Does Lewis Hamiltion deserve to be World Champion?

Maclaren's Lewis Hamilton crowned 2008 Formula One World Champion

It's been about a week since the Brazilian Grand Prix concluded. Yup, the day Lewis Hamilton literally shattered Felipe Massa's dreams of becoming Formula One Champion for the first time. Adding more insult to injury, it happened right smack in his beloved country Brazil.

Massa thought the championship was already at hand as soon as he finished first for the chequered flag but Hamilton spoiled the pre-celebration at the Ferrari camp when Toyota's Timo Glock decided to let him finish 5th place at the pole. He only needed to finish 5th (for 4 points) to secure the championship crown.

It was the worst 30 seconds of Felipe Massa's driving career. He was somewhat robbed of the championship despite getting the win in front of the home crowd but Hamilton was the one who
stole the show. Hamilton then became the youngest world champion in F1 history. Tough luck for Ferrari for celebrating a little too early.

I've been a Maclaren fan since the Mika Hakkinen era. The Torch was passed to Kimi Raikkonen (now with Ferrari), he didn't live up to the hype much like Hakkinen did. When Fernando Alonso signed with Maclaren, I knew he could bring back the championship to Team Maclaren. Raikkonen then signed with Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton came into the picture.

Sure, there was a lot of controversy surrounding Alonso with Team Maclaren last year but Lewis (a rookie driver then) wanted to get in the middle of the Alonso-Raikkonen rivalry. Besides competing with Raikkonen for the champhionship, he had to contend with his fellow Maclaren driver Hamilton for it.

In last year's championship, It was almost a 3-way tie for the driver's championship. Kimi Raikkonen took pole position, getting enough points to seal the championship. Fernando Alonso went back to Renault and Hamilton became the number 1 driver of Maclaren and got Heiki Kovalainen as his teammate.

Since Alonso left Team Maclaren I sort of lost my faith in the team. I'm happy Maclaren is back on top but I felt Felipe Massa deserved to be champion even though I was never a fan of Ferrari. Indeed Lewis Hamilton is a great driver and all but I don't think it's his time to win it all, in my opinion. Then again, he won it anyway.

He's getting all the love back in England celebrating his win. Give him credit for bringing back the championship to Team Maclaren. Kudos to Felipe Massa for his tremendous effort and heart in winning the Brazilian Grand Prix. Much respect to Massa.

Hamilton may have won the F1 world championship but in Brazil, they all know who the real world champion is.