple of months ago I saw an ad in a paper which had Kimi in it and an explanation as to why he never won the seasonal title. It said: "I was born into the wrong generation". Well, he still overcame all odds to win this year.

Alas it is too true that next year Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Kubica, Jenson Button and the others will be wanting to dethrone him, and with good odds. Question is, when did odds bother Kimi Raikkonen?

Did Kimi deserve to win? Has Lewis Hamilton really been let off the hook one too many times? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.