Hi folks,
China beckons this coming weekend and the penultimate round in the championship could well see
Lewis Hamilton take the title in his debut year, which is quite remarkable.
He really has had a fantastic season and, with a twelve-point cushion, he is on the verge of becoming Britain's next
Formula 1 world champion and joining an elite group that already includes Graham and
Damon Hill,
Nigel Mansell, James Hunt,
Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Mike Hawthorn and
Jim Clark - a very exclusive club indeed.
The Shanghai International Circuit is a relatively new one to the
F1 calendar and this will be only the fourth time the country has hosted a round of the series following its debut in 2004.
The 5.451km track is very impressive and another Hermann Tilke effort – although, like a lot of the newer venues, it doesn't have quite the same 'feel' as some of the older circuits, like Monza, Spa-Francorchamps and
Silverstone.
It is still very good though and the drivers' tend to like it as it is challenging and there is also plenty of room for overtaking.
Last year, the event was won by
Ferrari and
Michael Schumacher and the Scuderia will, of course, be right up there again this coming weekend, along with McLaren-Mercedes. That has been the pattern all season and it’s not going to change this late on.
For Lewis, the main target will be to finish in front of
Fernando Alonso and
Kimi Raikkonen and then he will be sure of taking the 'big prize'.
After his performance in Japan, he is more than capable of doing that. He made absolutely no mistakes in Fuji and took command from the off. Apart from
that incident with
Robert Kubica, which could have been a disaster, he looked strong throughout.
I can't see anyone catching him now in terms of the championship and, while we still have to keep our fingers crossed, I don't think we will need to.
