Notwithstanding a monumental hangover, waking up this morning as Lewis Hamilton can't be too bad. A year ago, Brazil turned into a nightmare, and the title slipped away at the death; yesterday, it almost looked like doing the same again. But on an extraordinary day of racing, a day of pure Formula 1 theatre, Hamilton has the championship, and Grand Prix has a breathtaking finish to celebrate. And from its nadir post-Schumacher, when the sport stumbled from race to race and fans fell away, yesterday confirmed that Formula 1 is back on its feet and flourishing.

The finish was mesmerising: who didn't think Lewis had lost it? In the great tradition of glorious British failure (Tim Henman at Wimbledon your headliner here), the Englishman appeared to have pulled of another thrilling defeat at the death. Ferrari were celebrating, Lewis didn't know what had happened, the Brazilian crowd was going berserk... It took a minute or two to clear up exactly what had happened — and a little longer for the truth behind one of sport's greatest gambles to emerge from McLaren.

For it turned out that Sebastian Vottel was allowed to pass, in order to avoid a late incident that could have damaged Hamilton, with the calculation being that the McLaren driver could overhaul Timo Glock, slowed up by dry tyres, before the end of the race. The calculation was right in the end, but only just; on a day when the McLaren strategy was overwhelmingly conservative, this was a remarkable piece of risk with which to end the year.

But in winning, however narrow the margin of victory, the closing gamble is reduced to a footnote on a day of McLaren celebration; had Hamilton lost, the decision would have come under far greater scrutiny, but instead the copy inches and the television footage will be dedicated to the success of Formula 1's youngest ever champion.

At 23, there are many, many more championship titles for Hamilton to have a shot at — but if his win this season confirmed his pedigree, then the battle he had to secure it underlines the strength of competition Formula 1 currently revels in. Massa came desperately close; throw in Alonso, Raikkonen, and the impressive Robert Kubica, and Formula 1 is in excellent health, 2009 already shaping up for a dazzling competition.

And on top of the individuals, there's the team rivalry — McLaren might have won the driver's championship, but Ferrari walked away with the constructor's prize, something McLaren haven't managed in a decade. The added competition gives Formula 1 a greater dynamic, and is key to the charm of Grand Prix racing, and so for all the celebration of Hamilton's triumph, McLaren will already be thinking of going one better next year.

Hamilton will be determined to make that happen, and claim a McLaren double; for now, he has some concerted celebration to get through. He's led a Spartan life for the last few weeks, eschewing publicity and non-Formula 1 activity to stay focused on the title; now that's pulled it off, a couple of weeks of supermodels, yachts and French champagne are entirely deserved. A thrilling end to a fabulous season of racing — and the first coronation of a man well set for Formula 1 greatness.

  • There's an evil delight to lining up a parked BMW, having a practice swing, and then thumping your golf ball straight into it — ask Roxy Louw, who managed it on two separate occasions at Saturday's Golf Punk Street Golf Open in Tamberskloof. Roxy, Roland Schoeman, Ryan O'Connor and myself managed a collective 21-under-par, comfortably beating Schalk Brits (call him 'Chilliboy's understudy' next time you see him — hilarious), Peter Grant, Stuart Taylor and Neil Jennings in our private challenge. More importantly, we raised a fair sum for street kids and charity along with the rest of the field, and had an enormous amount of fun. That was the first; look out for plenty more across South Africa in the coming months.

  • A solid win for the Spin Doctors yesterday, on a Norwich Oval pitch modelled on a piece of corrugated iron, against a Well Hungovers team featuring three of the funniest cricketers on the planet. Nik Rabinowitz's new show, featuring Marc Lottering and Riaad Moosa, starts in Cape Town in a couple of weeks; Dave Levinson is hosting regular comedy nights at Kurt Schoonraad's new comedy venue 'Jou Ma Se Comedy Club'; and Alan Committie's interpretation of Tim Plewman's 'Defending The Caveman' is as good as anything I've seen this year. The comics might have managed two ducks and a three between them; the comedy's of a significantly higher calibre.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za


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