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.
Lewis Hamilton runs wide on the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix © LAT |
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?