Does Hamilton Deserve the Championship ?

Lewis Hamilton did not win the Formula One championship. Or will he? The final race in Brazil ended with Hamilton in 7th place, much to the dismay of many fans. But as in most auto races there was a controversy.

In this case it seems that the 4th, 5th, and 6th place cars all had issues related to their fuel temperature violating the rules. Initially there was no penalty given to these cars (representing Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld). Now there is a FIA hearing to determine if they should be pulled and Hamilton moved up and awarded 4th. If that were to happen he would then get the championship.

My big question is should he get the championship, and would he want to get it like this? There is no doubt that winning would be a feather in the cap. But I can’t imagine that this is the way any driver would like to get a win. It just seems empty to me.

Obviously the rules need to be followed, and penalties need to be enforced. But when a driver fails to perform well in a race, I don’t think they should be retroactively rewarded because of those penalties being enforced. Penalties and their eventual reactions should be resolved during the race they occur in. In cases where they are determined afterwards, those penalties should apply forward to those drivers next race, or against the team that they drove for.

To give Hamilton the win makes it a hollow victory. It takes away the better performance of the cars that took the checkered flag well ahead of him. I’m not the only one to hold this view. Michael Schumacher stated, “But I think there’s plenty of options after this year - if you start to change again the classification, I think it would be bad for formula one because it had been finished fair and square on the track and there’s no need to carry on looking at it.”

Even Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren chief executive, said “Victory for us would be a clarification of the rationale behind the FIA stewards’ decision at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix - a clarification, indeed, that we regard as essential not only for us but for all our competitors, to enable all teams to race in compliance with the regulation regarding fuel temperatures throughout the 2008 formula one season.”

So this is what the drivers and teams thing. What FIA thinks is as yet unknown. But what to you fans think? Would a retroactive win be good for Formula One? Would you feel as elated for Lewis Hamilton if he wins on a technicality, rather than taking the flag on the track? I for one have to say no, and I think FIA will agree.

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From : Auto Racing Blog