Alonso Wins Best Race of Bad Season

With a remarkable performance in Japan, Fernando Alonso took his second successive win of the season, this time over Robert Kubica. Both drove extremely well in what may have been the best race of the season. And in what has become the theme of 2008, the title contenders managed to once again throw away their opportunities.

Confirming the dramatic uptick in performance for the Renault team, Nelson Piquet finished a strong fourth in what was certainly his best performance of the year. The next six months will be very interesting to see if Alonso decides to stay at Renault and how the team will build on its progress going into next season. I wonder how their KERS system is coming along…

After dismal displays of driving early in the race, both Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa deservedly received drive-through penalties. It is understandable that Massa was fighting with a sense of desperation. However, it is bewildering how many big chances Hamilton took at the beginning of the race. After showing surprising maturity in Singapore, the Championship leader showed an even more surprising regression to his old impulsive ways in the very next event. Luckily for Hamilton, Massa’s own transgressions ensured that he left Japan with his points lead mostly intact. As I mentioned after qualifying, I would be surprised if Hamilton throws the Championship away for the second season in a row, now with only two races remaining.

Many fans may appreciate the unpredicability of this season and the ups and downs experienced by the front runners. However, I think it’s a sign that neither Hamilton, Massa, or Kimi Raikkonen are worthy successors to the throne that was vacated by Michael Schumacher. The fact that Robert Kubica is still in contention driving a car that is well behind both the McLaren and Ferrari (and now perhaps even behind Renault) is enough evidence that the four drivers (the three plus Heikki Kovalainen) piloting the runaway two best cars of the field have not lived up to the capabilities offered to them by their equipment. It is almost unfortunate that either Hamilton or Massa will end up winning the Championship.

While Kubica is still mathematically in the hunt, it is an impossible task for him to reach the top spot. If not for a big lull in perfomance by his BMW Sauber team in the middle of the season, Kubica might be leading the points. Then he might have had a chance. But for him to overcome a 12-point deficit (13 to actually win the Championship) in what is now the fourth best car in the field is even more unlikely than Raikkonen’s 17-point gap last year. Still he has had some outstanding performances this year, and it is too bad he was not in a Ferrari. I hope BMW Sauber can raise its game in ’09.

The last two races have completely restored Alonso’s stature in F1 after his reputation-shattering season in ’07. He very well may be, in the words of Ross Brawn, the “best driver” in the series. While his victory in Singapore may have been lucky, it is easy to forget that he was definitely on the pace in practice and in Q1. Then his win earlier today in Japan has confirmed that Renault has raised its game and Alonso has driven like a champion in order to take full advantage. Like Kubica it is too bad Alonso was not in a Ferrari.

So now we immediately move on to China for the penultimate round of the Championship. We all know how that race ended up in ’07. And same as last year, if Hamilton can manage to leave the race with a 10-point lead, he will win the title. However, unlike last year, I think he will end up doing it. And thankfully, the ’08 driver’s crown will then be decided, so that we can move on to what promises to be the start of a new era in 2009.