Two Ticks

All season long, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has been ticking off the boxes on his Formula One CV. At Interlagos for Sunday's season finale, the remarkable 22-year-old rookie added check marks to the two boxes that every driver would prefer to leave empty.

The first was in the category of 'Drive like a rookie'. For the first fifteen Grands Prix of his career, Hamilton had ridden his luck, followed his racing instincts and, generally, come away unscathed.

His first major setback had come in China, when he misjudged the pitlane entry and slid helplessly off the tarmac and into retirement.

That error had raised a key point of interest for Brazil - would Hamilton back his own car control skills again and pursue the win aggressively, even it was unnecessary for the championship? Or would he learn his lesson from China, tone down his ambitions and take the Prost option of only doing enough to secure the championship?

Saturday qualifying partly answered the question, when Hamilton again turned in an outstanding final lap to deprive the Ferraris of an all-red front row.

However, qualifying is a relatively low-risk affair, and the added security of pushing for a front row starting slot was well worth the minimal danger of a serious crash or blown engine on his fast runs.

Only the race itself would provide the definitive answer to Hamilton's mindset, and he didn't keep us waiting long before telegraphing his intentions.

As sharp and aggressive as Hamilton normally is under braking, his attempted move around the outside of team-mate Fernando Alonso at Turn 4, with the entire pack in close pursuit, was inexperience personified.

It is tempting to believe that he merely folded under the pressure of the championship situation. However, there was little pressure on Hamilton at that point. Whether Alonso was one place ahead of him or behind made no material difference to the championship situation. Unless Alonso conjured up the drive of the century in passing both Ferraris ahead of him, Hamilton was still completely in control.

Instead of succumbing to pressure, it seems more likely that he gave in to petulance. After the bitter in-fighting at McLaren, Hamilton didn't just want to beat Alonso in the championship. He wanted to do it on the track as well.

It had taken a full season for it to happen but, in two ticks, Lewis Hamilton was finally driving like an excitable and overambitious rookie. It was thrilling to watch, but Hamilton's first obligation is to himself, not to race fans.

It is symptomatic of the young English star's brazen good fortune that he paid only a small penalty for the error, dropping behind Mark Webber's Red Bull and the two BMW-Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld.

With 70 laps still to run and the McLaren's superior race pace, he still had the option to change his mindset, drive conservatively and focus on finishing fourth.

Lewis Hamilton waves to the crowd after the race © LAT

It was an option that Hamilton never got the chance to exercise. Seven laps later, a temporary problem in either the gearbox or hydraulics system consigned him to ticking off the dreaded and penultimate box on the F1 driver's CV: 'Lose a championship at the final hurdle'.

He gave valiant chase but, having handed the field nearly a full minute's advantage through the temporary problem and the switch to a three-stop strategy, it was always a futile cause.

If Hamilton can draw any consolation from the devastating failure of the Brazil weekend, it's that he is now in distinguished company, particularly measured alongside his British peers. Stirling Moss (1958), Graham Hill (1964), John Watson (1982), Nigel Mansell (1986), Damon Hill (1994) and Eddie Irvine (1999) had all entered the last race of the year with a realistic chance of taking the championship, and all had failed.

However, only Graham Hill, Mansell and Irvine had led the championship at the start of the final race. Hamilton becomes the fourth frustrated loser of this group.

Although, like Mansell's infamous blowout in 1986, Hamilton can at least claim that it was circumstances beyond his control that ultimately deprived him of glory.

In the aftermath, the automatic first reaction of those around Hamilton is that he will enjoy more championship-winning opportunities, and his first title must surely come sooner rather than later.

For the Hamilton camp, it's a positive chin-up gesture that reflects their genuine confidence. However, championships require more than just confidence or even talent.

Damon Hill was able to reverse his 1994 disappointment just two seasons later. Nigel Mansell had to wait for an agonising six years. For Stirling Moss, John Watson and Eddie Irvine, the title remained an elusive dream. Even as McLaren's franchise driver, Hamilton may have to wait longer than expected for another opportunity.

Nobody will understand that better than Sunday's surprised race and championship winner Kimi Raikkonen. After 2003, Raikkonen knows all about being McLaren's star driver and losing the championship at the season finale.

Since that overcast day at Suzuka in October 2003, Raikkonen's career had been one of perennial promise but ultimate failure. When the car was fast, it was unreliable. When it lasted the distance, it wasn't particularly fast. When the McLaren package did finally come together and provide both speed and reliability, Raikkonen was no longer driving it.

At times during the past four years, Raikkonen must have wondered if he wasn't in line to inherit Moss' title as the best driver never to win a championship.

Ralf Schumacher battles Lewis Hamilton © LAT

Under those circumstances, it doesn't matter that Raikkonen was largely gifted his destiny rather than controlling it. Nor did it matter that Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa had to sacrifice the win in front of his home crowd for Raikkonen's benefit. After the misfortune and near misses, Raikkonen will take the title any way he can get it.

In 2007, that meant Raikkonen putting his head down, grinding out the performances race after race, and letting Hamilton and Alonso bicker and squabble in the championship spotlight while he quietly accumulated points in the background.

It was a dignified and classy effort by the new Finnish champion, and a fairytale ending that nobody could begrudge him.

Sadly, though, not all careers include that moment of glory. The Brazilian Grand Prix possibly marked the final F1 appearance of Toyota's Ralf Schumacher. Although his post-Williams career has been marked by mediocrity, the younger Schumacher was initially touted as a potential heir to his brother's success.

Although Ralf is still adamant that he has a future in F1, the prospects aren't promising. Particularly not in the top teams, who either have established driver line-ups or places reserved for the next generation of young guns.

Brazil also marked the low point of hometown hero Rubens Barrichello's career - his first full season (in fifteen) without a single championship point to show for his efforts.

As Lewis Hamilton ponders the road ahead, he'd do well to consider how, for both Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, the years have slipped by deceptively quickly with their youthful potential left frustratingly unfulfilled.

He could also recall how, straight after the disappointment of Adelaide, Nigel Mansell suffered another crushing blow in 1987. On that occasion, injury forced Mansell to sit out the season finale and watch helplessly as team-mate Nelson Piquet lifted the title trophy.

In years to come, Hamilton will look back and wonder how he managed to forfeit a 17 point advantage in just two races. It's been a painful end to his rookie experience, but one that he will doubtless remember and use to his benefit.