BBC UK Sports Personality - Winner 2008

Betfair.com Odds

 

Lewis Hamilton 8/11 odds on fav (He was 7/2 3rd favourite this afternoon)

Rebecca Adlington 12/5

Chris Hoy 3/1

Andrew Murray 50/1

Victoria Pendleton 75/1

 

100/1 bar

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Youngest F1 Drivers' Champion

Driver Age Season

 

1 Lewis Hamilton 23 years, 300 days 2008 season

2 Fernando Alonso 24 years, 58 days 2005 season

3 Emerson Fittipaldi 25 years, 273 days 1972 season

4 Michael Schumacher 25 years, 314 days 1994 season

5 Niki Lauda 26 years, 197 days 1975 season

6 Jacques Villeneuve 26 years, 200 days 1997 season

7 Jim Clark 27 years, 188 days 1963 season

8 Kimi Räikkönen 28 years, 4 days 2007 season

9 Jochen Rindt 28 years, 140 days 1970 season (posthumously)

10 Ayrton Senna 28 years, 223 days 1988 season

Or the BMWs will be stronger

 

I hope deeply much for that! Go BMW Go Nick! :w00t:

 

and congrats to Lewis!

Edited November 2, 200816 yr by Nick F1

I hope for much for that! Go BMW Go Nick! :w00t:

 

and congrats to Lewis!

 

I agree the 2009 Season offers so much potential.

 

Could Massa a very decent sportsman who has covered himself with honour by the dignified way he has handled himself this season (especially refusing to attend that Press Conference before the Chinese Grand Prix), go one step further next year, like Hamilton has managed this season?

 

Will Kimi come back as good and as focused as he was in the 2007 season?

 

Will Alonso have the car to match his undoubted all round best driver in F1 abilities to make a challenge for the title?

 

Will the BMW's continue to push their car with their drivers further up the field?

 

And will Lewis now freed of the burden of achieving his lifetime ambition improve his all round driving abilities to match his unquestioned racer abilities reducing the number of errors he makes like the greats he aspires to be did the more experienced they got, or will he like so many others before him lose that hunger.....

 

So many questions..... and that is what makes Formula 1 exciting.

 

What I don't want to see is continued farcical and allegedly biased stewards decisions that interfered and help spoilt this season that could have easily ended up with a tainted World Champion for 2008 (which would have been as unfair to the much improved Massa as it certainly would have been to Hamilton).

Well done Lewis, talk about nailbiting finishes :) . In a way it was really hard luck on Massa, he drove the perfect race, Pole,fastest lap and winning. No doubt there might be a conspiracy theory about Glock slowing down on the last corner.

That is very good for Lewis :) I know he has a lot of lovers, but he also has a huge amont of haters...so it is probably an even huger confidence boost!!!

 

Shame Fisi couldn't scrape a point or two though :( Here's hoping Ferrari will accidentaly sign him up and he'll win next years championship :lol: (I can dream :P)

Well done Lewis, talk about nailbiting finishes :) . In a way it was really hard luck on Massa, he drove the perfect race, Pole,fastest lap and winning. No doubt there might be a conspiracy theory about Glock slowing down on the last corner.

No consipricay as far as I'm concerned. The tyres just couldn't quite last. Considering a 1:12 is a good lap around Interlagos and he did over 1:40 and as the only other driver not to change to wets was Trulli who did a 1:45 I think as suspicious as it may look there was nothing wrong with it.

Ew.

 

:mellow:

 

Well thats ruined my month. f***ing Glock.

 

Is there any actually point in the Toyota's? other than to hold up the entire field for the first ten laps because Trulli's qualified on fumes? The amount of money Toyota spend on F1 is astronomical! Their budget is even bigger than Ferrari's yet they've won jack $h!t.

 

IMO Rebecca Adlington should win Sports Personality of the year. After all she helped pull attention to a sport that is seriously undervalued in this country even though it is one of the most participated in -_-

 

 

 

 

 

and a wee special mention to Renault and Alonso, who both would have won the world championship had it started in Belgium. :cheer: Even tho we had the Slowest engine on the grid. Only Renault, Honda and Red Bull (Because they had no choice) stuck to the engine freeze. Everyone else found ways round it and for me the fact that we came 4th is pretty darned good and i am quite happy with the amount of progress we made without doing anything to the R28 engine.

I have never supported any Ferrari driver since Nigel Mansell drove for them.

 

They get away with punative penalties where other teams end up with a lot bigger penalties.

 

I agree the 2009 Season offers so much potential.

 

Could Massa a very decent sportsman who has covered himself with honour by the dignified way he has handled himself this season (especially refusing to attend that Press Conference before the Chinese Grand Prix), go one step further next year, like Hamilton has managed this season?

 

Will Kimi come back as good and as focused as he was in the 2007 season?

 

Will Alonso have the car to match his undoubted all round best driver in F1 abilities to make a challenge for the title?

 

Will the BMW's continue to push their car with their drivers further up the field?

 

And will Lewis now freed of the burden of achieving his lifetime ambition improve his all round driving abilities to match his unquestioned racer abilities reducing the number of errors he makes like the greats he aspires to be did the more experienced they got, or will he like so many others before him lose that hunger.....

 

So many questions..... and that is what makes Formula 1 exciting.

 

What I don't want to see is continued farcical and allegedly biased stewards decisions that interfered and help spoilt this season that could have easily ended up with a tainted World Champion for 2008 (which would have been as unfair to the much improved Massa as it certainly would have been to Hamilton).

 

And will Honda become a winning team

I agree the 2009 Season offers so much potential.

 

Could Massa a very decent sportsman who has covered himself with honour by the dignified way he has handled himself this season (especially refusing to attend that Press Conference before the Chinese Grand Prix), go one step further next year, like Hamilton has managed this season?

 

Will Kimi come back as good and as focused as he was in the 2007 season?

 

Will Alonso have the car to match his undoubted all round best driver in F1 abilities to make a challenge for the title?

 

Will the BMW's continue to push their car with their drivers further up the field?

 

And will Lewis now freed of the burden of achieving his lifetime ambition improve his all round driving abilities to match his unquestioned racer abilities reducing the number of errors he makes like the greats he aspires to be did the more experienced they got, or will he like so many others before him lose that hunger.....

 

So many questions..... and that is what makes Formula 1 exciting.

 

What I don't want to see is continued farcical and allegedly biased stewards decisions that interfered and help spoilt this season that could have easily ended up with a tainted World Champion for 2008 (which would have been as unfair to the much improved Massa as it certainly would have been to Hamilton).

Well we know we have one thing better than last year.. NO MORE ITV! Which means.. NO MORE ADVERTS! :cheer:

 

I'm hoping either Honda get better or Jenson can leave for a better car! Kubica is a fantastic driver and hopefully he and Heidfeld can be closer to the Ferrari's next year! Hamilton can only better but I fear Alonso may be better next season which is a shame because I'm still disgusted by his behaviour when he was at McLaren <_<

Congratulations Hamilton I guess

 

I call him the 2008 final points leader not the 2008 champion as Massa deserved the title and only cruel luck in Singapore and Hungary robbed him of an extra 20 points and despite being cruelly denied 2 wins he still won more races than Hamilton in the season

 

Credit to Hamilton he done a good job but even he has to admit he is one lucky guy

Yes he was lucky but you need luck in sport. I don't consider either to be that worthy a champion, both had their faults throughout the season. Yes, a lot of Massa's problems were due to Ferrari rather than him but frankly if your car isn't reliable enough and you come up with stupid systems which are prone to errors then you're not worthy of the title.

 

Massa fans also seem quick to forget that McLaren ruined any chance of decent points for Hamilton at Monza, it's certainly not just his own errors that have cost him in races.

 

Anyway, I cannot wait for next season, it promises to be the most exciting yet, though I pray Red Bull get their act together for next year, it'd be a huge shame if Webber and Vettel were in the inferior car when they're the superior drivers in comparison to Bourdais and A N Other. Also, I hope for better stewarding, I don't believe they're biased, just incredibly stupid and very inconsistant.

Edited November 3, 200816 yr by RabbitFurCoat

Red Bull will be quicker next year as their wonderful Renault engine is getting an overhaul! :cheer: The R29 engine should be a lot closer to the rest of the field allowing both the Factory and RBR to challenge for big points.

 

Although with the way the R28 has developed, i think the R29 (Chassis & Engine) and Alonso could be the combo the beat next year.

Yes 2009 should be very good

 

if I was to stick my neck out I would say Alonso will be world champion as he is probably the best driver out there and next season will be a lot more dependent on driver skill

Yes 2009 should be very good

 

if I was to stick my neck out I would say Alonso will be world champion as he is probably the best driver out there and next season will be a lot more dependent on driver skill

 

I disagree - next year I expect the game from 1st to last to be far larger as different teams will adapt better than other to the new rules. In the long term the changes should result in closer racing but not until everyone understands all the new rules properly and learns how to take advantage of them

 

But Well Done to Lewis - I began the race supporting Massa but in the last couple of laps decided both really deserve the title though neither is an outstanding champion. That race will be very good for the sport though and so there are positives to be drawn from such a phenominal end to the season. Commiserations to Massa - A truly great Brazilian driver.

Next year NO MORE ADS or Steve Ryder :cheer:

 

Back to slick tyres :cheer:

Alonso could quit over engine rules

 

 

Former world champion Fernando Alonso has declared that he could walk away from Formula 1 if plans to introduce standard engines go ahead.

 

The FIA has proposed engine standardisation as part of its cost-cutting plans, and recently invited tenders for the supply of the units from 2010 - although the regulation is not yet set in stone as the governing body has invited the teams to submit alternative proposals that would achieve similar budget reductions.

 

But should the FIA press ahead with the standard engine scheme, then the whole F1 field will have to use identical engines in the near future.

 

Speaking to reporters at a UNICEF charity event, Alonso said he was appalled by that prospect and that the standard engine rule could drive him out of the sport.

 

"If they approved that, it would be the last straw," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

 

"It would be time to think about retirement."

 

The Renault driver added that he had been increasingly frustrated by recent rule changes which he felt were limiting F1 cars' performance too much.

 

"In 2005 we had a V10 engine with 1,000 horsepower," he said.

 

"That was what was exciting for the driver, motor racing at the limit.

 

"We have gone from the futuristic to cars without grip or electronic aids which look like something from the past."

 

Under the 2009 regulations, slick tyres will be reintroduced but the increase in grip will be balanced by reductions in aerodynamic downforce as many body appendages are banned and wings are simplified and re-sized.

I agree with Fernando.

 

I would stop watching if it was all one engine supplier, it'd be like A1GP :manson:

 

Whoever proposed that idea, needs sacked. And whoever thought it was a good idea needs to be Hung Drawn And Quartered at Dawn

With the news that Honda are pulling out of F1, blaming the global economic crisis, do you think other teams are in danger as well.

 

Is F1 now too expensive for its own good?

As a purist I believe F1 should be the ultimate showcase of technology and driver skill and I hate all this dumbing down in thew name of cost and safety and believe teams should spend what they like but that will not be much use if there are 5 teams on the grid so I guess costs will have to come down